NYC Mayor Adams Shows He Isn't Giving Up: He's in the Game Now

Never let it be said that New York City Mayor Eric Adams is just bowing quietly out. In a general election campaign in the Big Apple on Thursday, Hizzoner came out swinging, taking the fight directly to his main opponent and the Democratic Party's mayoral nominee, Zohran Mamdani.

The mayor isn't mincing words, either.

Mayor Eric Adams officially kicked off his re-election campaign Thursday, pitting himself as the blue collar candidate saving the city from “silver spoon” socialist Zohran Mamdani.
Adams addressed a raucous crowd of more than 100 supporters — mixed with some vocal hecklers — from City Hall’s steps, arguing his battle-tested record showed he deserved four more years as Big Apple mayor.
“It’s a choice between a candidate with a blue collar and one with a suit and a silver spoon,” he said, referring to Mamdani.
Hizzoner’s announcement came after Tuesday’s Democratic mayoral primary, in which the dark-horse candidate Mamdani stunningly bested former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

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Bearing in mind the city's political landscape, this isn't the worst tack to take. Zohran Mamdani's pitch will resonate with a lot of wealthy urban liberals, who like socialism because they are wealthy enough to stand it (for now). And it will resonate with some in the dependency class, who will be attracted by the promises of an endless stream of free Schiff. But the commie Mamdani's numbers aren't so good among the working poor, nor among the "people of color" in the city, and there is a lot of overlap in those two groups.

Reactions to this first campaign appearance, by all indications, were mixed.

Energy exuded from the crowd, who hooped and hollered at Adams’ swipes against Mamdani, attacks on socialism and boasts of taking guns off the streets in black and brown communities.
The boisterous throng also gleefully engaged with Adams’ introductory speakers, at times drowning them out with chants of “four more years” in both English and Spanish.
The mayor’s speech leaned heavily on his faith and personal backstory, from his dyslexia to formative childhood arrest to being labeled a “criminal” as mayor.
“If you’re going to be a man of people who are going through a lot, you must be a human being that has gone through a lot,” he said.

It's not clear how well attacks on socialism will work in one of America's most liberal cities. But pushing his blue-collar background? That may resonate with a lot of New Yorkers, at least the ones whose stomping grounds are the South Bronx and not the Upper West Side. Having a compelling back-story never hurts, either.

Winning elections can come down to charisma, though, and that's something Mayor Adams candidly needs to work on. Charisma was a good part of John F. Kennedy's 1960 victory over Richard Nixon, especially after history's first televised presidential debate. Charisma is something President Trump possesses in large quantities, and it helped him win in 2016 against the bitter, sour-faced Hillary Clinton and in 2024 against the cackling Kamala Harris and her pop-eyed running mate, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota.

Barring charisma, though, pushing the narrative of Mamdani's wealthy, privileged upbringing will likely bring the sitting mayor some votes.

Mayor Adams does have one significant advantage: He's won the mayoral election before. He has a big, beautiful pulpit from which to shout his message, and he has a track record. Those are the cards he has to play if he has any hope of winning in November.

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