An ally of Mayor Eric Adams exclusively announced on NY1 that she’s switching her political focus.

Queens state Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar is dropping her bid for city comptroller, and is running for public advocate, shaking up the undercard in the race for mayor this year.

“I’m here to bring fresh energy and new leadership to our city,” the Democrat explained during an interview why she’s pulling the plug on her city comptroller bid.


What You Need To Know

  • Queens state Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar is dropping her bid for city comptroller, and is running for public advocate, shaking up the undercard in the race for mayor this year

  • Should the mayor resign, the public advocate is next in the line of succession

  • Now, candidates running to be the next city comptroller — the Big Apple’s top money manager — have one less opponent to worry about

She will challenge current Public Advocate Jumaane Williams for his job in a Democratic primary in June.

“He is a self-proclaimed Democratic Socialist who has brought a lot of extremist and divisive views, such as defunding the police,” she said.

Occupants typically see themselves as a check on the mayoralty. And should the mayor resign, the public advocate is next in the line of succession.

“That’s one of the things you have to prepare for, something you’re not expecting to happen, but it is a very important role just in general, which is why I ran for that: not comptroller then public advocate,” Williams told NY1, adding that he welcomes the challenge.

“Where we are now, there has to be someone who is going to stand up when necessary, whether it’s the president, the governor, the mayor and work with them when necessary,” he continued in an interview on Monday.

Now, candidates running to be the next city comptroller — the Big Apple’s top money manager — have one less opponent to worry about.

Currently, Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine says he’ll focus on auditing city agencies and keeping a close eye on the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development.

“I have a lifelong record of solving difficult problems for New York. I was a teacher in the South Bronx,” he said.

“We’ve got locations ready to go all over the city that are just waiting for financing,” Levine added. “We have a huge backlog there because we rely on federal money, and it’s been slow to come and I’m worried that we could have further cuts from Washington now, so we need creative solutions. We can use pension money in a prudent way to finance projects that might not otherwise get built.”

Justin Brannan butts heads with City Hall as the City Council’s Finance Committee chairman, leading negotiations of the City’s proposed $114 billion budget.

“I’ve been negotiating and getting budget wins for the past three years. I didn’t just start talking about the economy or the budget when I decided to run for controller,” he told NY1. “I would start with not defunding early childhood education, you can’t make this city the greatest place to raise a family and then defund early childhood education. I would get serious about finding money to at least do a pilot for universal childcare.”

Also running is longtime Brooklyn Democratic state Sen. Kevin Parker, who previously ran a failed race for the job.

“My campaign will prioritize delivering stronger returns for New York City’s Pension Funds, which have underperformed under Comptroller Lander, and ensuring rigorous oversight of contracts and spending in light of recent revelations,” he told NY1 in a statement.

Democrat Ismael Malave-Perez and Republican Danniel Maio are also running for the seat.