Here’s who’s running for New York City mayor in 2025

Eric Adams

Current role: New York City mayor

His ideological stance in brief: Conservative, pro-business Democrat. Lately more likely to criticize progressives than the incoming Trump administration.

Major endorsements: None reported yet.

Fundraising: $4,140,709 raised so far, $3,107,457 in the bank. He was denied matching funds on Dec. 16.

Where’s home? Gracie Mansion, but he previously claimed to live in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn

What is he running on? Delivering a “safer, more affordable city,” illegal smokeshops are closing, the landmark City of Yes zoning reform will spur more housing 

What’s holding him back? A federal indictment, abysmal approval ratings, being denied public matching funds.

What’s his deal: There’s a reason so many candidates have come out to challenge Adams. He is certainly going into 2025 with more political vulnerabilities than most incumbent mayors do. The most obvious of course is the fact that he’s facing a criminal indictment on bribery and corruption charges. He’s maintained he did nothing wrong and pushed out some of his closest aides who’ve been touched by the federal investigations while elevating trusted public servants in their place. While Adams’ focus on public safety played a big role in why he was elected mayor, there’s also been chaos in the top ranks of the New York City Police Department. He recently appointed his fourth police commissioner – an unusually high level of turnover. All the while, New Yorkers continue to say crime is one of their leading concerns. 

Still, Adams should by no means be counted out. Yes, only 12% of New York City voters committed to support his reelection, according to polling unveiled not long after he was indicted. Yes, the Campaign Finance Board deemed him ineligible to receive public matching funds in December. Yes, crime is still higher than it was before he was mayor. But the power of incumbency is real, and Adams does have a number of accomplishments to point to. There’s been a small decrease in crime over the past couple of years, despite a string of high-profile incidents in the subway. Adams also got his sweeping City of Yes for Housing Opportunity zoning overhaul across the finish line, he’s negotiated contracts with the vast majority of the unionized city workforce and unemployment has fallen. Not to be forgotten either is the potential that President-elect Donald Trump could help Adams with his legal troubles. For now though, that trial is scheduled to begin in April – a mere two months before the 2025 Democratic primary.

Further reading:
Eric Adams denied public campaign funds for reelection bid
Could Eric Adams actually switch political parties? Here’s how it would work.
Can Eric Adams survive this?
Eric Adams walks in faith: What that means for NYC and his reelection bid

Brad Lander

Current role: New York City comptroller

His ideological stance in brief: Brownstone Brooklyn progressive Democrat who gets under the mayor’s skin but is also making a play for his more centrist supporters.

Major endorsements: United Auto Workers Region 9A (shared with Jessica Ramos and Zohran Mamdani), Public Advocate Jumaane Williams (who committed to rank Lander first or second)

Fundraising: $967,381 raised so far (including when he was running for reelection), $279,338 in the bank. He has not yet qualified to receive matching funds. 

Where’s home? Park Slope, Brooklyn

What is he running on? He wants to get homeless people with mental health issues into stable housing, restore funding to early childhood education, and carry out capital projects management and other reforms he’s called for as comptroller.

What’s holding him back? Lander is a nerdy white guy who may struggle to build support in the outer boroughs and he may be seen as too far left to build a winning coalition. 

What’s his deal: Brad Lander is a Park Slope progressive – a white, Missouri-born organizer who put roots down in Brooklyn and has championed progressive causes, first in the nonprofit sector, and then as a council member and now as comptroller. The comptroller, while hardly a co-equal position to mayor, can nonetheless function as a watchdog, with the responsibility to conduct audits of city agencies and oversee city contracts.

For much of Adams’ three years in office, Lander has filled that role as expected, often clashing with the more conservative mayor over budget cuts and how the administration has handled the influx of migrants to the city over the last two years. By virtue of his position, perhaps as much as his politics, Lander has been a consistent critic of Adams during his three years in office. 

But in a race for mayor – and one taking place amid a continued shift to the right in parts of the city – Lander, who cofounded the City Council Progressive Caucus, has to walk a more careful line than just being the progressive foil to the mayor. Lander, along with several other progressives in the race, hasn’t touted that moniker like candidates have done in the past. As comptroller, Lander is well-positioned to make the efficient manager case, but his support will likely still come from the liberal centers that elected him – neighborhoods entirely distinct from Adams’ base, like Park Slope, Astoria and the Upper West Side.

Further reading:
Brad Lander: ‘I don’t think this is a moment about lanes or ideology’
Are comptrollers running for NYC mayor doomed?
Brad Lander makes his case to business leaders
Eric Adams might need someone to serve as a check. Is that Brad Lander?

Jessica Ramos

Current role: State senator representing Queens

Her ideological stance in brief: Pro-labor progressive. Thorn in Steve Cohen’s side.

Major endorsements: United Auto Workers Region 9A (shared with Brad Lander and Zohran Mamdani), Teamsters Locals 804 and 808, Downtown Women for Change.

Fundraising: $52,513 raised so far, $29,492 in the bank. She has not qualified for matching funds as of Dec. 16. 

Where’s home? Jackson Heights, Queens

What is she running on? She wants to improve child care access, bolster affordable housing supply and integrate mental health care citywide

What’s holding her back? Slow and messy fundraising, trouble distinguishing herself in a crowded field of progressives and probably sexism. (New York City still hasn’t elected a woman mayor despite a slew of highly qualified prior candidates).

What’s her deal: Ramos is a progressive state lawmaker who has represented East Elmhurst, Jackson Heights and Corona since she ousted a moderate Democrat incumbent in 2018 as an insurgent, Working Families Party-backed candidate. She’s forged a reputation as a tough and effective lawmaker, notching a variety of high-profile legislative victories as chair of the powerful Labor Committee. She’s cracked down on wage theft, passed paid sick leave for domestic workers, enacted new protections for workers on farms, at nail salons and in distribution warehouses, and secured unemployment for more nontraditional workers. Beyond Ramos’ legislative victories and her condemnation of Adams for his handling of the migrant crisis, she’s perhaps best known widely for her opposition to a proposed casino bid from Mets owner Steve Cohen.

Ramos’ ties to the labor world run deep. She has a background working in communications for social service employees union SSEU Local 371 and building service workers union 32BJ SEIU. But while many see her as a champion for labor, it’s unclear to what degree that’ll ultimately end up helping her in the mayoral race. For the major unions, the political risk of not backing the incumbent might not be worth it if Adams’ chances at reelection look decent. Ramos is still the only politically viable woman in the crowded field of candidates. She’s one of two Latino candidates – the daughter of Colombian immigrants – and a mother to two boys. While Ramos launched her campaign in mid-September, her fundraising has gotten off to a slow start.

Further reading:
Jessica Ramos, no-nonsense state senator from Queens, is running for NYC mayor
Jessica Ramos spotted meeting with Steve Cohen’s right-hand man and Kathy Wylde
Jessica Ramos isn’t sugarcoating anything

Zellnor Myrie

Current role: State senator representing Brooklyn

His ideological stance in brief: Progressive, increasingly pro-real estate Democrat.

Major endorsements: None reported yet.

Fundraising: $464,059 raised so far, $226,327 in the bank. He has not qualified for matching funds as of Dec. 16.

Where’s home? Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Brooklyn

What is he running on? Proposals to build and preserve 1 million homes in New York City, and create universal, free afterschool programs

What’s holding him back? Most voters haven’t heard of Zellnor Myrie. 

What’s his deal: Zellnor Myrie, a City Council staffer turned Davis Polk attorney, started off his political career by running against Eric Adams. By proxy, at least. In 2018, Myrie challenged state Sen. Jesse Hamilton – a protege of Adams who was serving in the same Central Brooklyn seat that Adams once held. Alongside Ramos and several others that year, Myrie succeeded in defeating the incumbent, who along with a handful of other Democrats, was caucusing with Republicans.

Myrie has since accumulated some high-profile legislative wins, including ones that earned him good favor with progressives, like early voting and the Clean Slate Act to seal criminal records for some people who have served their time. But in mounting his run for mayor, Myrie hasn’t made a claim to the progressive lane, preferring to eschew those identifiers altogether in favor of one that he – and others – seem to believe will be a more compelling pitch for those weary of a chaotic City Hall: a competent manager for New York. 

Myrie is one of just a few candidates to launch more detailed policy proposals so far; his first one concerns a plan to build 700,000 new housing units over the next 10 years and preserve another 300,000. But his YIMBY pitch has also caught the eye of tenant advocates, who are looking to hold candidates to promises to freeze the rent. (Myrie, who advocated for tenant protections in the Legislature, hasn’t made that vow on the campaign.)

Coming from Adams’ old district, Myrie, who is the son of Costa Rican immigrants, is better positioned than some of his other current challengers to dig into Adams’ 2021 base of middle- and working-class Black and Latino voters in outer boroughs, at the same time as he could appeal to liberal voters in other parts of the city.

Further reading:
Zellnor Myrie wants to represent New York City. First, the city has to meet him.
Which NYC mayoral candidates would freeze the rent?
Zellnor Myrie wants to give NY a clean slate

Zohran Mamdani

Current role: Assembly member representing Queens

His ideological stance in brief: The leftest of them all. A pro-Palestine Socialist Democrat who isn’t shy about it.

Major endorsements: New York City Democratic Socialists of America, United Auto Workers Region 9A (shared with Brad Lander and Jessica Ramos)

Fundraising: He won’t have a disclosure deadline until Jan. 11, but his campaign is projecting strong numbers: $350,000 as of mid-December.

Where’s home? “The Peoples Republic of Astoria”

What is he running on? He wants to freeze the rent, make buses free, make child care free, build public supermarkets and criticize Israel.

What’s holding him back? It’s not as cool to be far left anymore, and despite being a nepo baby, he has limited name recognition. 

What’s his deal: As Democrats process the city’s rightward shift in the presidential election, most of Eric Adams’ challengers have attempted to distance themselves from the progressive label. That leaves the leftist lane of the mayor’s race wide open for Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani, and he’s not shying away from it. 

Mamdani, a DSA member who successfully primaried a well-liked establishment Democrat in 2020, can easily appeal to the typical highly educated yuppie socialists in North Brooklyn and western Queens – and they are already forming an army of volunteer canvassers for him. But the lawmaker, who sponsored controversial state legislation to withhold public funds from organizations that operate in illegal settlements in the West Bank, is also confident he can bring working class Muslims outraged over the war in Gaza into his coalition. Many South Asian voters also love him for advocating for debt relief for taxi medallion holders – including with a 15-day hunger strike in 2021. 

In the mayor’s race, Mamdani has articulated several simple policy ideas that set him apart from the pack – even if their feasibility isn’t clear: building on a pilot program he pushed in the state Legislature, he wants to make public buses free. (The MTA is a state agency, but he says he’ll get creative with his mayoral authority.) He also wants to freeze the rent on rent-stabilized units. (That’s something the mayor has some control over. They appoint the Rent Guidelines Board.) He is also promising free child care and city-owned grocery stores. He’s fond of talking about his days as a rapper under the name Mr. Cardamom.

Further reading:
DSA Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani is considering a run for NYC mayor
Could this pro-Palestinian socialist really be NYC’s next mayor?
Zohran Mamdani is bringing Hollywood glamor to Albany

Scott Stringer

Current role: Consultant, was term-limited out of office as comptroller in 2021

His ideological stance in brief: A Manhattan liberal who had a shot as a progressive mayoral candidate last cycle, but is tacking center now. 

Major endorsements: None reported yet.

Fundraising: Stringer was the first and only mayoral candidate to qualify for public matching funds in December. He’s raised $591,000 as of October, and he’s gotten $2 million in public matching funds. He has an estimated $2.4 million in the bank.

Where’s home? Financial District, Manhattan

What is he running on? He is just in the “exploratory” phase. But he’s been talking a lot about how the city needs experienced management. 

What’s holding him back? His 2021 mayoral bid failed amid allegations of sexual misconduct. Stringer strongly denies allegations from one woman and has been fighting them in court with a defamation lawsuit. He said he doesn’t remember ever meeting another woman who subsequently came forward. He’s also been out of the game for a while.

What’s his deal: A former Assembly member, Manhattan borough president and city comptroller, Stringer certainly has the insider resume to be New York City mayor. He’s close with Rep. Jerry Nadler. He is known as a savvy political operator and a skilled campaigner, as his hefty early fundraising numbers have shown. 

He’s also motivated by redemption after a bruising 2021 fight, where he came in fifth place in the first round of ranked-choice voting. He had amassed broad support from progressives and elected officials he had mentored, many of whom ultimately abandoned him following the misconduct allegations. After nearly three decades in public office, he has had the past few years off, and he’s been singularly focused on this – still unofficial – goal. 

Sitting comptroller Brad Lander is likely to appeal to many of the same voters, and both straight, white Jewish comptrollers were dealt a blow when The New York Times editorial board announced it won’t be endorsing in local races. But Stringer is slightly less progressive than Lander, including on Israel. Lander also has more to lose, as he has to give up his powerful position to run for mayor, while Stringer has everything to gain.

Stringer has prevailed in some dog fights. He beat out nine other candidates to become Manhattan borough president in 2005. He often recounts his victory in the 2013 race for comptroller in which he narrowly defeated former Gov. Eliot Spitzer as evidence he shouldn’t be underestimated.

Further reading: 
Scott Stringer readies primary challenge to Mayor Eric Adams
Scott Stringer has always been progressive
Scott Stringer, millennial for mayor

Michael Blake

Current role: Founder and CEO of Kairos Democracy Project, political consultant, associate pastor

His ideological stance in brief: Moderate Democrat in the style of Barack Obama. 

Major endorsements: None reported yet.

Fundraising: Blake launched after the latest filing deadline in October, so he hasn’t reported any yet.

Where’s home? Melrose, Bronx

What is he running on? He wants universal child care and a tax break for middle-class homeowners. He also wants to speed up government payments to nonprofits.

What’s holding him back? Blake has been out of office for a few years, and with a couple of unsuccessful campaigns, he’s in danger of becoming a perennial candidate. 

What’s his deal: Blake is a former state Assembly member from the Bronx who entered the mayoral race toward the end of November. Like many of the candidates, he’s emphasized that his campaign will center on making things more affordable for New Yorkers and on quality of life issues. An alum of the 2008 and 2012 Obama campaigns who also did a stint in the Obama White House, he’s a fairly moderate Democrat – certainly more than many of his opponents. He’s championed more progressive causes though, including the Raise the Age legislation to prevent 16- and 17-year-olds from being tried as adults.

Name recognition and differentiating himself will be big hurdles in his campaign. He gave up his seat in the Assembly in 2020 to run for Congress. He came in second to Rep. Ritchie Torres in the Democratic primary. The year prior, he finished fourth of 17 candidates in a special election for New York City public advocate. Blake, who formerly served as vice chair of the Democratic National Committee, also recently indicated he’s interested in running for chair.

Jim Walden

Current role: Partner at Walden Macht Haran & Williams

His ideological stance in brief: Independent with a pugnacious streak.

Major endorsements: New York City Organization of Public Service Retirees; former prosecutors including former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Richard Donoghue. He initially launched with support from David Paterson, but the two parted ways.

Fundraising: Walden launched after the last campaign finance filing deadline, so he hasn't reported fundraising yet.

Where’s home? Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn

What is he running on? He wants to root out corruption in New York City, create jobs, and tackle intractable problems like housing production with public-private partnerships.

What’s holding him back? Outsider candidates often face outside odds. 

What’s his deal: The winner of June’s Democratic primary is likely to be the next mayor. (At least based on the past decade.) In launching his mayoral campaign as an independent candidate – albeit one who hasn’t totally ruled out running on a major party line just yet – Jim Walden is cutting a different path than his Democratic competitors.

That’s not the only way he stands apart from the field. The founding partner at Walden Macht Haran & Williams is a first-time political candidate whose legal career has nonetheless left him well-acquainted with the major players and systems in New York politics. In his launch, Walden has emphasized trial wins for New York City Housing Authority residents and experience taking on the mafia as a prosecutor for the Eastern District.

Between leaning toward running as an independent, business-minded technocrat and injecting $500,000 into his own campaign, the comparisons to former Mayor Michael Bloomberg are obvious. Bloomberg floated his own campaign a much larger chunk of change, and Walden still faces an uphill battle to pull off a Bloomberg-like win. But he’s making a go of it, assembling a policy platform that so far leans heavily on his pitch to root out corruption, but includes other proposals that defy conventional thought about alignment on the ideological spectrum; he wants to build more bike lanes and expand the NYPD. Walden is suing to allow the words “independent” and “independence” back on the ballot.

Whitney Tilson

Current role: Investor and editor at Stansberry Research, an investment research firm.

His ideological stance in brief: Wall Street moderate Democrat focused on public safety.

Major endorsements: None reported yet.

Fundraising: Tilson launched after the last campaign finance filing deadline, so he hasn't reported fundraising yet.

Where’s home? Upper East Side, Manhattan

What is he running on? He wants to reduce violent crime, grow the city’s economy, and rein in excessive city government spending. 

What’s holding him back? He has no experience in politics, low name recognition and he’s a millionaire but not Bloomberg rich. 

What’s his deal: Tilson, a former hedge fund executive, announced he’d be running for mayor in late November. Given his comparative late start from most of the other candidates, it’s unclear how successful he’s been fundraising, although he’s set a highly ambitious goal: Raising nearly $8 million including matching funds by Jan. 15. With his many, many wealthy friends, he may have a chance. Tilson has also emphasized that despite his Wall Street background, he’s not wealthy enough to fund his mayoral run, meaning he plans to participate in the city’s matching funds program. 

It’s Tilson’s first time running for a political office after years of donating to Democratic candidates – both local and national. Some of his top priorities listed on his website include growing the city’s economy by 50% over the next decade, cutting violent crime by 50% during his first term, addressing the “cost-of-living crisis,” curbing “out-of-control city government spending,” and to “prioritize” citizens and permanent legal residents when it comes to allocating city resources. Before announcing any aspirations to run for mayor, Tilson garnered national headlines when in July 2024 he urged President Joe Biden to drop out of the race.