Republicans are trying to tie New York Democrats to New York City Mayor Eric Adams in the wake of his indictment on federal corruption charges, hoping the association will be a liability for those running in tight Empire State races that could determine control of the chamber next year.
The effort — which has spanned top GOP lawmakers, Republican candidates and the House GOP’s campaign arm — has sought to link New York Democrats to the “cult of corruption” surrounding Adams, who is facing five counts including bribery, wire fraud and solicitation of a contribution by a foreign national. He has pleaded not guilty.
Republicans are also attempting to connect Democrats to the crime and migrant crisis in the Big Apple, two politically charged matters that Adams has come under fire for.
Strategists on both sides of the aisle have expressed skepticism that the messaging blitz will sway voters in the battleground districts that make up New York City suburbs.
But Republicans are, nonetheless, moving ahead with their full court press.
Rep. Elise Stefanik, the chair of the House GOP conference and the highest-ranking New York Republican in Congress, wrote in a statement hours after the Adams indictment that “New York Democrats will pay the price for this corruption and incompetence in November and Republicans will sweep this November.”
The House GOP’s campaign arm echoed that sentiment.
“As extreme New York Democrats try to distance themselves from the NYC Mayor like rats fleeing a sinking ship, we are ready to remind voters what exactly he and his policies did to America’s largest city,” National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) spokesperson Savannah Viar said in a statement.
The push has percolated to the candidate level, too. Alison Esposito, who is taking on Rep. Pat Ryan (D) in New York’s 18th Congressional District, which covers the northern suburbs of New York City, penned a Washington Reporter op-ed this week that tried to connect Ryan to Adams’s tenure.
“Like Adams, my opponent, Pat Ryan, supports the same liberal policies that have caused chaos in New York,” she wrote, later adding, “At the end of the day, Ryan and Adams represent the same repressive and dangerous policies that are the worst of our government and New Yorkers deserve better.”
Ryan has not called on Adams to resign. In a statement to The Hill, the congressman said, “My sole focus is delivering for the Hudson Valley.”
In New York’s 3rd Congressional District, Rep. Tom Suozzi (D) is taking heat from his GOP challenger, Mike LiPetri. Adams in 2021 had publicly floated asking Suozzi to serve as deputy mayor, a prospect the congressman declined.
LiPetri, a former New York state assemblyman, told the New York Post last month that Suozzi’s “old buddy Eric Adams is going down in an alleged bribery scandal.”
“No wonder the duo considered working together in City Hall,” he added. “We deserve better than these career politicians who only look out for themselves — it’s time for a fresh start.”
Suozzi declined to comment to the Post and has stopped short of calling on Adams to resign.
Federal prosecutors unsealed a five-count indictment against Adams on Sept. 26, accusing him of accepting travel and gifts from those in the Turkish government, soliciting campaign contributions from Turkish businessmen, taking in straw donations and engaging in bribery in connection to Turkish individuals. The charges followed a lengthy investigation into Adams that had been ongoing since 2021, when he was serving as Brooklyn borough president.
The mayor has remained defiant in the wake of the indictment, pleading not guilty and insisting that he will remain in office amid increasing pressure. Prosecutors this week warned that more charges could be on the way.
While many House Democrats are urging the public to respect the legal process, some competing in the closest races in New York are calling on him to resign.
That group includes the Democrats taking on Republican Reps. Anthony D’Esposito (N.Y.), Mike Lawler (N.Y.), Marc Molinaro (N.Y.) and Nick LaLota (N.Y.), whose races are considered to be among the most competitive this cycle.
“Upstate New York is facing serious issues, and the last thing we need is more corrupt downstate politicians compounding the problems, exporting their chaos, and abusing the public’s trust,” Josh Riley, who is challenging Molinaro, said in a statement. “Eric Adams should immediately resign.”
Molinaro dismissed the calls for resignation as political in nature.
“Josh Riley is a phony,” Molinaro told The Hill in an interview. “He is absolutely happy to surround himself with the same people that have created this culture of corruption, and then when politically necessary, feign some sort of opposition or concern.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), for his part, brushed aside any prospect of the Adams indictment negatively affecting downballot Democrats, saying the races would be decided on local issues.
“We have incredible candidates who are running all across the state of New York and beyond, who are running their own races,” he said in an interview with MSNBC.
And former New York lawmakers from both sides of the aisle were skeptical that the GOP strategy would be potent enough to influence New York contests.
Former Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) — a 16-year veteran of the House who served as chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) for two cycles — said the headlines regarding Adams are not helpful for Democrats, but he predicted that they will not be too damaging for those campaigns.
“First, because Election Day is still over a month away. And second, because these days there’s nothing earth-shattering about scandals of this nature … and that is particularly true in areas around New York City,” Israel told The Hill in an interview.
Israel said he would advise candidates to determine, based on their districts, how to proceed — which many are doing now — noting that it is “perfectly understandable” for Democrats in battlegrounds to distance themselves from the mayor.
“In an extremely tight race where the margin could be several 100 votes, you don’t want to leave a single vote on the table. And you don’t want extraneous controversies to dissuade any single voter from supporting,” Israel said. “So they have to be taken seriously, the headlines have to be taken seriously. But they don’t rise to an existential threat to any campaign.”
Democratic sources have also been quick to note that Adams, who was elected mayor in 2021, is not on the ballot this year and that several Republican candidates are facing scandals of their own. The New York Times recently reported that D’Esposito put his lover and fiancée’s daughter on his House payroll. He denied any wrongdoing. The paper also uncovered a photo of Lawler wearing blackface while dressed as Michael Jackson in 2006, which he has apologized for.
Additionally, one Democratic operative working on a New York House race argued that the GOP criticism is hypocritical because many are supporting former President Trump’s quest for the White House, despite his quartet of indictments.
“The problem for Republicans is that they can’t align on which flavor of bulls‑‑‑ to spew. Half of them are screaming lawfare, half of them have magically come to the conclusion that an indictment is now a disqualifying offense,” the operative said.
Former Rep. John Faso (R), who represented parts of the Hudson Valley from 2017 through 2019, said the indictment is “certainly not a plus for Democrats.”
But, he added, “I think the major issues are immigration, crime and inflation and among Jewish New Yorkers, I think the failure of Democrats to truly support Israel in its time of need are more significant factors.”
Republicans tying Democrats to Adams, to be sure, is a strategy that predates the September indictment, as the mayor for months has faced scrutiny for his handling of crime and the migrant crisis in the city. In December, The New York Times issued a poll that found Adams’s approval rating had sunk to 28 percent, which was the lowest for any Big Apple mayor since 1996.
The day before news of Adams’s indictment broke, for example, the NRCC started running an ad associating Democratic New York state Sen. John Mannion — who is running against incumbent Rep. Brandon Williams (R-N.Y.) — with Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul (D).
“John Mannion, he’s with them, not us,” the ad reads, showing a photo of the Democratic candidate beside Adams and Hochul.
But now, with the indictment in tow and more charges potentially on the way, New York Republicans are re-upping their criticism of Adams and House Democrats, hoping that the messaging blitz helps put the GOP over the edge in the tight race for the lower chamber.
“Single-party rule in New York has produced a culture of corruption which, sadly, far too many Democrats accept,” Molinaro said. “Now we have yet one more example of that and it’s gonna come back to bite them. As well it should.”
