The New York City mayoral race was already shaping up to be a campaign like no other — and then the incumbent ditched his party.
The move came just after a federal judge dismissed Mayor Eric Adams’ corruption case at the behest of the Trump istration, making Adams’ most significant legal troubles disappear.
The next day, Adams declared that he would not be running as a Democrat for mayor, meaning he will by the competitive ranked choice primary — a race that has been shaken up by the entry of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who in early May has said he is also preparing for an independent run if he loses in June’s primary.
Meanwhile, a pack of contenders have ed the contest, including Speaker Adrienne Adams, city Comptroller Brad Lander and progressive Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani — all fierce critics of Cuomo and Adams.
Here’s the latest on who’s in the running to become the next mayor of New York City, in alphabetical order, now that the June primary ballot is set by city election officials.
In the Race
City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams (D)
Speaker of the City Council, representing parts of Queens.
Late on Feb. 26, the City Council speaker filed paperwork with the city campaign finance board to create a fundraising group for a potential mayoral run. Adams (no relation to the current mayor) officially entered the race in early March, and is one of the four candidates currently endorsed by the Working Families Party.
She said at a press conference on Feb. 27 that the chants for her to run at caucus weekend in Albany reached a “crescendo” that surprised her.
“I didn’t seek this,” she added.
Adams was elected to the City Council in 2017, and has been the speaker since 2022. She recently ed at least a dozen City Council in calling for the mayor’s resignation.
Mayor Eric Adams (I)
Eric Adams, the former Brooklyn Borough President, is the current mayor of New York City. He once served as an NYPD captain and represented parts of Brooklyn in the State Senate.
He was federally indicted for corruption and bribery in September 2024 for allegedly accepting donations from foreign nationals during his 2021 mayoral campaign. The mayor pleaded not guilty and has maintained his innocence.
In February 2025, the Trump istration demanded that his charges be dropped. This prompted several prosecutors to dismissed his charges “with prejudice.”
Adams then declared that he would be running for mayor as an independent, not a Democrat.
“The values of a working-class base — pro-public safety, pro-worker, pro-quality of life — are still there standing strong even if many who shared them have left the party,” Adams said in his announcement.
Dr. Selma Bartholomew (D)
Educator and entrepreneur from The Bronx
Bartholomew is the president of Legacy Pathways, an education organization that works with schools and districts on teacher training, according to its website.
Known as Dr. Selma B, she grew up in Harlem and said she’s a strong leader as well as an outlier who can lead the city, according to her website.
Although she submitted enough petitions to get on the Democratic primary ballot in June, she’s raised just $1,264.27 from 11 donors, according to city Campaign Finance Board records. She did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Michael Blake (D)
Former Assemblymember from The Bronx and vice chair of the Democratic National Committee
Current CEO of Atlas Strategy Group and former Assemblymember from The Bronx, Michael Blake ed his candidacy for mayor on Nov. 22. He told Politico in October that he was considering a run, saying that he wants to continue New York’s “history of Black citywide excellence” after Adams’ scandal-plagued istration.
Blake has political roots in the Obama istration, working on the former president’s 2008 and 2012 campaigns and serving during his first term in the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs. Blake then served in the New York Assembly from 2014 to 2020, and lost the race for Public Advocate to Jumaane Williams in 2019. He ran for Congress in 2020, but lost to Rep. Richie Torres (D-Bronx). Blake also served as the vice chair of the Democratic National Committee from 2017 to 2021.
Since then, Blake has been working with his political strategy firm Atlas Strategy Group, and has been ordained as a reverend. He ed Maya Wiley for mayor in 2021.
Andrew Cuomo (D)
The former governor of New York, state attorney general and HUD secretary
After months of his candidacy in early March, saying that he wants to “save our city” that he painted as in deep crisis.
Cuomo will have to overcome the accusations that circled him as he resigned from office, including sexual harassment (which he has denied) and mismanagement of the state during the pandemic.
Before he served three as governor, he served as New York’s attorney general between 2007 and 2010 and as the U.S. Housing Secretary before that.
Comptroller Brad Lander (D)
Current city comptroller and former City Council member in Brooklyn
The left-leaning Lander formally announced his candidacy for mayor on July 30, saying in a video that it was “time for strong, experienced leadership that delivers real results.”
“Nothing can replace New York City, but we can replace a leader when they fail the basic tests of the job,” he said.
Lander was elected to the City Council in 2009, where he represented parts of Brooklyn including Park Slope. He was elected as the city’s comptroller in 2021.
In the years since, he’s been a persistent foe of Mayor Adams, weighing in on the recent Charter Review Commission with budget suggestions. The mayor has criticized and mocked Lander, calling him the “loudest person in New York City,” but saying he hasn’t offered any solutions for the city’s issues.
Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani (D)
State Assembly member representing Astoria, Ditmars-Steinway and Astoria Heights in Queens.
The Assembly member officially filed to run for mayor on Oct. 21, according to the city Campaign Finance Board. He was elected to his seat in 2020 and was recently endorsed for mayor by the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America.
Since then, he’s been building buzz on social media with videos promoting policies focused on affordability in New York City, including proposals to make buses free, provide free childcare and freeze rent hikes on stabilized units. He’s also pitched creating city-run grocery stores that would aim to keep food prices down.
“Everywhere I go, I hear New Yorkers talking about the outrageous prices of groceries,” he told The New York Times in December. “This is a bold and workable plan.”
State Senator Zellnor Myrie (D)
State senator representing parts of Central Brooklyn and chair of the Senate elections committee.
State Senator Myrie represents the same district in Crown Heights previously represented by Adams, after upsetting Adams protege Jesse Hamilton to claim that seat in 2018. An outspoken critic of the Adams istration, Myrie’s run was purely speculative until he launched an exploratory committee in May.
In an interview with NY1’s “Inside City Hall” as he announced his intentions, he said, “This istration has been fumbling the nuts and bolts of government and I think frankly they have disappointed many New Yorkers that I am speaking to.”
Myrie made a name for himself in the Senate by spearheading several vote reform changes, including establishing a statewide voting and elections database, giving voters notice of deficiencies in their absentee ballot with room to fix it so their vote can count, and allowing snacks and non-alcoholic drinks to be given to voters waiting in line at the polls.
Last year, Myrie sponsored a bill to provide universal after-school programming across the state and he’s made that idea a centerpiece of his mayoral campaign.
Paperboy Love Prince (D)
Artist, rapper, entrepreneur
Paperboy Love Prince is running again for mayor, after an energetic and spirited 2021 campaign where they received nearly 4,000 votes.
Their motto this year is “A Clown You Can Trust,” with a campaign ad featuring them dressed as a clown testifying in front of the City Council. They have not raised any money for the campaign, according to records.
State Senator Jessica Ramos (D)
State Senator representing East Elmhurst, Jackson Heights and Corona, Queens and chair of the Senate labor committee.
Ramos officially announced her candidacy for mayor on Sept. 13, saying in a launch video the mayoral election was, like the presidential election in November, a fight for the “heart and soul” of the city. Her video references the investigations into the Adams istration and discusses her work as a labor leader.
“You’ll never have to wonder who I’m working for — or who’s paying me. We need to bring that trust back to city hall,” she said.
“I’m a mother, I’m a renter, I’m a straphanger — and I’m ready to be the next mayor of New York City.”
Ramos has also been in the news for her opposition to a proposed casino bid from Mets owner Steve Cohen in the parking lot around Citi Field. The land, technically parkland, requires her approval to alienate it for development — which she said she won’t do.
Last year, after the first federal investigations into the Adams istration emerged, she told THE CITY the mayor needed to be challenged.
“Somebody should, maybe it’ll be me,” she said.
Curtis Sliwa (R)
Broadcaster, founder of the Guardian Angels and 2021 mayoral candidate
Sliwa said in early September that though he hadn’t filed his paperwork, he plans to run for mayor again in 2025. The Republican candidate, who’s been wearing a jacket declaring himself “The People’s Mayor,” announced his intentions to run again outside of a Staten Island shelter for asylum-seeking migrants, vowing to hold Adams responsible for opening those facilities with little notice to affected neighborhoods.
For decades, Sliwa has been a controversial character in New York’s political landscape, acting at times as an activist, vigilante and pundit.
In 2021, Sliwa earned 27% of the general election ballots to Adams’ 66%.
Former New York City comptroller, Manhattan borough president, assemblymember and 2021 mayoral candidate.
Stringer formed an early committee to explore a possible mayoral run against Adams, ing with the campaign finance board and announcing the move in January 2024.
The former comptroller has been a frequent critic of the mayor’s istration, describing the Adams agenda as “minimalist” to the New York Times.
When it comes to running the city, Stringer has touted his experience, saying he knows his way around New York City’s finances and is able to both lead and manage. Before his time as comptroller, he served as Manhattan borough president and as a State Assembly member. And he isn’t new to competing against Adams; he ran against the mayor in 2021. But he’ll have to overcome what overshadowed that mayoral run: accusations of a sexual assault from his longtime associate Jean Kim.
Scott Stringer filed a defamation suit against Kim stating she caused irreparable harm to him and his political future, but it was initially dismissed by a New York Supreme Court Judge last year. Soon after Stringer appealed, and in April 2024 a state appeals court ruled that he can move forward.
Looking for where he’s stood on the issues? Here’s our “Meet Your Mayor” policy profile of him during the 2021 race.
Whitney Tilson (D)
Investor, longtime Democratic party donor
Tilson, who helped launch Teach for America and managed a hedge fund, launched his campaign at the end of 2024 focusing on his business background. He vowed to cut crime in half within his first term and end homelessness, and has so far been backed by billionaire Bill Ackman.
“The 8.1 million people here really need the government to work well for them: to make sure their neighborhoods and the subways are safe, provide good healthcare and schools, and make sure housing is affordable,” he wrote on his campaign website.
Tilson has never held office, but has been a major Democratic donor in local campaigns for years, Politico reported.
Jim Walden (I)
Former federal prosecutor and prominent lawyer.
Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Walden announced his candidacy for mayor on Oct. 24, promising to run an istration that won’t find itself fielding constant subpoenas and search warrants.
“People are sick and tired of all of this nonsense,” Walden told THE CITY. “They don’t want people taking bribes like in the fire department. They want people working for them.”
Walden might not be a household name, but he’s worked on a number of high-profile legal cases, including representing Joseph Jardin in his lawsuit against Adams which has now become part of the FBI’s indictment of the mayor. Jardin, a former Fire Department official, alleges Adams pressured him to push through an inspection for the Turkish Consulate building.
Walden said he would jump start his campaign fundraising with $500,000 of his own money. He is a ed independent and has not yet said whether he will run as a Democrat or a Republican.
Additional reporting by Ashley Borja.
This article is adapted from a previous version published by THE CITY in 2023.
