Mamdani raises $304,000 in first reelection filing

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has already raised roughly $304,000 from nearly 6,000 donors in his bid for reelection in 2029. 

All but one donation came within just the last month, though the fundraising report filed with the New York City Campaign Finance Board Wednesday night covers the first six months of Mamdani’s time in office, a period when his political profile has reached new heights. In fact, 61% of the haul came from donors giving addresses outside the five boroughs – with some of the max-out donors hailing from California, Texas and Virginia. 

Mamdani excelled at fundraising in the Democratic primary last year, becoming the first candidate in the crowded race to raise up to the maximum spending limit well ahead of the rest. Then and now, Mamdani focused on grassroots fundraising – donors over the last month gave an average of just $52. But the urgency around that 2025 campaign is lacking with Mamdani now in power, and seemingly less in need of a massive fundraising push three years before the next primary. In the first three months of his mayoral campaign in late 2024 and early 2025, Mamdani, then a longshot candidate, brought in a whopping $643,000.

Mamdani has not yet formally opted into the public matching funds program. Campaign Manager Celia Castellan told City & State he doesn’t plan to participate, but declined to comment on the decision to opt out of the popular program that helped propel Mamdani to victory in 2025.

Asked about the decision – and whether he would also reject super PAC support – at a press conference on Thursday, Mamdani suggested that the limits of the matching funds program would hamper his ability to combat what’s spent against him in 2029. “The matching funds program was critical in my race to becoming the mayor of our city,” he said in response to a question from the Daily News. “What we also saw in that same race was the amount of money that was spent in opposition to our campaign far dwarf what we were able to raise and spend through the program. And so this is a decision we've made to look to narrow the gap between the resources that we would be able to raise and spend, and those that we know will be marshaled in opposition." He did not answer whether he would reject the support of super PACs.

His filing includes 33 donations that exceed the individual contribution limit for participants in the public matching program, which is $2,500. Those larger contributions include 29 donations of $4,350 each, including 16 from donors outside the city. Those giving to the max-out level include numerous out-of-state donors who don’t list their jobs, as well as Mehak Jamil, an attorney at the state Department of Financial Services, Google software engineer Michael Matloob and Dermot Madden, a carpenters union supervisor at the city Department of Transportation. 

“6,000 donors. One shared goal. With an average donation of just $45, everyday supporters are fueling the Mayor's re-election campaign – proof that this is bigger than politics as usual,” Castellan said in a statement. “It's a movement.” 

Mamdani started fundraising early for his 2029 reelection campaign, sending out text messages to supporters soliciting donations just last month. No serious Democratic challengers have filed to run against him. The only people who’ve claimed they would do so at this point are far to the democratic socialist mayor’s right: John Chell, the controversial former New York City Police Department chief of department, former Republican mayoral nominee Curtis Sliwa and randomly, Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy and actor Michael Rapaport. Not exactly big threats. None of them have registered campaign committees with the Campaign Finance Board yet.

Still, rumblings of discontent amongst the city’s business community and the formation of a group called NYC Common Sense launched this spring to fight Mamdani’s democratic socialist agenda could lead to stronger challengers emerging down the line. The growth of Mamdani’s war chest over the first six months of his tenure indicates he’s taking things seriously – and simultaneously, that any efforts to take him down won’t be easy. 

Mamdani ended up with just over $100,000 on hand, after spending more than $204,000 in this first period. The spending was mostly on campaign personnel and consultants. Mamdani has hired Middle Seat, the progressive consulting firm that has earned acclaim for working with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and congressional primary winner Darializa Avila Chevalier. He’s also brought back his star-making video firm, Melted Solids, and Andrew Bard Epstein, one of Mamdani’s first hires on the 2025 campaign who served as his communications director. 

It’s not unusual for a mayor to start fundraising so early in their tenure. In the same filing period for the 2025 election cycle, former Mayor Eric Adams reported raising a staggering $850,000 between January and July of 2022. Before him, former Mayor Bill de Blasio reported raising roughly $44,000 for reelection in the first six months of his tenure.

City Comptroller Mark Levine also reported receiving $117,110 over the latest filing period – a sizable launching pad years before he’ll need to kick into re-election gear. That was buoyed by several big donations from business leaders and real estate donors, including a $2,500 donation from Warby Parker CEO Neil Blumenthal, another $2,500 donation from real estate executive Brian Cooper, a $1,000 donation from Tri-Star Construction Corporation President Jack Irushalmi and $2,500 from private investment firm leader Thomas Kempner.

Campaign finance reports were also due for campaigns from the 2025 cycle, as candidates await a mandatory audit from the campaign finance board. Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s campaign reported it’s $182,318 in the red, factoring in nearly $214,000 in unpaid liabilities to vendors including Fat Camp Films and Next Public Affairs. Cuomo didn’t report bringing in any new donations between January and June, but refunded $300 to clothing manufacturer Jordan Friedman of Brooklyn. Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa also reported being a little over $300,000 in the red. 

Adams, meanwhile, reported still having just over $2.1 million cash on hand. That could potentially be sent to a state account, which could be used to pay Adams’ legal fees, but the former mayor hasn’t reported making any transfers yet. Adams also belatedly reported more than $434,000 in expenses made in 2025 during his failed, abandoned reelection campaign. More than $225,000 in payments were finally recorded to Adams Campaign Manager Eugene Noh and his firm Legion Consulting, months after Politico noted their absence in his filings. Adams’ campaign had also faced scrutiny from NBC New York for payments it did report to seemingly anonymous LLCs – one of which turned out to be a shockingly large, half-million dollar payment to TV personality Dr. Phil’s son, for digital strategy.