New York City Comptroller Brad Lander pulled in the largest fundraising of any candidate running against Mayor Adams in next year’s election in the last reporting period, new campaign finance filings show.
But in a glaring omission, Adams’ submission was not included in the city’s Campaign Finance Board’s latest release of financial filings after his campaign missed the board’s 5:30 p.m. deadline. As a result, CFB officials said they cannot release his application for public examination until Tuesday.
Representatives for Adams — who is under federal indictment on bribery charges, faces a corruption scandal that has prompted more than a dozen of his top aides to resign in recent weeks and is fighting a draft CFB audit that shows his campaign for 2021 failed to properly document $2.3 million in revenue expenditures – did not return requests for comment on why the latest filing did not arrive on time.
Meanwhile, Lander, a prominent left-wing critic of Adams, celebrated that his records showed he raised $330,115 from 2,315 donors in the last reporting period, which ran from July 12 through last Monday. That catch made Lander, who launched his 2025 mayoral bid on July 30, the most successful fundraiser of the four candidates running against the embattled mayor in next June’s Democratic mayoral primary.
When factoring in the cash transferred from his audit campaign and the estimated public funds all candidates will receive in December, Lander’s team said it has raised $4.5 million so far, just over half of the $7.93 million spending cap for the 2025 primaries.
“We are extremely pleased and excited by the overwhelming enthusiasm for Brad’s campaign,” said Rebecca Rodriguez, Lander’s senior advisor. “Today’s results make it very clear: Brad Lander is the leading candidate for mayor.”
Yet Adams, who has rejected calls to resign over his legal troubles, was sitting on a war chest of more than $3 million in private funds during the last reporting period, which ended July 11, easily outpacing all of his challengers in terms of money. exceeded. race.
By contrast, Lander’s cash balance at last filing was just $279,338, as he has spent more than $688,000 of what he has raised on staff, fundraising, consulting services and other expenses.
Much of Adams’ cash advantage can be attributed to the fact that he has been raising money for his re-election almost since the day he became mayor on January 1, 2022.
Not far behind Lander in the latest round of fundraising was Scott Stringer, the former city comptroller who ran against Adams in 2021 and is trying his luck again next year.
Stringer’s records show he raised $193,044 from 1,364 donors in the last reporting period. His team said that makes him eligible for $3.2 million in campaign money to date, when taking into account estimated public matching funds, and among the donations he received in the latest period was one from actress Scarlett Johansson.
“It shows that we are prepared for whatever comes next, whether that’s a special election or a larger primary campaign in the future,” Stringer told the Daily News in an interview, referring to the possibility that a special election will have to be called will be deregistered if Adams resigns or is removed from office.
The other two 2025 candidates are Senator Zellnor Myrie of Brooklyn and Senator Jessica Ramos of Queens.
Myrie, whose Brooklyn district was formerly represented by Adams when he was in the Senate, raised $147,010, up from 1,029 last term. Ramos, a fellow progressive Democrat, raised just $54,313, even though she didn’t launch her 2025 campaign until September 13.
Both Myrie and Ramos said their fundraising numbers are positive enough to keep them competitive.
“New Yorkers from all corners of the city are rallying behind Zellnor because they long for fresh, new leadership at City Hall,” said Monica Klein, spokeswoman for Myrie.
It remains to be seen whether other politicians will join the 2025 mayoral elections.
It has long been rumored that former Gov. Andrew Cuomo could launch a campaign for mayor, especially if Adams resigns. More recently, sources have said that state Attorney General Letitia James, Cuomo’s political foe, is also considering a run.
