Queens Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar, a key political ally of Mayor Adams, made her 2025 campaign for city comptroller official by launching a website and releasing a video on why she’s making a run for the fiscal watchdog post.
Rajkumar, who first opened a comptroller campaign account last month to start raising money for her run, made the official moves late Tuesday night. The video drop and website launch came on the heels of Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine filing paperwork last week to start raising money for his own 2025 comptroller run.
The moves from Rajkumar and Levine come after incumbent Comptroller Brad Lander, a progressive Democrat and frequent critic of Adams, announced last month he’s running against the mayor in next June’s primary elections.
In a press release, Rajkumar touted her experience as an attorney as why she’s a good fit to replace Lander as comptroller, a position tasked with auditing city agencies and oversee the municipal government’s pension funds.
An entire section of the press release is also dedicated to describing Rajkumar’s close ties to the mayor, noting that he has called her a “close friend.” Besides being politically aligned with Adams, the moderate Democrat mayor regularly has Rajkumar appear alongside him at press conferences that do not directly relate to her district or issues she’s directly working on.
Some government veterans have said it’s a problem Rajkumar counts Adams as such a close ally, given that the comptroller position comes with the responsibility of serving as a check on the mayor and his administration on financial maters.
But Rajkumar said in a statement that “collaboration” with the mayor is a key part of the comptroller job.
“It is a joy working with my colleagues at all levels of government from the mayor to the governor to the state legislature to the city council,” she said. “The greatest moments in government — the historic moments that we live for — happen by working together. Together, we will take our city to the next level.”