Where are the Mayoral Candidates?
A 2025 aside
For Compact, I wrote a review offering praise for “Megalopolis.” Don’t miss it.
There is going to be, at the very minimum, a Democratic primary for mayor next June. If Eric Adams, indicted and bleeding staff, resigns, a nonpartisan special election will be held in about three months. I do not know what Adams is going to do. He’s as unpredictable as they come and he loves a good brawl. He’ll cling to City Hall as long as possible.
There are, as of now, four Democrats openly running against him. City Comptroller Brad Lander, Brooklyn State Senator Zellnor Myrie, Queens State Senator Jessica Ramos, and former City Comptroller Scott Stringer have either declared their intentions to run or are raising money for a 2025 campaign. Leftists could have their own candidate, Queens Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, in the race very soon. Mamdani, unlike the others, has not yet announced his intentions to run. (If Adams resigns, Jumaane Williams would become acting mayor, but he has no desire to run against Adams himself.)
Andrew Cuomo, the disgraced former governor, is a rumored contender, and his entrance into the race could entice his bête noire, Attorney General Letitia James, to enter the fray. If James runs, she could win. Or, at the minimum, she’s best positioned to block Cuomo. Neither James nor Cuomo need to make a move right away. They’re well-known enough to play the invisible primary, to bide their time in the shadows talking to wealthy donors, labor leaders, and other interest groups ahead of a potential run. Neither feel particular pressure to be out there.
But I’ll be honest—I have no real idea what Lander, Stringer, Myrie, or Ramos are doing. Well, I know to a degree: they’re performing (minus Stringer) their government jobs and raising money. Raising cash is hard work. I had to do it, once, and hated it. Only a sociopath wants to lock himself in a room for hours at a time and make phone calls for money. It’s numbing work, and most people don’t even answer their phones. And when they do, you’ve got to keep the banter to two minutes or less. Time really is money.
Still, only a delusional candidate does Call Time, as they call it, eight hours a day, seven days a week. Even the maniacal fundraiser leaves some time to appear in daylight. And I’m baffled that Lander, Stringer, Ramos, and Myrie have done so little traditional campaigning at a time when it would be perfect to campaign. Each of them, far from a household name in New York City, has a window to make themselves known. The window has not closed yet but it won’t be open for long, especially if someone like Cuomo quickly gobbles up media oxygen.
These four candidates simply aren’t doing enough beyond fundraising. They’re much more invisible than they think they are, and they’re letting a prime opportunity slip away.