Out of the 423 donors who this month gave the authorized max quantity of $2,100 to Cuomo’s mayoral marketing campaign in its first two weeks, about 10%, or 41 people, have been monetary supporters of Adams’ profitable 2021 marketing campaign.
In complete, the ex-governor raked in at the least $126,000 from 135 people who’ve beforehand made political contributions to Adams — together with executives in New York’s highly effective actual property, lobbying and finance sectors, information present. That’s practically 9% of the $1.5 million Cuomo raised complete within the two week stretch after his March 1 marketing campaign launch.
Ken Frydman, a New York PR veteran who has represented funding companies, stated Cuomo’s courting of Adams donors in actual property, lobbying and finance is particularly key. Such donors are a part of the “permanent government” class that holds extraordinary affect over metropolis politics, Frydman argued.
“They think Andrew’s the better investment,” he stated. “Money chases political power, and if you’re handicapping it they’re obviously betting on Cuomo because they see him as the better horse.”
In most polls of June’s Democratic mayoral main thus far, Cuomo is outrunning Adams by a 3:1 margin.
An analogous pattern of donor defections holds true for Speaker Adams: Previous supporters of Eric Adams pumped at the least $14,325 into her nascent mayoral coffers within the eight days she spent fundraising earlier than final Friday’s submitting deadline, making up greater than 11% of her complete $128,000 haul.
Among the many ex-Eric Adams supporters who helped propel the speaker’s fundraising rally have been at the least 13 registered lobbyists and people doing enterprise with the mayor’s administration.
Metropolis Council Speaker Adrienne Adams. (Barry Williams / New York Day by day Information)
Cuomo’s defector donors embody Laurie Tisch, a billionaire philanthropist who maxed out her contribution to Cuomo after giving $2,100 to Adams final time round. Ramy Sharp, a designer, and Richard Ruben, a rich developer, every gave $2,000 to Adams’ 2021 marketing campaign, however this month gave maxed out donations to Cuomo.
Anthony Scaramucci, a financier and onetime Trump administration official, was one other distinguished determine to offer the max to Cuomo’s marketing campaign this month, and his agency Skybridge Capital donated $100,000 to an excellent PAC supporting Cuomo’s run. Scaramucci beforehand donated $2,000 to Adams’ 2021 marketing campaign and one other $2,100 to his reelection bid in July.
Tyler Morse, a distinguished New York hotelier, donated the authorized max to each Cuomo and the speaker this month, information present. That comes after he gave $2,000 to Adams’ 2021 mayoral bid.
Basil Smikle, a veteran political strategist who served as govt director of the New York State Democratic Celebration and managed Ray McGuire’s 2021 mayoral marketing campaign, stated the pattern of donors flocking to Cuomo and Speaker Adams after backing the mayor in 2021 signifies there’s rising dissatisfaction with the incumbent. A Quinnipiac College ballot from early March pegged the mayor’s approval ranking at 20%.
“He came into office with a lot of political capital and came in very strong with promises of making the city safe and bringing it back from COVID, but there has been a lot of disappointment in his mayoralty and I think a lot of donors want an alternative,” Smikle stated.
The donor pivot from Adams comes as his 2025 marketing campaign is going through robust headwinds.
Filings launched this week reveal the mayor raised simply $36,000 for his reelection bid prior to now two months as he stays hobbled by the record-low approval scores, his federal corruption indictment and surrounding scandals. The Marketing campaign Finance Board has denied him public matching funds on account of his legal case, which revolves round alleged straw donations from Turkish authorities operatives.
The mayor has pleaded not responsible to the fees and the feds have moved to dismiss the case. However that has turn out to be a problem as properly for Adams because the phrases of the dismissal have been extensively criticized as making Adams beholden to the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. Adams has denied a quid professional quo.
Amid the challenges, Adams hasn’t dominated out working as an unbiased in November’s common mayoral election ought to he lose June’s Democratic main.
Cuomo, the speaker and the mayor have similarities as average Democrats working on their previous achievements and trying to attraction to a core base of Black, outer-borough voters.
However Smikle argued the donor defections come all the way down to a extra primary difficulty.
“I think voters want someone who can run city government,” he stated. “There’s a movement toward a manager, a management candidacy, and I think donors see Cuomo and the speaker as people they know and are comfortable with.”
Adams marketing campaign spokesman Todd Shapiro didn’t instantly return a request for remark Thursday. However the mayor has of late began taking extra pointed intention at Cuomo.
“When you look at the problems we are facing around public safety, it was born out of Albany, it was the laws that he passed and he wanted to see move forward,” Adams stated on “The Reset Talk Show” Wednesday when requested for his ideas on Cuomo’s proposal to rent extra NYPD officers.
“You can’t come back later and try to reinvent your life when you were in office already,” Adams added of Cuomo, who resigned as governor in 2021 amid sexual misconduct accusations he denies.
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. (David Dee Delgado/Getty Photos)
One of the crucial startling revelations on this week’s mayoral marketing campaign finance disclosures is that a few of Adams’ onetime confidantes are throwing help behind Speaker Adams.
That features David Banks, the mayor’s first faculties chancellor and longtime pal, who gave $250 to Adrienne Adams’ marketing campaign this month. Banks’ youthful brother, authorities guide Terence Banks, gave one other $175 to the speaker, information present.
The Banks brothers performed distinguished roles within the mayor’s 2021 marketing campaign, each by elevating funds and donating — nevertheless it seems the connection soured after the siblings had their properties raided by the feds final 12 months as a part of a public corruption investigation. The faculties chancellor was pushed out of his function by the mayor after the raids.
Others who’ve backed Adrienne Adams’ marketing campaign embody Roberto Perez, the mayor’s former intergovernmental affairs director, who this month gave the speaker $400, the max he can contribute as a lobbyist. That comes after Perez gave the mayor’s reelection marketing campaign $400 final June, weeks earlier than his indictment.
Information additionally present Staten Island Councilwoman Kamillah Hanks, who has endorsed Cuomo after backing Eric Adams in 2021, pitched in $100 to Cuomo’s marketing campaign this month after giving $250 to Adams final cycle.
The sample applies to extra grassroots help, too. A plumber and development superintendent have swapped their help to Cuomo from Adams, every donating $250 to the ex-governor this month, and Kimberly Recchia, a metropolis public college trainer, chipped in $500 to the speaker’s marketing campaign after donating the identical quantity to Eric Adams’ 2021 marketing campaign, information present.
Moreover donations, Cuomo has scooped up a number of endorsements from influential people and teams that Eric Adams relied on for help final time round.
That features Brooklyn Democratic Celebration head Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, one of many mayor’s most loyal political allies, who endorsed Cuomo final Sunday.
“She is a very dear friend, and you don’t take any of this personal,” the mayor instructed reporters Monday when requested in regards to the Brooklyn Democratic boss’ flip to Cuomo. “Politics is not personal.”
Initially Printed: March 20, 2025 at 11:13 AM EDT
