New York City Mayor Eric Adams has confirmed he’s not dropping out of the mayoral race following reports Trump administration officials were considering offering him a federal position.
The mayoral election in November will be a competitive one with Adams and former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo running as independents and state Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, as the Democratic nominee.
There has been speculation Trump may intervene in the mayor’s race to thwart Mamdani, the frontrunner who has sparred with the president over his administration’s policies, such as its immigration crackdown.
Last month, The New York Times reported Trump took a call with Cuomo as he considered inserting himself into the race. A spokesman for Cuomo and Trump had denied recently speaking to each other when the reporting came out.
On Wednesday, the NYT reported, citing unnamed sources, Trump advisers have their eye on Adams for a possible role in the administration to help clear the crowded campaign field to give Cuomo a better chance of beating Mamdani.
The Associated Press also reported, citing a person familiar with the matter, Trump intermediaries had reached out to Adams’ associates to discuss whether he would consider taking a federal job over another potential term as mayor.
Todd Shapiro, a spokesperson for Adams’ campaign, told The Independent the mayor “has had no discussions with, nor has he met with, President Donald Trump regarding the mayoral race.
“The Mayor is fully committed to winning this election, with millions of New Yorkers preparing to cast their votes.”
Shapiro made Adams’ intentions even clearer in a statement published by the AP: “He is not dropping out of the race.”
The Independent has reached out to the White House for comment.
Whether people believe Adams may leave the race for a position in the White House or for another reason, gamblers bet that he will drop out.
On Wednesday afternoon, Polymarket, a prediction market, says there is a 75 percent chance Adams will drop out of the race based on the bets people are making. On Tuesday, the odds were just under 30 percent.
But the odds went down to 63 percent as of Wednesday night.
Mamdani became the frontrunner in the mayor’s race after beating Cuomo in the Democratic primary in June by 7.7 percentage points.
In a poll conducted by American Pulse Research & Polling from August 14 to 19, Mamdani led his closest competitor, Cuomo, by about 12 percentage points, 36.9 to 24.6 percent, among New York City likely voters.
Curtis Sliwa, a Republican, got 16.8 percent of voter support, and Adams trailed with 11.4 percent.
Mamdani responded to the reports about the Trump administration potentially getting involved in the mayoral race at a Wednesday news conference, calling it “an affront to democracy.”
Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi previously told The Independent of Trump’s reported interest in the former governor, “it seems clear that President Trump would either prefer Mr. Mamdani, whom he refers to as a ‘commie,’ because he believes Mamdani would serve as a political boon to Republicans nationwide in the midterms, symbolizing what he sees as the Democratic Party’s extremism.”
“Alternatively, he may favor Eric Adams, who is a wholly owned subsidiary of the President. And there is already a Republican in the race, who is the nominee of President Trump’s party,” he said.
