On Sept. 28, 2025, New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) ended his independent re-election bid. In a video posted on X, Adams said, “Despite all we’ve achieved, I cannot continue my re-election campaign. The constant media speculation about my future and the campaign finance board’s decision to withhold millions of dollars have undermined my ability to raise the funds needed for a serious campaign.”

Adams campaigned on expanding housing opportunities, reducing quality-of-life crimes, and removing illegal guns. In April, he withdrew from the Democratic primary to run as an independent in the general election. Adams’ decision to withdraw from the general election will make him the first New York City mayor to serve only one term since David Dinkins (D), who left office in 1993. 

Adams is the second major candidate to withdraw from the race, following James Walden’s (I) decision to end his bid on Sept. 2. Adams’ and Walden’s names will remain on the ballot, as the deadline for independent candidates to remove their names was May 30. On Sept. 11, Judge Jeffrey Pearlman denied Walden’s state court petition to be removed from the ballot, which he filed after the city’s board of elections rejected his removal request.

Adams’ withdrawal leaves three noteworthy candidates in the race: Zohran Mamdani (D), Curtis Sliwa (R), and Andrew Cuomo (I). In five polls of a race between the three candidates, Mamdani has led four, and Cuomo has led in one. Two of the five polls were taken before any candidate’s withdrawal, and three were taken after Walden’s withdrawal. The most recent of these polls, conducted by YouGov from Sept. 7 to 13, showed Mamdani leading with 44%, Cuomo with 30%, Sliwa with 17%, and 9% undecided or voting for a minor-party candidate. The poll was sponsored by CBS News and sampled 1,903 registered voters with a margin of error of 2.7%.