Adams’ re-election bid faces hurdles after campaign funds were rejected for the 10th time

On the 6th, the New York City Campaign Finance Board (CFB) rejected Mayor Eric Adams’s request for a million-dollar campaign matching fund for the tenth time. The board issued a strongly worded statement, suggesting no funds would be disbursed to Adams’ campaign in the near future.

The CFB cited the Adams campaign’s failure to submit required documentation, leading it to believe it violated laws. “The Board believes the Adams campaign provided incomplete and misleading information to the CFB and obstructed its investigation.”

The decision deepens the long-standing standoff between Adams and regulators and further widens his disadvantage in terms of campaign resources. His current opponents, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa, have overlapping support bases. If the funding shortfall persists, Adams will be forced to invest heavily in fundraising, distracting him from his campaign and further hindering his already challenging turnaround.

Last month, Adams sued the CFB, seeking to compel the granting of funds, but the case was dismissed. In his ruling, federal Judge Nicholas Garaufis stated that the CFB had the authority to deny funding due to insufficient documentation. However, Adams’ campaign viewed the ruling as good news, as the judge also noted that the federal investigation into Adams’ alleged bribery should not be relied upon, as Adams was legally presumed innocent.

Adams’ legal team had initially believed that simply completing the documentation would secure funding, but the meeting on the 6th dashed those hopes. The CFB emphasized that its suspicions of wrongdoing by Adams were based in part on its internal investigation, not on the content of the external prosecution.

Adams’ campaign did not respond to the CFB’s latest decision. Since December 2024, the CFB has repeatedly denied Adams’ campaign funding applications, in part due to allegations of “dummy donations” in his federal bribery indictment, which was dismissed by the Trump administration’s Department of Justice this spring.

Meanwhile, Adams’s opponents have received substantial financial support. Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani received approximately $1.7 million in public funds, Srivastava received approximately $1.9 million, and Jim Walden received over $200,000. Cuomo, for the second time since the June 24 primary, did not receive matching funds. His team said they did not apply for this round of funding, but that fundraising progress has improved and they will prepare to apply for the next round of funds at the end of this month.