Mayor Eric Adams has announced that he’s ditching the Democratic party in favor of running for reelection as an independent candidate just one day after a federal judge vanquished his corruption case.
“More than 25,000 New Yorkers signed my Democratic primary petition, but the dismissal of the bogus case against me dragged on too long making it impossible to mount a primary campaign while these false accusations were held over me,” Mr. Adams said in a video message posted to X early Thursday morning.
“But I’m not a quitter. I’m a New Yorker. And that is why today, although I am still a Democrat, I am announcing that I will forgo the Democratic primary for mayor and appeal directly to all New Yorkers as an independent candidate in the general election.”
On Wednesday, United States District Judge Dale Ho of the Southern District of New York, dismissed the case against Mr. Adams with prejudice, preventing it from being refiled in the future. The ruling comes after the Justice Department withdrew its request in February to dismiss the charges after several prosecutors at New York and Washington had refused to seek out a removal at the behest of the Trump Administration.
“There may or may not be good reasons to drop this prosecution. But the reasons articulated by DOJ, if taken at face value, are inconsistent with a decision to leave the charges in the Indictment hanging like the proverbial Sword of Damocles over the Mayor,” Judge Ho wrote in his motion.
“Some will undoubtedly find today’s decision unsatisfying.”
Mr. Adams also addressed in his announcement how the charges that were against him may have shifted his support among the voters.
“I know that the accusations leveled against me may have shaken your confidence in me and that you may rightly have questions about my conduct,” he said. “And let me be clear, although the charges against me were false, I trusted people I should not have and I regret that. But the issues I face are nothing compared to yours.”
The mayor will likely face an uphill battle as he campaigns for reelection. He has until May 27 to submit petitions to the Board of Elections while other democrats, including former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo are anticipated to file as early as Thursday, according to reports.
Mr. Adams also only has $3 million in his war chest as of last month, only netting $36,000 during the first campaign filing period.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
