NYC mayoral candidate Walden to run as Independent, after Adams DOJ ‘deal’

February 12, 2025 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

Mayoral candidate Jim Walden. Photo: Mary Frost, Brooklyn Eagle

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CITYWIDE — THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S PLAN to drop corruption charges against Mayor Eric Adams was the last straw for NYC mayoral candidate Jim Walden, a long-time political independent who had been actively mulling a run as a Republican.

Walden announced Tuesday that he will continue as an independent, a decision he made after the U.S. Department of Justice urged prosecutors to drop the charges against Adams. A Brooklyn resident and former prosecutor running on a platform of ending corruption in City Hall, Walden on Feb. 3 had told the Brooklyn Eagle that he was in discussions with the Republican Party, and would decide by Feb. 14 whether to appear on the ballot with an “R” next to his name.

“Yesterday’s decision by a Republican administration to effectively pardon corruption by a Democrat was a breaking point for many,” Walden said in a release. “Let’s be clear: there was no justification for this. It was nothing more than a political deal, the details of which may never come to light. And as part of that deal, the charges can be reinstated at any moment—leaving Eric Adams under Washington’s thumb.” Running as an independent candidate means he won’t be “beholden to any party, power structure, or backroom deal,” he added.

Walden has sued to overturn the New York state ban on the Independence Party. A law signed in January 2023 by Gov. Kathy Hochul disallows candidates from using the word “independent” on the ballot, and the Independence Party of New York lacks the requisite 130,000 voters to appear.

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