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By: Abe Wertenheim

In New York City’s most consequential mayoral contest in a generation, Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani has not only upended the city’s political establishment but now sits on a towering financial advantage heading into the fall campaign season. On Thursday, the city’s Campaign Finance Board awarded his campaign $1.9 million in matching public funds, boosting his total war chest to roughly $6.3 million — by far the strongest position of any contender in the field.

According to a report that appeared on Thursday in The New York Times, the announcement confirms what many strategists in both parties have quietly conceded: that Mamdani, the Democratic nominee and self-identified democratic socialist, has successfully harnessed a groundswell of small-donor enthusiasm while his rivals remain hampered by investigations, dwindling donor pools, and internal fractures.

The Campaign Finance Board, which provides an eight-to-one public match on small-dollar contributions, distributed funds Thursday to several candidates. Curtis Sliwa, the Republican nominee, collected $1.4 million in matching funds, while former Governor Andrew M. Cuomo’s third-party effort received $482,000. Independent candidate Jim Walden was awarded just $35,000.

But it was the Mamdani campaign that once again demonstrated the breadth of its donor base. According to filings reviewed by The New York Times, Mamdani reported raising just over $1 million in the most recent period, sourced from more than 8,600 individual donors — a scale of grassroots participation that dwarfs his opponents’ reliance on larger checks from traditional power brokers.

Dora Pekec, a spokeswoman for the Mamdani campaign, said the figures underscored “genuine enthusiasm for Zohran’s vision for a more affordable New York City,” adding that momentum for the candidate was “surging” as the race moves into its decisive phase.

For Andrew Cuomo, once the dominant figure in New York politics, the financial picture has grown increasingly grim. After his shock defeat in June’s Democratic primary at the hands of Mamdani, the former governor scrambled to reposition himself as a third-party alternative, transferring $68,000 from a state campaign account and hosting high-dollar fundraisers in the Hamptons.

Yet, as The New York Times reported, those efforts yielded only modest returns. Cuomo ended Thursday with approximately $1.6 million in cash on hand, far behind both Mamdani and even Republican challenger Curtis Sliwa. The disparity highlights how dramatically the former governor’s political infrastructure has eroded since his resignation in 2021, and how difficult it will be for him to mount a competitive challenge without substantial outside support.

Mayor Eric Adams, running as a third-party candidate after withdrawing from the Democratic primary amid corruption investigations, has fared even worse in terms of public funding. On Thursday, the Campaign Finance Board once again denied his campaign access to millions in matching funds, citing ongoing concerns about potential straw donations and other irregularities.

Frederick Schaffer, the board’s chairman, said the panel would not release funds until Adams provided requested documents and until auditors were satisfied that his campaign had complied with the law. The decision follows months of scrutiny reminiscent of the federal corruption indictment filed against Adams earlier this year before being dismissed.

The New York Post has reported extensively on the Adams campaign’s fund-raising practices, but as The New York Times report noted, the campaign continues to battle the finance board in court, with officials insisting they will ultimately prevail. Todd Shapiro, a spokesman for Adams, said, “We remain confident that we are on the right road.”

Despite the setback, Adams reported nearly $4 million in cash on hand last week, a figure that still allows him to remain competitive — though without the multiplying power of the city’s matching program.

Both Adams and Cuomo have pinned their hopes on super PACs to narrow the gap with Mamdani. Unlike individual campaigns, these outside groups can raise and spend unlimited sums, providing a potential counterweight to Mamdani’s dominance in small-dollar donations.

But here, too, the landscape has shifted. According to the information provided in The New York Times report, while super PACs aligned with both Adams and Cuomo have raised several hundred thousand dollars in recent weeks, many major donors have grown hesitant. After initially signaling interest in funding a barrage of negative advertising against Mamdani, business leaders and megadonors have largely remained on the sidelines through the summer, uncertain whether their investment could alter the outcome so long as both Adams and Cuomo remain in the race.

Privately, many Democratic strategists concede that unless one of the centrists consolidates the anti-Mamdani vote, the socialist candidate will enter November’s election as the prohibitive favorite.

Adding to Adams’s woes, his campaign’s spending disclosures have invited new criticism. In July, Adams reported paying $177,018.16 to Brianna Suggs, his longtime fundraiser, whose home was raided by federal authorities earlier this year. While Suggs had been briefly sidelined, the campaign has since consolidated several roles under her supervision, including compliance, record-keeping, and fund-raising.

Mr. Shapiro defended the payment, telling The New York Times that her compensation was “consistent with her contract” and “appropriate given the scope of services performed.” Still, the sizable sum has fueled questions about the campaign’s financial stewardship at a time when it is already under heavy scrutiny.

Cuomo, for his part, has leaned more heavily on large donors. While his campaign recently raised about $500,000, the modest public match he received — just $482,000 — reflected the fact that most contributions came in amounts too large to qualify under the city’s small-donor system. This strategy may keep him solvent through Election Day, but it leaves him at a significant disadvantage compared to Mamdani’s robust, recurring base of grassroots support.

Curtis Sliwa, the Republican nominee and founder of the Guardian Angels, has quietly positioned himself as a spoiler with enough resources to remain competitive through November. With $3.4 million on hand after Thursday’s public match, Sliwa has the means to mount an active campaign that could siphon votes from Adams or Cuomo, particularly in outer-borough neighborhoods where crime remains a top concern.

Though still an underdog in a city that has not elected a Republican mayor in decades, Sliwa’s presence complicates the electoral math for centrists hoping to unite opposition against Mamdani. As The New York Times report observed, Sliwa’s appeal to disaffected working-class voters ensures that the race will remain volatile, even if Mamdani maintains his lead.

For Mamdani, the financial momentum is only the latest validation of his insurgent campaign. Since his stunning primary victory over Cuomo in June, the 32-year-old assemblyman has emerged as the face of the city’s ascendant left, drawing comparisons to figures like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

His platform — promising city-run grocery stores, fare-free buses, and increased public funding for housing and health care — has galvanized younger voters and progressive activists. Critics have warned that such proposals could destabilize the city’s finances, but as The New York Times reported, Mamdani’s messaging has resonated with an electorate disillusioned by years of corruption scandals and soaring living costs.

The campaign’s ability to translate small-dollar enthusiasm into tangible financial strength suggests that Mamdani may be poised not just to compete but to dominate in November.

The financial disclosures released Thursday mark a critical turning point in the race for New York City mayor. With over $6 million at his disposal, Zohran Mamdani has consolidated a commanding advantage that neither Andrew Cuomo nor Eric Adams has yet demonstrated the capacity to overcome.

As The New York Times frequently reminds readers, New York’s campaign finance system was designed to amplify the voices of everyday residents and diminish the influence of entrenched elites. In this cycle, the system appears to be working as intended — though with results that have rattled the city’s political establishment.

Whether Mamdani’s momentum will carry him through to City Hall remains uncertain. But for now, the financial scoreboard tells a clear story: a democratic socialist insurgent, propelled by small donors and matching funds, has outflanked the old guard of New York politics — and is rewriting the city’s political playbook in the process.