Mamdani maxes out fundraising for NYC mayoral primary, campaign says

Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani said he’s done fundraising for the primary after reaching the public financing cap for the June election.

The democratic socialist, who is currently serving as a state assemblymember from Queens, said he plans to announce Monday that his campaign is the first in the New York City mayor's race to hit the fundraising cap. He said he has raised more than $8 million with projected matching funds from about 18,000 donors citywide and has done so at a faster rate than any campaign in city history.

“It means that I don't have to spend the hours that I have sitting at a table calling through our supporters and asking them for their money,” Mamdani told Gothamist. “It means that instead, I'm now asking New Yorkers for their time as we seek to build the single largest volunteer operation we've ever seen in the New York City's mayor's race.”

The audacious announcement comes a week after candidates filed their most recent campaign finance disclosure forms. Mamdani raised the second most among all candidates in that period, behind former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

But the assemblymember's decision to stop fundraising is not without risk, since his current fundraising tally is only a projection. There are still two weeks before the city Campaign Finance Board officially announces its public funds payment decisions, and there is no guarantee that what a campaign is banking on is what it will actually receive.

“Eligibility for future public funds payments for the most recent disclosure period will be determined by the Campaign Finance Board on April 15th, 2025,” Timothy Hunter, the board's secretary, said in a statement. “Any projections of matching funds payments shared by campaigns are based solely on the campaign’s estimates.”

Under the city’s campaign finance program, donations from city residents can be matched $8-to-$1 for the first $250 of a contribution to a candidate participating in the program. Participants agree to a set of rules, including donation and spending limits. The rules also cap the maximum public funds payments allowed for the primary and general elections.

For the June primary, mayoral candidates in the program can spend approximately $8 million and receive more than $7 million in public matching funds.

While Cuomo raised the most money in the latest fundraising period, raking in $1.5 million, his campaign trails several others in match-eligible contributions, reporting just over $330,000 in matching claims.

Altogether, Mamdani’s campaign has raised more than $1.4 million, including more than $900,000 in matching claims, which would put it over the thresholds for public funds payment and spending. He also has more donors than any other candidate, with nearly double the number of his closest competitor, city Comptroller Brad Lander.

Mamdani said his campaign is now focused on growing its base of 7,000 volunteers to knock on more than 1 million doors before the end of the race. He said the campaign also plans to reach voters on every platform where they consume political content.

Because of his campaign's projected fundraising haul, he said his team won’t have to choose between paying for literature, campaign staff or advertising on cable and broadcast channels.

“We can, in fact, do all of those things,” he said.

The announcement represents a shift in the fundraising momentum in the contest. Ahead of the April public funds payment, Lander was leading the field in terms of receiving public funds and was on pace to hit the fundraising ceiling first.

The comptroller, who has raised $1.4 million and filed more than $658,000 in matching claims, is still expected to hit the fundraising and spending ceilings, even if that requires additional fundraising ahead of the next disclosure filing in May.

In the last mayoral election, all of the top mayoral candidates were still fundraising and receiving matching fund payments into June 2021, just weeks before the election.

Mayor Eric Adams is participating in the matching funds program, but the Campaign Finance Board has withheld matching money from his campaign because of the federal corruption charges against him, which involved allegations of misusing the campaign finance program to accept illegal foreign campaign contributions.

The U.S. Justice Department under President Donald Trump recently ordered those charges to be dropped. But the matter remains before a federal judge.

Adams, who has denied any wrongdoing, said his campaign compliance attorney will continue pursuing matching funds. If all of his campaign’s submitted claims are approved, he too would reach the fundraising cap. So far, his campaign has raised $4.4 million without matching funds and submitted more than $540,000 in matching claims.

The next major deadlines for the race are April 28, when candidates must confirm their participation in the public finance program, and May 23, the next date for them to file their campaign disclosures. Candidates who are eligible for payments based on the May filing will receive the money on May 30.