Jim Walden, an independent candidate for mayor, is committing to disavow any super PAC that may form to support his run for City Hall — a move that comes as Andrew Cuomo, the leading 2025 mayoral contender, has benefited heavily from PAC spending.
Walden, an ex-federal prosecutor who has centered his campaign on an anti-public corruption platform, made the super PAC promise in a 12-point government integrity plan shared with the Daily News ahead of its Wednesday release.
“I do not want any of my supporters to form a PAC to support my campaign. If one is started by any supporters, I will publicly disavow it,” Walden’s plan says, adding he’d also return any donations his campaign receives from individuals launching a PAC to back him.
Though relatively unknown on a citywide level, Walden will appear on November’s general mayoral election ballot and has raised some $3 million for his run to date. Like Cuomo, Walden said he has “plenty of ultra-wealthy friends and supporters” who may be interested in starting a PAC to support him.
Should he be elected, Walden’s plan says he’d take his commitment a step further by creating a “do not call” list at City Hall comprising the names of anyone who organized or donated to any PAC that supported him. He said officials in his administration wouldn’t be allowed to speak to anyone on that list about city government matters.
“No sane person would start a PAC under these conditions, and that is precisely what I want: no PAC interference with this election, whether for or against me. That is what New Yorkers deserve,” Walden said before adding: “Our elections should not be for sale. Cuomo cares more about winning than acting ethically … Although I intend to win, I would rather lose than sacrifice my principles.”
In response, Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi scoffed at Walden’s relatively low-profile: “Last time I remember James Walden was in the race, he was engaged in a one-way passionate argument with an Andrew Cuomo parody account [on X].”
Cuomo, who’s polling as the favorite to win the June 24 Democratic mayoral primary, is benefitting from Fix the City, a super PAC operated by longtime allies, which has so far spent more than $8 million on ads and other messaging to boost the ex-governor’s run. The super PAC’s spending spree has raised both legal and ethical concerns from regulators and government watchdogs.