Adams May Get His Charges Dropped, but His Re-election Fight Remains

Last updated: February 11, 2025 2:15 pm

3 Min Read

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It is unclear if the request to drop the indictment against the New York City mayor will sway enough disaffected voters to his side.

President Trump, speaking at the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner in Manhattan in 2024, has empathized with Mayor Eric Adams, center row, left, over his legal problems. Credit… Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times Published Feb. 10, 2025 Updated Feb. 11, 2025, 9:15 a.m. ET With the criminal case against Mayor Eric Adams now imperiled, his chances of re-election this year seem poised to receive at least a modest boost.

But whether it will be enough to overcome his flagging poll numbers — recent surveys suggested that he was favored by around 10 percent of respondents — was far from certain.

The fact that a potential dismissal would come at the hands of President Trump, who is wildly unpopular among New York City Democrats, may diminish some of the benefits for the mayor of no longer facing a five-count federal indictment.

Mr. Adams’s relentless currying of favor with Mr. Trump, both before Mr. Trump’s re-election and after, had already given ample ammunition to the mayor’s challengers, who have argued that Mr. Adams put his own interests ahead of the city’s.

The mayor’s overtures to Mr. Trump have also alienated some of Mr. Adams’s Black supporters, an important part of the mayor’s constituency that he will need to nurture as he seeks re-election as the city’s second Black mayor.

The Rev. Al Sharpton, a close ally of Mr. Adams, said the mayor would have a “challenging” time explaining the dismissal of the charges to his base of supporters.

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