Mayor Eric Adams insists he’s sticking with his reelection bid

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City Mayor Eric Adams insisted again Friday that he won’t end his reelection campaign, stressing that he will remain in the race as reports swirl that he’s been approached about possibly taking a job in the Trump administration.

In a hastily called news conference at the mayor’s official residence, Gracie Mansion, Adams told reporters “I am running for reelection”

“I’m running, and I’m going to beat Mamdani,” he said, referring to the Democratic nominee, Zohran Mamdani.

The mayor has spent the week fending off news reports that intermediaries for President Donald Trump have contacted people in his orbit to talk about whether he would consider abandoning his campaign to take a federal job.

Earlier Friday, Adams, a Democrat, released a statement that said he “will always listen if called to serve our country” but that he had not yet received any “formal offers.”

In an interview, former Democratic New York Gov. David Paterson said he spoke with the mayor on Wednesday morning. Adams told him he wanted to remain in the race but has received offers, according to Paterson.

“He said, ‘Listen, they say I have some offers. I have a lot of offers.’ Then he started laughing. And he was saying that, you know, he really doesn’t want to leave and he’s trying to work that out so he doesn’t have to,” said Paterson, who has endorsed Adams for reelection.

“He didn’t get specific about it, but I got that in his heart of hearts, he really wants to stay. But I also got that, even though he didn’t say it, that the odds can’t be very good,” he added.

Adams’ comments came a day after Trump told reporters he would prefer not to have Mamdani, 33, as the city’s next mayor. He said he’d like to see two out of the three other major candidates — which also include former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa — leave the race to create a one-on-one contest.

During a trip to Florida earlier this week, Adams met with Steve Witkoff, a former real estate developer in New York who is now one of Trump’s main diplomatic envoys in Washington, according to a person briefed on the discussions who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the private nature of the talks. It was unclear what specifically was discussed.

Mamdani won the Democratic nomination after soundly defeating Cuomo in the primary. The former governor is still in the race as an independent candidate.

Adams is also running as an independent in the general election after skipping the primary, saying he was sidelined from campaigning by his now-dismissed federal bribery case. ___

AP writers Seung Min Kim and Michelle L. Price contributed from Washington. Izaguirre reported from Albany, New York.