Election officials on Monday denied a request from New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ 2025 campaign for millions in public matching dollars.
The decision — based on bookkeeping irregularities and a federal criminal case against Adams involving straw donors — deals a body blow to the beleaguered mayor’s reelection effort, which he must now redouble to make up for the withheld cash.
It comes just a day after Adams’ top adviser Ingrid Lewis-Martin stepped down amid a criminal probe into her own dealings — an investigation that appears to be unrelated to the federal case.
Adams’ campaign attorney Vito Pitta expressed hope the New York City Campaign Finance Board will reverse its decision at a future meeting.
“While today’s ruling by CFB to withhold matching funds at this time is disappointing, we will continue to work with the board to address any issues so that funds can be appropriately disbursed,” he said in a statement. “The mayor’s campaign continues to have far more resources than his opponents’, and we are very confident we will have the support we need to spend the maximum amount allowable in the upcoming primary.”
Mayoral candidates who receive donations from New Yorkers of up to $250 are eligible to have the contribution matched eightfold with public tax dollars — a system that encourages small-dollar donations to reduce influence peddling.
But officials from the Campaign Finance Board, which oversees the city’s campaign finance system, voted unanimously Monday to deny Adams’ request for that lucrative line of funding.
“After thoroughly reviewing all available information, including the details of the indictment of Mayor Adams, the board has determined that there is reason to believe the Adams campaign has engaged in conduct detrimental to the matching funds program in violation of the law, including the Campaign Finance Act and the board rules,” Board Chair Frederick Schaffer said at the meeting. “His campaign also failed to provide documents and information requested by the board. Accordingly, Mayor Adams’ campaign for reelection has failed to demonstrate eligibility for public funds payment at this time.”
All told, Adams had asked for $4.5 million from the board — roughly equal to the $4.1 million he has raised directly from donors over the last three years.
Schaffer noted that Adams’ campaign would be able to appeal the decision.
Without the additional cash, Adams will have to hit the fundraising circuit along with all his competitors, a time-consuming distraction for a sitting mayor who thought he had already raised the maximum allowed with six months to spare before the June Democratic primary.
Adams voiced confidence just a day before the ruling, saying on MSNBC that the board follows “precedent” when it comes to doling out matching funds — and that the only time they’ve denied matching funds under similar circumstances was when someone was convicted of wrongdoing.
But he appeared to anticipate the CFB’s ruling as well.
Candidates who participate in the matching program can accept a maximum of $2,100 from each donor under CFB rules. At a Dec. 3 fundraiser in Puerto Rico co-hosted by cryptocurrency mogul and former child actor Brock Pierce, an event first reported by POLITICO, the mayor asked for maximum donations of $3,700 — a sum he’s only allowed to collect if he opts out of the matching program.
Adams’ campaign attorney Pitta said at the time the invitation including that limit was not authorized by the campaign, and that the campaign was still participating in the matching funds program — a declaration supported by his statement Monday.
While the CFB’s denial presents yet another setback for Adams — his poll numbers are also historically low and he’ll be defending himself in a criminal trial just weeks before the primary — being free of the matching system does have its perks.
As a sitting mayor, he would likely have an easier time raising the larger-dollar donations he’d be allowed. And he would be permitted to exceed the spending cap placed on those in the matching program — though his competitors would then be allowed to try to catch up.
The board has raised numerous issues with the mayor’s 2025 reelection campaign including scores of potentially invalid claims for matching dollars and undisclosed individuals who are suspected of acting as third-party fundraisers.
More problematic for Adams has been the attention from federal prosecutors.
Damian Williams, the recently departed U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, has alleged Adams accepted straw donations and participated in a wide-ranging bribery scheme involving the Turkish government that entailed funneling illicit foreign money to his 2025 campaign.
Multiple news reports, including one in POLITICO, have also found evidence of straw donations. A report in THE CITY discovered the Adams campaign appeared to mislead regulators about the cost of a fundraiser.
A leading challenger to Adams’ reelection, Brad Lander, also failed to get public matching funds Monday after missing a key paperwork deadline, POLITICO first reported. In fact, Scott Stringer was the only mayoral candidate to be granted the money, receiving a payment of $2.1 million.
“New York needs a proven reformer to clean up City Hall and get the government back to delivering for people in this city,” Stringer said in a statement. “Our campaign qualifying for matching funds shows that New Yorkers trust that I am the best candidate to do so.”
Other candidates failed to meet the threshold for qualifying donations, but will be eligible for payment in February.
The New York Working Families Party, a frequent Adams foe, immediately pounced on the board’s decision — a line of attack that’s sure to be replicated throughout the mayor’s reelection effort.
“We are relieved to see the CFB’s decision to put public tax dollars to good use and prevent abuse of the system,” party co-directors Jasmine Gripper and Ana María Archila, who called Adams’ fundraising practices unethical and potentially illegal, said in a statement. “It is time for New York City to elect a new mayor who can govern with integrity in service of New York City’s working families.”
