Monday marked three months to the day until the Primary Election in New York City — which means a crowded field of Democratic contenders has a narrowing window to stand out among the pack.
One candidate marked the calendar milestone with a big announcement, declaring a formidable war chest of city matching funds.
Assemblymember and current mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani said his campaign has reached the city's fundraising limit for the primary from a combined 18,000 donors. Those donors have helped secure the candidate from Queens the maximum $8 million in public financing. His campaign appears to be the first to reach that benchmark.
"What we are seeing here is a hunger for a different kind of politics," Mamdani said Monday from a press conference near City Hall.
The funds are likely to help Mamdani get a leg-up as he races to gain name recognition in a contest against other big political names, like former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and current Mayor Eric Adams.
Adams on Monday tried to quiet questions of whether he's actually participating in the mayoral race. The mayor said that despite the way it might look — raising very little money and not attending candidate forums — he's running as a Democrat in the primary.
"Going in the streets and shake hands with people? I do that. Kiss babies? I do that," he told reporters. "What is the definition that you think I'm not doing that a candidate would do?"
The mayor even sounded more like a traditional candidate: going after Cuomo, the perceived frontrunner.
"When you look at how former Gov. Cuomo is running, he's in his bubble. You can't get near him. He's not doing this," Adams said, before criticizing the former governor's COVID record.
"He incorrectly handled the nursing home issues, I think those family members are right," Adams said. "There was racial disparity in how he dealt with even vaccines."
In response to the mayor's barbs, Cuomo's team pointed to his 2021 promise of vaccine equity. A spokesperson added, "New Yorkers are smart: they know the mayor is a desperate man who is an agent of Trump, and desperate men will do or say anything.”
City Comptroller Brad Lander, another Democrat in the race for mayor, also took a jab at Cuomo on Monday.
"Andrew Cuomo is being bankrolled by some of the most extreme flanks of MAGA world," Lander said.
