New York Mayor Adams will likely attend the Puerto Rico conference after Election Day

New York Mayor Eric Adams said Monday he plans to attend an annual political meeting conference in Puerto Rico the day after Election Day, as potential rivals to the incumbent Democratic mayor will also be there to lobby for support in 2025.

At his weekly news conference, Adams, who endorsed Vice President Harris for president and was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, was asked who he was voting for and whether he planned to attend the SOMOS conference.

“I always look forward to going to SOMOS. I think I missed a few years. I plan on going, I’m not 100% sure. I would like to go,” Adams said. “It’s a good time to come together with people in Puerto Rico. So I have plans to go.”

“But you know, I have a lot of things to do in the city,” the mayor added a day before the Nov. 5 election. “And if I can get a lot done before next week, then I’ll definitely go. But I won’t stay long, no matter what happens. I’ve made it clear who I endorse, and who I endorse is who I am.” I voted in favor. That made it very clear that I was a delegate in Chicago.”

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Last week, Adams raised eyebrows after repeatedly refusing to criticize former President Trump, refusing to say when he last spoke to the Republican nominee or whether he was seeking a pardon if Trump were re-elected.

Trump has suggested that the DOJ has charged Adams for criticizing the federal government’s response to the migrant crisis. Trump also mentioned Adams by name during his rally at Madison Square Garden and thanked the Democratic mayor for his words Trump shouldn’t be comparedto the German dilator Adolf Hitler or being called a ‘fascist’.

The annual SOMOS conference starts in San Juan on Wednesday. Adams attended in 2021 and 2022. He didn’t go last year.

Days before the 2023 conference was set to begin, the FBI seized Adams’ cellphone in connection with a federal corruption investigation.

The Ministry of Justice sued Adams in September on bribery, campaign finance and conspiracy crimes.

The indictment accuses Adams of accepting flight upgrades and other luxury travel benefits worth $100,000, along with illegal campaign contributions from a Turkish official and other foreigners seeking to buy his influence. In return, prosecutors say, Adams provided favors on behalf of the Turkish government, including pressuring the fire department in 2021 to approve the opening of a consulate it deemed unsafe.

Adams was serving in another elected position at the time: Brooklyn borough president, but by then it was clear he would become mayor.

Adams has pleaded not guilty to the charges. His federal trial will begin in April next year, a judge ruled Friday, in the middle of his promised re-election campaign.

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The SOMOS conference will offer all potential primary challengers to Adams the opportunity to obtain legal representation in Puerto Rico ahead of the 2025 mayoral elections, City & State New York reports.

According to the newspaper, the mayoral hopefuls already held their first candidate forum in the Bronx on the first day of early voting. New York City Attorney Jumaane Williams, City Comptroller Brad Lander, Secretary of State Jessica Ramos and Zellnor Myrie, former City Comptroller Scott Stringer and Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani were among those at that meeting.

Rumors suggest that former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo will make a mayoral bid. It is unclear whether he will go to SOMOS.

U.S. District Judge Dale E. Ho set the mayor’s trial date Friday, as Adams returned to Manhattan federal court for a hearing on his effort to have a key charge in the indictment thrown out that threatens his political future .

Ho said he is confident the April 21, 2025 date will hold, “assuming nothing unexpected happens.” At the same time, prosecutors said they have still not been able to crack a potentially crucial piece of evidence: Adams’ personal cell phone. According to his criminal complaint, Adams changed his password just before giving the phone to authorities, then claimed he had forgotten it.

Adams’ attorneys are fighting to dismiss a bribery charge, one of five charges against the first-term Democrat.

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They argued that the charges do not meet the U.S. Supreme Court’s recently lowered threshold for the crime and should not apply to Adams because they involve allegations that date back to before he became mayor.