Eric Adams has ended his campaign for New York Mayor. Will that be enough to defeat Zohran Mamdani?

 

Eric Adams. BBC/Reuters. 

Eric Adams has ended his campaign for New York Mayor. BBC. Adams is the incumbent mayor and will remain in office until January 1st. Adams was a popular ex police officer but his campaign was undone by corruption allegations. Adams lost the Democratic primary to Zohran Mamdani, a far left candidate, but ran as an independent. Adams has not made any endorsements but appeared to be critical of Mamdani, saying "beware of those who claim the answer to destroy the very system we built together over generations". The comment is perceived to be against Mamdani who is an open socialist. With Adams out, Mamdani will face independent former governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican candidate Curtis Silwa. However, due to the late date of his withdrawal, Adams will still appear on the ballot. 

My Comment:

This was a necessary move if there was any chance of defeating Mamdani. The field was way too crowded and the only thing Adams was doing was splitting the vote. With him out of the way it's very possible that Andrew Cuomo will be the next mayor of New York City. 

I shouldn't have to say why Mamdani would be a disaster for New York City. Mamdani is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, a far left organization and has and still wants to defund the police. He's a Muslim too, and is a pretty open antisemite. Not just being opposed to the war in Israel, but to the point where he won't condemn the October 7th terror attack. He also wants crazy things like a $30 an hour minimum wage and city run grocery stores. In short, he's a far leftist and if he gets into power it will be a disaster. 

Adams was a much better mayor, even if everything negative they say about him is true. Better to have a corrupt mayor than an open socialist. Though I never thought the corruption charges against Adams was anything but political retribution. Adams may or may not have been corrupt, but it was clear that the Biden administration was punishing him for speaking out about their immigration policies. It was good that Trump dropped the charges, even if he was corrupt, because it was clear political retribution. 

Of course it's not like the other major candidate in the race is great. Andrew Cuomo is someone that shouldn't have a political career. Cuomo got me-too'd but that's not what I am talking about. Cuomo was the Governor who made the incredibly bad decision to house coronavirus patients in nursing homes, leading to unnecessary deaths. That should have ended his career but he's attempting a comeback. To be fair, he was doing better in the polls than Adams, and I reluctantly endorse him over Mamdani, but that's damning by faint praise. 

The real problem is Curtis Silwa. Silwa is a long term activist and a Republican candidate that has a long history of fighting crime with his Guardian Angels organization. Normally I would be all in on Silwa, but the problem is that he can't win. With Adams out Cuomo is still way behind. If Silwa drops out? Then there is a real chance for Cuomo to win. If Cuomo was smart he would make some kind of deal with Silwa to ensure that he drops out, because otherwise, I don't like his chances. 

Of course there is another problem. Even with Adams gone, his name will still be on the ballot in November. It's too late legally to take his name off the ballot. And if Silwa drops out it's the same story. In what appears to be a close election, it could be what determines who gets into office and I think it might mean that Mamdani will end up ruining New York.