The Democrats are at an all-time low. But it’s going to get worse.
Because a top Democrat has shredded the Party in this stunning bad blood departure.
Eric Adams Ditches Democrats, Decides To Run As Independent For Reelection
New York City’s Mayor Eric Adams has had enough of the Democratic Party’s chokehold on the nation’s largest city. In a stunning move, he’s ditching the party’s primary and launching an independent bid for reelection, setting the stage for a messy, bare-knuckle brawl in a city that’s long been a Democratic stronghold. This isn’t a triumphant exit—it’s a desperate lunge for survival after the party’s radical wing turned on him for daring to call out their excesses. Adams, once a self-proclaimed poster boy for a new Democratic era, now finds himself cast out, a political pariah taking on a system that’s drifted far from the working-class roots he claims to champion.
In an interview with reporters over at POLITICO, Adams laid out his battle plan: “mount a real independent campaign” built on a coalition of ethnic minorities outside Manhattan’s elite bubble—the same voters who propelled him to victory four years ago. He’s banking on their loyalty, even as he admits the federal bribery charges that dogged him until a judge tossed them out Wednesday left him “handcuffed.” Now unshackled, he’s ready to let loose. “I have been this racehorse that has been held back,” he said. “This is so unnatural for me.”
The backdrop is a city tilting ever so slightly rightward after last November’s elections, a shift Adams hopes to ride. Yet his path is a tightrope over a canyon. With a dismal 20 percent approval rating, he’s staring down a Democratic primary he’d almost certainly lose—polls show Andrew Cuomo leading the pack—and a financial gut punch after being cut off from over $4 million in public matching funds. “I’m in the race to the end. I’m not running on the Democratic line. It’s just not realistic to turn around my numbers and to run a good campaign (from) where we are right now,” he told POLITICO. “It hurts like hell.” That’s not bravado; it’s a plea.
Adams isn’t just running from defeat—he’s running from a Democratic Party that’s lurched left, leaving him behind. His campaign kicks off Thursday with a video where he’ll bare his soul, admit to “lapses in judgment,” and paint his rivals as crime-coddling weaklings. He’s got until May 27 to scrape together 3,750 signatures for a November ballot spot anchored on public safety, a cause he’s clung to like a lifeline. It’s a long shot in a city of 3.3 million registered Democrats, dwarfing the 1.1 million independents and 558,778 Republicans. But Adams sees a crack in the armor: the Democratic nominee might squeak by with a slim margin in a crowded field, leaving room for him to siphon off disgruntled voters—if they’ll still have him.
This isn’t the Eric Adams who swaggered into office as a former cop turned political maverick. The corruption charges, dropped by Trump’s Justice Department, battered his reputation and drained his war chest. Yet he’s spinning it into a redemption arc, leaning on his “life story” as his “most potent weapon.” He told POLITICO the ordeal was “personally and financially painful,” but he’s betting New Yorkers who’ve faced their own struggles will see themselves in him. It’s a Hail Mary wrapped in grit.
The odds are brutal. New Yorkers have a habit of picking Democrats—think Rudy Giuliani’s crime-wave win in the ’90s or Mike Bloomberg’s post-9/11 cash-fueled rise. Without a crisis to exploit, Adams is stuck wooing a growing but apathetic pool of unaffiliated voters while fending off a Republican challenger. He’s got the perks of incumbency—free media and a bully pulpit—but charm and street smarts might not outweigh his baggage.
What’s driving this gambit? A Democratic Party that’s gone off the rails, at least in Adams’ eyes. He’s never shied from slamming its left flank, a stance that’s earned him more enemies than allies. He nearly sued Biden’s White House over migrant costs, only backing off when his staff begged him not to torch what was left of his party bridges. He’s scolded city officials for staying mum on Biden’s border mess while pouncing on Trump. And when his case was cleared, he waved around “Government Gangsters,” a book by Trump’s FBI pick Kash Patel, railing against a “deep state” he claims targeted him. “Read it and understand how we can never allow this to happen to another innocent American,” he said. That’s not a dog whistle—it’s a foghorn.
Adams insists he’s fed up with both parties’ extremes, but his barbs land harder on the left. He’s cozying up to Trump’s orbit while dodging the Republican label—New Yorkers, who spurned Trump 68-30, might not buy it. “The mayor’s going to set forth policy he believes is right (and) he’s going to do it with authenticity, regardless of whether it’s coming from the Trump administration (or) coming from traditional Democratic leadership,” said Frank Carone, his close adviser and campaign point man. “He is the mayor of New York City, not the mayor of the Democratic Party.” Noble, maybe, but it reeks of opportunism.
Carone and Adams tout a record they say got buried under scandal: crime’s down, housing’s up, jobs and tourism are ticking along. Cutting services—a move that tanked his popularity—they now frame as proof of tough, smart leadership. “New York is just objectively in a better place today than it was Jan. 1, 2022, when the Adams administration began,” Carone said. “When the people of New York focus on that and not the rest of the noise … then I think you’re going to see a different tone coming out of the voting public.” Wishful thinking, perhaps.
Adams doesn’t spare his Democratic rivals, especially Cuomo. He blames the ex-governor for bail reform that fueled a crime spike—“Look at bail reform—that’s Andrew,” he snapped. “He can’t say, ‘I’m going to save the city from the far left’ when he surrendered to the far left.” Cuomo’s defense? “Bail reform righted a terrible social wrong. We were putting people in Rikers, in jail, who hadn’t been found guilty of anything, just because they couldn’t make bail,” he said.
“It shouldn’t be that because you’re wealthy, then you can make bail and you’re released, but if you can’t make bail then you stay in jail even though you haven’t been found guilty of anything yet.” Adams isn’t buying it, and he’s got a personal dig too: “I never put my personal challenges in the way of delivering for New Yorkers,” he said, jabbing at Cuomo’s 2021 resignation over misconduct claims. “What happens the next time he has a personal crisis? Is he going to abandon the city?”
Four years ago, Adams crowed he was “the face of the new Democratic Party.” Now, sitting alone in Gracie Mansion, he faltered when asked what still ties him to it. “I think there are good people in the party,” he said, before adding, “I think there are good people in all of these parties.” That’s not loyalty—it’s a shrug. He railed against Democrats who’ve called Trump Hitler, nodded to Trump’s election win, and griped about Biden’s Hunter pardon. Pressed on policy clashes, he pointed to a lawsuit over Trump’s $80 million fund grab and vowed to resist any immigration crackdown.
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