NEW YORK — Mayor Eric Adams is picking up fundraising again for his 2025 reelection campaign, out of an apparent concern that he will get denied public matching funds.
Adams is attending a Tuesday night campaign fundraiser hosted by uber-wealthy cryptocurrency entrepreneur Brock Pierce in Dorado, Puerto Rico, according to an invite posted online. The event is co-hosted by Pierce, who has been a friend of the mayor, and by tech founder Michael Brooks.
Guests are being asked to donate a minimum of $1,000 and a maximum of $3,700 to Adams’ 2025 campaign. That maximum contribution number, included in a fundraising form from the campaign, is notable because it suggests Adams could opt out of the public matching funds program.
Participants in the matching funds program are limited to accepting donations of $2,100 or less. In turn, most contributions from New York City residents up to $250 can be matched eight-to-one by public funds. Non-participants don’t get matched, but have a higher contribution limit of $3,700.
Adams is enrolled in the program and has limited contributions to that lower $2,100 limit for the last three years while running for reelection. As part of that effort, he’s so far raised an eye-popping $4.1 million. That includes over half a million in matching funds claims, which could result in about $4.3 million in public money.
But Adams might be found ineligible. He was indicted in September on federal charges including allegedly bilking the matching funds system through a straw donor scheme. Adams has pleaded not guilty. On top of that, Adams has had a high number of matching claims flagged as invalid in a preliminary review by the New York City Campaign Finance Board — 50 percent of the total claims in his latest filing, the Daily News reported Tuesday.
The Campaign Finance Board said it takes into account a number of factors when determining eligibility.
The first public funds payments of the cycle will be approved at a meeting of that board Monday. Adams’ team — and the other candidates who have lined up to challenge him in the Democratic primary — are closely watching the decision to see if Adams’ finances will be hobbled.
But if Adams were denied, his campaign may have found a way to cushion the blow. He would be able to opt-out of the public funds program and raise cash at the higher $3,700 contribution limit. He would also no longer be held under the roughly $8 million spending limit for program participants. However, if any non-participating candidate gets close to the spending limit, the limit is raised for everyone — as happened with Citibank executive Ray McGuire in 2021.
Adams has not officially opted out of the public funds program, though. If he were to get matching funds, he would be able to simply return any contributions over the lower $2,100 limit.
Adams’ campaign declined to comment.
The mayor said in October that he had finished fundraising for his reelection campaign, since he would have had enough money to reach the spending limit, including matching funds. The Puerto Rico fundraiser represents a return to the fundraising trail for Adams and a further commitment to running for reelection while under indictment.
Adams is flying to Puerto Rico and also planning to attend a “Digital Sovereignty Summit” as part of Puerto Rico Blockchain week, POLITICO first reported Monday.