This column, from the weekly opinion piece MATTER OF FACT, first appeared on BrooklynReporter.com, the Home Reporter and Spectator dated December 15, 2023
Within the world of New York City politics, four weeks after Election Day 2023, the results of those elections were officially certified just over a week ago. As we turn the page on that election cycle, many have already begun to look at the 2024 campaign, which will include races for all congressional, state assembly, and state senate seats.
In southern Brooklyn, as was the case two years ago, state legislative seats in our purple districts will be extremely competitive. With a legal challenge just having been resolved that will require the state’s congressional district lines to be redrawn again, the composition of constituents’ party affiliations within some districts, including New York’s 11th district, could become less one-sided and, hence, set up a far more hotly contested race in the upcoming campaign season.
However, despite all of these big races that will be hard-fought here in the upcoming months in southern Brooklyn, it seems that in New York City there is far more focus on the 2025 election season, specifically with respect to the office of mayor. That following year’s election for the top citywide office has become the source of much speculation as the current mayor, Eric Adams, faces criticism, controversy, scandal, and historically low approval ratings.
Just last week, Adams received the lowest approval rating in the 27-year history of Quinnipiac’s poll on mayor favorability. According to the poll results, only 28 percent of New Yorkers approve of the job Adams is doing, while 58 percent say they disapprove. The poll found that the primary issues that have led to voters’ historic dissatisfaction have been the sweeping budget cuts he has announced, his handling of the migrant crisis, and his decisions pertaining to city public schools.
With respect to these issues, Adams has somehow done what is rarely seen in our politics, uniting voters from across the political spectrum, as disapproval with his handling of these issues has been widely panned from New Yorkers on the left, on the right, and everywhere in between. Furthermore, with respect to the issue that former NYPD officer Adams has touted as his specialty, crime, 60 percent of voters disapprove of how he has addressed that.
In addition to these typical city governance and policy issues, Adams has also been enveloped in an ever-increasing list of scandals, some with possible criminal implications. Fundraising irregularities, an F.B.I investigation, possible criminal campaign finance interactions with the nation of Turkey, and the fast-tracking of fire inspections for big developers who have donated to his campaign at the expense of apartment buildings and schools, including one in Dyker Heights, has almost certainly led to more than half of New Yorkers saying Adams is untrustworthy and has poor leadership qualities.
Before his recent low approval ratings began spiraling even lower and he became enmeshed in scandal, there had been talk about whether any other Democrats would challenge Adams in a 2025 primary; whether he was vulnerable enough for the type of intra-party challenge an incumbent – especially a Democrat in New York City – can almost never expect to face.
It appears the talk of a potential challenge is becoming far more substantive and making that outcome more likely. Among possible Democratic challengers that have been talked about are the other citywide elected officials, Comptroller Brad Lander and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, as well as Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso. In addition to them, state Senator Jessica Ramos and state Senator Zellnor Myrie have also been rumored as potential candidates for a 2025 primary.
Adams benefitted from a very crowded Democratic primary field in 2021. If there is to be a serious primary challenge to him in 2025, which there should be, this needs to be taken into consideration, as it would certainly help him again, and even more so as an incumbent. Of those on the list of rumored prospective candidates above, at least some will decide not to run, but there are likely others who will jump into the race. It is important, as a party, that during the primary campaign season a crowded field be winnowed down, as that is the only way in which there can be a truly competitive challenge to Adams.
