Eric Adams’s long-shot reelection campaign is over. The mayor of New York City announced on Sunday that he’s dropping out after months of speculation over whether he could be convinced to leave the race following a scandalous first term that left him polling in fourth place. Here are the latest developments and reactions.

“You got your wish,” he says directly to Cuomo in a new message marking the end of Eric Adams’s campaign:

Trump and his billionaire donors might be able to determine Adams and Cuomo’s actions. But they won't decide this election.

In just over 5 weeks, we'll turn the page on the politics of big money and small ideas — and deliver a government every New Yorker can be proud of. pic.twitter.com/0UENxTENCO

The New York Times reports:

Frank Carone, one of the mayor’s closest advisers who was overseeing his campaign, suggested that his withdrawal “isn’t the end, but a pivot” to defeat Mr. Mamdani. Mr. Carone, who also runs a large lobbying business, said he personally planned to start working for Mr. Cuomo’s campaign or a super PAC aligned with Mr. Cuomo’s interests.

“I had no doubt that the mayor would win and deserved another term,” he said. “However, for many reasons outside of our control, that seemed unlikely at this point.”

It’s not yet clear what, specifically, prompted Adams to give up his bid this specific weekend, particularly since his reelection campaign has been DOA for a very long time, he so far does not seem to have another job lined up, it’s now too late to keep his name off the ballot, and he hasn’t immediately endorsed an alternative.

The GOP congressman says the GOP nominee is the best option:

Eric Adams (@ericadamsfornyc) did the right thing for the city. It’s now time for others to do the same.

We must defeat @ZohranKMamdani in November and stop the socialist movement that is destroying New York.

I’m proud to support @CurtisSliwa and encourage everyone to do so. https://t.co/ONyUsWyZXK

Ross Barkan notes that “the mayor’s base of outer borough Black and Latino Democrats, as well as Orthodox Jews, are, in theory, Cuomo’s for the taking”

What complicates Cuomo’s path are his own significant weaknesses as a candidate. He is a lackluster campaigner with a thin field operation. The scandals of his administration—nursing home deaths in the pandemic, sexual harassment allegations that drove him from office—are well-remembered. In the primary, he was able to benefit from enormous super PAC spending and the backing of many politicians and labor unions, only to finish a distant second. Though frontrunner Zohran Mamdani has struggled to unify the full Democratic establishment behind him due to his socialist politics, he has far more support than he did in June. Many large labor unions have abandoned Cuomo to coalesce behind him, and enough top Democrats, including Governor Kathy Hochul, have offered endorsements, if Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries have been stubbornly neutral. (Disclosure: In 2018, when I ran for office, Mamdani was my campaign manager.)

What matters more, though, is that Cuomo won’t have such a sizable super PAC behind him and institutional Democrats would rather stay on the sidelines than support him. The city’s wealthiest donors, meanwhile, are mostly keeping their powder dry, waiting to see if Cuomo gains momentum or Mamdani runs away from the rest of the field. There’s also no guarantee all of Adams’ vote heads to Cuomo. There are Adams supporters, Black voters especially, who regularly back Democrats, and could be courted by Mamdani because he is the Democratic nominee. Cuomo, as an independent, is at a significant disadvantage.

Read the rest here.

It’s not immediately clear that Adams’s exit will have a........

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