New York City Mayor Eric Adams dropped out of his re-election campaign on Sept. 28, five weeks before the mayoral election. Recent polls have shown that Adams was behind and was consistently polling in the single digits.

Adams released a statement in a nearly nine-minute-long video posted to X.

“Despite all we’ve achieved, I cannot continue my re-election campaign,” he said in the video. “The constant media speculation about my future and the Campaign Finance Board’s decision to withhold millions of dollars have undermined my ability to raise the funds needed for a serious campaign.”

Adams, a former police captain and Brooklyn native, had a strong rating early in his term. But after his indictment on federal corruption charges, his standing dropped, NBC reported. These charges have since been dismissed.

Following his announcement to end his third-party re-election campaign, Adams did not endorse any of the remaining mayoral candidates.

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is also running in a third-party election campaign, thanked Adams in a statement.

“I believe he is sincere in putting the well-being of New York City ahead of personal ambition. We face destructive extremist forces that would devastate our city through incompetence or ignorance, but it is not too late to stop them,” Cuomo said in a statement.

Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani did not have the same reaction.

“He raised their rents, slowed their buses and cut funding for their schools, libraries and childcare,” Mamdani said in a video statement posted to his official Instagram.

In an interview with Democracy Now, Mamdani said, “…so much of what has characterized Eric Adams’s mayoralty, is decisions at the behest of Donald Trump and his billionaire donors and at the expense of working-class New Yorkers.”

While Adams denied for weeks that he would drop out of the race, his late exit announcement came after the deadline, which means that his name will remain on the ballot for the Nov. 4 election.

According to Polymarket, the largest American cryptocurrency-based prediction market, Mamdani is in the lead with an 86.9% chance of victory.

Cuomo, his main rival, holds 9.5% and Curtis Sliwa has less than a 1% chance. 

With Adams’ exit, it is uncertain whether his supporters will shift their vote to Cuomo.

“I urge New Yorkers to choose leaders not by what they promise, but by what they have delivered,” Adams said.