State Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar is eyeing a run for New York Metropolis comptroller after utilizing her “shut buddy” Mayor Eric Adams to boost her profile within the Large Apple, The Put up has discovered.
The Queens Dem, well-known for donning scarlet pink attire as she tags together with the mayor at seemingly each press convention or rally throughout the 5 boroughs, has been lining up help over the previous few weeks for her plan to run for citywide workplace, in accordance with educated sources.
Rajkumar has been establishing conferences with union heads and religion leaders in addition to distinguished native Democrats and strategists as a part of her plan, sources stated.
Her anticipated run comes after months of hypothesis about which citywide elected spot she was gunning for within the 2025 major.
She is slated to problem incumbent Brad Lander, a continuing foil to the Adams administration, usually criticizing the way it runs town.
That’s if Lander chooses to run for reelection.
Political sources have instructed The Put up that Lander is excited about difficult Adams for mayor however that no formal determination has been made.
It’s unclear when Rajkumar would possibly formally announce her bid for the seat. Calls to her workplace from The Put up weren’t instantly returned Tuesday.
Rajkumar acquired her begin in Decrease Manhattan in 2011 when she gained district chief not lengthy after shifting to the world. However her two subsequent runs for workplace, as soon as in 2013 for Metropolis Council and once more in 2016 for Meeting Speaker Sheldon Silver’s vacated seat, had been each misplaced.
She ran once more in 2020 after shifting to southern Queens and beat out an 11-year incumbent within the state meeting’s District 38.
Supporters of the lawmaker who spoke with The Put up praised Rajkumar for her work ethic and the way she relates with the neighborhood.
“Half the battle is displaying up, and she or he is and doing it early,” stated Metropolis Council member Kalman Yeger (D-Brooklyn).
Over the previous few years, Rajkumar has confirmed to be a staunch supporter of Adams, pushing the mayor’s legislative agenda in Albany and even coming to his protection after he was accused of sexual misconduct a long time earlier in a lawsuit.
In change, Rajkumar has change into a staple and welcomed on the mayor’s occasions — the overwhelming majority of which have been outdoors her districts — allegedly in an try to extend her identify recognition.
The 2 have repeatedly referred to one another as “shut associates” at occasions.
“It was genius to hitch onto the mayor of town of New York to get recognized so she might get catapulted into the highlight to prepare for a citywide run,” one political strategist quipped.
However the supply stated her marketing campaign might get difficult if former Gov. Andrew Cuomo makes his long-rumored entrance into the fold for mayor, given her sturdy ties to each pols.
“She’d need to run an unbiased marketing campaign,” the supply stated.
However one other Dem operative raised considerations over her being tied to Adams, whose marketing campaign must rebound from lagging ballot numbers through the cloud of a federal probe.
“She is best off staying within the Meeting than tying herself to Eric Adams in a citywide race for comptroller subsequent 12 months,” the supply stated, including that Adams’ “ballot numbers are traditionally low, and he’s dealing with authorized points that might effectively worsen.”
