Longtime LGBTQ rights activist Allen Roskoff is launching a campaign to recruit a progressive Democrat to run against Mayor Adams in 2025 — marking the first official left-wing effort aimed at ousting the incumbent, who already holds a big fund-raising edge ahead of the next election cycle.
Roskoff, an erstwhile friend to Adams who has soured on him lately over what he sees as the mayor’s conservative tendencies, told the Daily News last week that the effort, dubbed “Coalition for Mayoral Choice,” will be modeled after a similar initiative he and other progressives undertook in 1981 to challenge then-Mayor Ed Koch.
In that time, Roskoff and his compatriots recruited liberal Brooklyn Assemblyman Frank Barbaro to run against Koch. After being outspent 10 to 1, Barbaro clinched 36% of the vote in that year’s Democratic primary, losing to Koch, who received 59.8%.
Roskoff, the founder of the Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club, which is coordinating the new coalition, acknowledged Adams sits on a big pile of fund-raising cash ahead of 2025, having already raked in more than $2.7 million, according to his latest reelection campaign finance disclosure report.
But Roskoff said he’s not intimidated by Adams’ war chest and argued it’s critical that New York City Democrats are presented with an alternative in the next mayoral election.
“We deserve better; we deserve a choice,” Roskoff said before listing his various grievances with Adams. “The world watches as New York City navigates complex issues, from the lack of affordable housing to living wage employment to the ongoing debate surrounding the migrant influx and New York City’s responsibility as a sanctuary city.
“Regrettably, the discourse around these topics, propagated by Mayor Adams, has been marked by anger, vitriol and right-wing talking points. Instead of welcoming our new neighbors, the mayor has castigated them.”
New York City Gun Violence Prevention Task Force
Luiz C. Ribeiro/for New York Daily News Mayor Eric Adams could be facing a challenge from a left-wing Democrat in 2025.
A spokesman for Adams’ reelection campaign did not immediately return a request for comment Sunday on Roskoff’s announcement.
Adams won the mayoral primary in 2021, defeating 12 challengers to become the Democratic nominee. The primary race included progressives such as Dianne Morales and Maya Wiley, often seen as foils to Adams’ more centrist leanings. Adams went on to win the general election over Republican Curtis Sliwa.
Roskoff declined to name any politicians in particular he’d like to see mount a 2025 challenge against Adams.
He said his Jim Owles group has already met with several local elected officials and activists who are interested in joining the coalition. The goal is for the coalition to conduct a search for progressives willing to challenge Adams and then narrow it down to one candidate they can coalesce around, according to Roskoff.
“We want to make it clear that our intention is to promote a progressive perspective in addressing the fundamental needs of our city,” he said. “We urge the progressive community to unite behind a single mayoral candidate and outline how they intend to address our unique requirements while upholding our core principles.”
The coalition won’t set up a website or a fund-raising machinery for starters, though Roskoff said that could change.
For weeks, rumors have swirled in political circles about who could pull off a primary fight against Adams, who has drawn the ire of the city’s progressive class by calling for steep spending cuts across a variety of city agencies.
New York Budget
Hans Pennink/AP Sen. Jessica Ramos
Names floated as potential contenders include Queens state Sen. Jessica Ramos, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso and Brooklyn state Sen. Zellnor Myrie.
Along with the launch of the Coalition for Mayoral Choice, Roskoff’s club planned to host a barbecue in Manhattan on Sunday afternoon that was expected to be attended by several prominent progressives, including Ramos.
Ramos did not return a request for comment Friday.
Roskoff, who started his LGBTQ activism in the 1970s and helped write the nation’s first gay rights bill, said one of the aspects of Adams’ mayoralty that has angered him the most was his decision to give City Hall jobs to several political allies with a history of anti-gay remarks.
“We, the people, deserve a mayor who values competence above special treatment,” he said. “We, the people, deserve a mayor who does not appoint bureaucrats with anti-LGBTQ sentiments.”
