Adams Charter Commission Sues Mamdani, Hochul Over 1 Ballot Panel's Disbandment
Updated
Updated · POLITICO · Jun 30
Adams Charter Commission Sues Mamdani, Hochul Over 1 Ballot Panel's Disbandment
3 articles · Updated · POLITICO · Jun 30
Summary
A lawsuit expected Tuesday targets Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Gov. Kathy Hochul, the city and the state over the late-May shutdown of Eric Adams’ Charter Revision Commission.
The draft complaint argues the state-budget provision Mamdani used to abolish the panel was unconstitutional and that his disbandment order misread the authority granted by Albany.
That commission had already advanced a November ballot question on open primaries, a change supporters said would expand voter choice and critics saw as politically damaging to Mamdani.
City Hall said it is prepared to defend the state law authorizing the commission’s termination, while Adams allies cast the suit as a fight to preserve millions of New Yorkers’ chance to vote on election rules.
Randy Mastro, Adams’ former first deputy mayor, is expected to file the case pro bono, extending a power struggle rooted in Adams’ last-day creation of the panel.