It’s a million-to-one shot.
Mayor Eric Adams wants to register 1 million new voters in his uphill re-election battle against Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani.
Adams, during a Fox Business interview Tuesday, argued that polls ahead of November’s mayoral election are underestimating unregistered voters who may not approve of democratic socialist Mamdani’s progressive policies.
“We are going to register a million new voters,” Adams boasted, without providing details as to how he would do that.
The first-term incumbent, who is running as an independent after dropping out of last month’s Democratic Party primary, then misstated the numbers of New York City voters.
“We’re going to allow the 91% of New Yorkers come out to the polls and tell us what they want. Only 9% of New Yorkers voted in the primary,” he continued.
Roughly 1.1 million New Yorkers voted in June’s primary, out of nearly 8.3 million city dwellers, records show.
Mamdani snagged roughly 545,000 votes in his lopsided, upset win over a crowded field of candidates including former Gov. Andrew Cuomo — the most in a Democratic mayoral primary since 1989, data shows.
By contrast, Adams won 2021’s Democratic primary by only 7,000 after eight rounds of ranked-choice voting. Only 942,000 votes were tallied in that year’s primary.
The city has roughly 4 million registered voters.
Adams’ campaign will launch one of the most aggressive voter registration and turnout operations in New York City’s history, with thousands of volunteers in every neighborhood and housing development, “because this election is a referendum on the future of our city,” said spokesman Todd Shapiro.
“If Zohran Mamdani becomes mayor, New Yorkers are bracing for rent freezes, job losses, defunded police, and a socialist agenda that would drive this city into the ground. People are scared—and they’re waking up,” Shapiro said.
“This is a 911 moment for our city, and Mayor Adams is the only candidate who can stop the chaos and keep New York safe, growing, and working.”
But Adams’ bid to drum up votes by arguing Mamdani’s is an existential threat to New York City could face a major problem: the mayor’s rock-bottom popularity and approval.
Even a pro-Adams poll aimed at drumming up support for his independent re-election bid saw him trailing both Mamdani and Cuomo by double-digits.
Mamdani would win the matchup with 41% of the vote, followed by Cuomo at 26% and Adams at 16%, the poll found.
Cuomo will be on November’s ballot as an independent, but he has yet to decide whether he’ll actively campaign.
Adams, in his Fox Business interview, kept beating the drum for Cuomo to drop out of the race.
The ex-governor blew a 32-point polling lead, with $25 million funneled into the race, Adams argued.
“You give me an opportunity,” Hizzoner said. “I’m going to win this race.”
