New York City’s Campaign Finance Board (CFB) has again refused to award public matching funds to Mayor Eric Adams’ re‑election campaign, marking consecutive denials since December 2024. At this morning’s meeting, the board cited Adams’ campaign for failing to submit required paperwork and providing what they called “incomplete and misleading information” that hampered the investigation into potential violations of campaign finance law.
Board Chair Frederick Schaffer delivered a blunt assessment during the decision, underscoring that Adams’ campaign had obstructed staff efforts to verify the legitimacy of many contributions. The repeated denials have placed Adams at a significant strategic disadvantage, leaving him without access to millions of dollars in taxpayer‑funded matching assistance just ahead of the November general election.
Meanwhile, other major candidates have benefited from the city’s generous 8‑to‑1 matching fund program. Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani has received $1,682,037, while Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa has secured $1,910,530. This is the first time Sliwa has received matching funds for the mayoral general election. These funds support grassroots fundraising by amplifying small donations and are widely seen as essential for competitive campaigning in NYC.
With Adams running as an independent after withdrawing from the Democratic primary, these developments underscore his mounting challenges. His campaign had appealed the board’s earlier decisions and even sued, only to face a federal judge’s ruling that upheld the CFB’s authority to deny matching funds based on procedural shortcomings—even after the criminal case against Adams had been dismissed.
As the general election approaches, Adams’ inability to access public matching funds may leave him scrambling to raise enough private contributions to compete with better‑funded rivals.
