NYC mayor Adams launches reelection bid

NEW YORK

New York mayor Eric Adams launched his reelection campaign on June 26 by taking direct aim at the credentials of his presumed Democratic opponent, Zohran Mamdani.

"It's a choice between a candidate with a blue collar and one with a suit and a silver spoon," Adams, who was elected in 2021 as a Democrat but is running as an independent, told supporters outside City Hall.

Adams, 64, is now facing off against 33-year-old Mamdani, a self-declared socialist who on June 24 surprisingly beat out former Governor Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic Party primary.

Mamdani's win has yet to be certified, but Adams is already campaigning against him with accusations of empty idealism and false promises of "giving everything to everyone for free."

"They have a record of tweets. I have a record on these streets. A record of results. They talk about problems? I fix them. That's the difference. You don't lead this city from a soapbox," Adams said of Mamdani.

Mamdani's surprise win resonated as a political thunderclap, drawing the ire of U.S. President Donald Trump and his collaborators, who accuse the left-leaning Democrat of being a radical extremist.

In response on June 26, Mamdani said he launched his campaign to target Adams's corruption and his failure to address affordability.

He promised to "end this era of corruption, incompetence and the betrayal of working class New Yorkers."