Lefty New York City Comptroller Brad Lander is set to challenge Mayor Eric Adams for the Democratic mayoral nomination next year — telling key donors unequivocally that he is in the race, The Post has learned.
Rumors have been swirling in political circles for months about whether Lander would actually give up his post at the city’s financial office after one term to take a shot at running City Hall in next year’s election.
Now, with Adams’ lagging poll numbers and progressive state Sen. Zellnor Myrie announcing his exploratory committee for mayor last month, Lander has been recently lining up support for his bid, sources said.
“He’s running for mayor. He wasn’t hedging,” a donor who asked to remain anonymous told The Post.
The donor added that Lander’s bid will be announced soon.
Political sources close to Lander told The Post a formal announcement is expected in early July.
Lander already has brought on Global Strategy Group to do polling for his run for mayor, according to sources. The group polls for Gov. Kathy Hochul and also worked for Lander’s comptroller run.
“As of right now, Comptroller Lander is running for re-election, and I’m proud to be part of his team,” founder Jefrey Pollock said, refusing to comment on the expected mayoral bid.
In addition, Politico reported earlier this week BerlinRosen had been hired to do political consulting.
Lander did not respond to a Post request for comment.
“I was a little surprised,” the donor said of Lander’s expected bid, adding that he thought the comptroller would wait to see how the federal probe into Adams’s prior mayoral campaign plays out.
A Lander’s mayoral run would lead to a wide-open race for comptroller, which key Adams ally state Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar is eyeing, The Post previously reported.
