By ABC News

Copyright abc

New York City Mayor Eric Adams dropped his re-election bid on Sunday, likely leaving the race to become the city’s next mayor between Democrat Zohran Mamdani and former New York governor Andrew Cuomo.

“Despite all we’ve achieved, I cannot continue my re-election campaign,” Mr Adams said in a video posted on X.

Mr Adams said he will finish his term, which ends on January 1, 2026.

“I will continue to fight for this city,” he said.

The former New York City police officer has had a brutally unpopular tenure as the leader of America’s largest city, with recent polls for his re-election showing support in the single digits.

In September 2024, Mr Adams became the first of the city’s 110 mayors to be criminally charged whilst in office, after being implicated in a bribery and fraud scheme.

In February 2025, the United States Justice Department ordered federal prosecutors to drop corruption charges against him, arguing that the case was interfering with his ability to aid the president’s crackdown on illegal immigration.

Throughout the case, Mr Adams maintained his innocence and in his video posted on X he stated: “I was wrongfully charged because I fought for this city”.

Mr Adams, a former Democrat who was running as an independent candidate, had been trailing far behind Mr Mamdani and Mr Cuomo, also a former Democrat running as an independent, according to public opinion polls.

Democratic candidate Mr Mamdani holds a sizeable lead ahead of the November 4 election.

President Donald Trump, a Republican who has warned about the consequences of a win for Mr Mamdani, earlier this month suggested that Mr Adams pull out of the race even as the mayor swore he would remain until the end.

Mr Adams appeared to swipe at Mr Mamdani in his remarks on Sunday.

“Major change is welcome and necessary, but beware of those who claim the answer to destroy the very system we built together over generations,” Mr Adams said.

“That is not change, that is chaos,” he said.

Mr Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist, has alarmed much of the New York business community and some within the Democratic Party with his leftist views.

The fear among Mr Mamdani’s critics had been that Mr Adams and Mr Cuomo would split the opposition vote, giving Mr Mamdani an easy victory.