State Attorney General Letitia James endorsed City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams in her bid for mayor – giving a boost to a fellow rival of frontrunner Andrew Cuomo.
Adams also received the backing of DC 37 — the city’s largest municipal workers’ union — giving the speaker some momentum after her campaign struggled to get traction during her first round of fundraising.
She celebrated the endorsements with a dig at Mayor Eric Adams, who is running for a second term as an independent.
“Can you feel it? A change is coming to New York,” Adams said. “For years, I stood up to a mayor who made everything about himself… and as mayor, I will keep on fighting for all of you.”
The union’s executive director, Henry Garrido, praised Adrienne Adams’ track record of standing up for workers’ rights and her character as a politician, vowing to put the entire force of the union with 150,000 current and 90,000 former city employees.
“I can go on and on for instances where Adrienne has been there for us, not in words but in needs,” Garrido told the dozens in attendance for the rollout of a slate of endorsements.
“We have here the foundation and the character of the person who has proven with her entire life that she not only possesses the skills to lead the city, but does it in a way that does not forget the foundations of democracy that we have.”
Garrido slammed former Gov. Cuomo for his changes to the pension system and his divisive character, saying rank-choice voting will lead to an upset for the current frontrunner.
Adrienne Adams, no relation to the mayor, was a late entry into the crowded field as Dems scrambled at state and city levels to find a candidate to take on the political giant Cuomo, whose name recognition has helped launch him to the top of every poll this year.
But the City Council speaker failed to hit the $250,000 threshold to qualify for public matching funds last month, delivering an early blow to her campaign as pundits say she needs to boost her name recognition on a citywide level.
Cuomo’s campaign also ended up failing to get nearly $3 million in matching funds last week in the latest in a series of blunders. The ex-gov still has millions in the bank with a state PAC backing him.
Adrienne Adams only has just over nine weeks to win over voters, but she told reporters Wednesday after the event her campaign is gaining “momentum.”
“The fundraising that we’ve done is monumental and the fundraising that we continue to do is absolutely fantastic,” she said.
James, once considered a potential mayoral candidate who could stymie Cuomo’s political comeback, said as speaker Adrienne Adams had protected early education and the city’s libraries while standing up to the mayor’s administration.
“She didn’t plan to run,” James said. “She is stepping up at a time of chaos and confusion. She’s navigated this city, all of its troubles, and she’s done it with such calmness and the firm hand and the dignity.
“At a time when we are dealing with bullies and Washington, we need a mayor who puts people first and individuals who can speak loudly about the challenges facing our city,” she added.
Two other unions — Unite Here Local 100, which reps people in the service industry, and the communications workers union, CWA Local 1180 — also backed Adams at the event.
The endorsements come as Cuomo’s comeback tour seemingly locks up a new endorsement each week as part of a tightly controlled run for the Democratic nomination that was left wide open with the scandal-plagued first term of Eric Adams.
