I’ve learned to never count Adrienne Adams out of a race. When the New York City Council speaker race was at a fever pitch in 2021, I reported that she’d fallen out of contention. Days later, she emerged as the compromise candidate and won the seat.
When candidates were lining up for 2025, I told everyone Adams didn’t have that ambition, and she would be the first council speaker who didn’t run a losing bid for higher office. Then she jumped in late and ran for mayor in 2025. She lost, but she succeeded in her real goal of making sure Andrew Cuomo lost too.
And when Gov. Kathy Hochul was looking for a running mate this year, I thought Adams would want to stay far away from the job requiring long travel days to ribbon-cuttings. Fool me three times – she accepted the role that other politicians turned down…