After Mayor Eric Adams was indicted on federal corruption charges last year, his campaign donations dried up. The mayor, a prolific fund-raiser, received only $250 during the last recording period after his indictment became public.
But in the last three months, Mr. Adams has seen a turn in fortune.
On Wednesday, the mayor’s campaign said that it had raised $250,000 in the most recent period. Asked on Monday about his fund-raising, Mr. Adams said his numbers would demonstrate that “my base of support is still there.”
The ability to raise funds may be especially critical for the mayor: Last month, the Campaign Finance Board denied Mr. Adams public matching funds for his campaign, stripping him of the generous eight-for-one match of small-dollar donations.
The loss of matching funds cost the Adams campaign more than $4 million. After the ruling, Mr. Adams said he could win without public matching dollars. The mayor’s lawyer said he was working with the board to address the compliance issues.
Mr. Adams was easily on track to raise the maximum amount allowed in the June 24 primary, $7.9 million, before his matching funds were blocked. The mayor, who has pleaded not guilty to the federal charges, is scheduled to stand trial in April.
The disruption in Mr. Adams’s fund-raising efforts has allowed his competitors in the June primary to catch up after a robust fund-raising period. The dollar amounts are an indication of the strength of potential candidates as they begin to release campaign proposals and challenge Mr. Adams.
Candidates often highlight their public matching-fund donations as a strong signal of support because only donations from city residents are eligible to be matched.
Brad Lander, the comptroller, said his campaign raised almost $219,000 this period, more than $103,000 of which is eligible for matching funds, which would mean he has raised more than $1 million this period. The haul would bring Mr. Lander’s total to $5.4 million since he began his campaign, including expected matching funds.
“This incredible response shows that New Yorkers are hungry for honest, effective leadership,” Mr. Lander said in a statement.
Zellnor Myrie, a state senator from Brooklyn, raised more than $183,000 this fund-raising period and crossed the threshold to receive matching funds.
His campaign said he has raised more than $647,000 overall, including more than $300,000 eligible for matching funds, bringing his total raised to more than $3 million.
Scott Stringer, the former comptroller, said his campaign raised more than $197,000 this period and more than $1 million with matching funds, bringing his total to $4.1 million.
Zohran Mamdani, an assemblyman from Queens. said his campaign raised over $642,000, about $300,000 of which qualifies to be matched, bringing his total raised to more than $3 million.
Jim Walden, a lawyer seeking to run on the Independence Party line, said he raised $630,000.
The Campaign Finance Board had yet to release any of the mayoral candidates’ filings as of early Wednesday afternoon, and the fund-raising numbers from the candidates are self-reported.
According to the last filing publicly available, which covered the three-month period that ended Oct. 7, Mr. Adams had raised $4.1 million and has $3.1 million on hand.
“We expect that number to grow significantly in the near future, and are well positioned to have the maximum amount to spend,” Vito Pitta, the mayor’s campaign’s compliance lawyer, said in a statement.
Mr. Pitta said in an email that he was confident that the campaign would raise the maximum amount, via private or public dollars, “regardless” of the campaign finance board’s “ultimate determination” regarding matching funds.
Christina Greer, a political science professor at Fordham University, said that the mayor’s fund-raising numbers showed that he still retained institutional strength.
“If Eric Adams is still raising money after an indictment, resignations and questions about his management style and the future of the city, it points to the power of incumbency and the fact that labor and the business and real estate communities have been silent,” she said. “If he was dead in the water, we would hear about it from these powerful groups, and we have not.”
But Mr. Myrie’s campaign questioned the exuberance from the mayor’s campaign over his $250,000 haul.
“No amount of money is going to make New Yorkers forget that under Eric Adams, rents keep rising, the subway feels less safe and families are moving out because they can’t afford child care,” said Monica Klein, a spokeswoman for Mr. Myrie’s campaign.
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