Mayor Eric Adams already has several Democratic challengers in the race for the 2025 presidential nomination – and other candidates could use his high-profile indictment as an opportunity to throw their hats in the ring.

Adams vowed to remain in charge of the Big Apple even after the charges were announced on Wednesday evening. However, it remains to be seen whether he will give up his candidacy for re-election.

Many of Adams’ political opponents, including well-known candidates for the 2025 mayoral election, were among the first to call for his resignation.

And several others who are considering running for mayor also joined the chorus of resignations.

New York Comptroller Brad Lander – an outspoken critic of Adams who is already in the race – immediately called on his successor to resign.

“The hardworking people of New York City deserve a city government and leadership they can trust. Right now, they don’t have that,” Lander wrote in a statement.

He was joined by fellow Liberal and former City Treasurer Scott Stringer, who was at the time “considering” a candidacy after a failed bid for mayor in 2021.

“While the mayor is focused on proving his innocence, the rest of us must focus on city business,” Stringer said.

The former city treasurer recently reopened a defamation lawsuit against a woman who accused him of sexual assault.

Several incumbent state legislators have also already announced their candidacies for mayor and immediately added their names to the list of politicians calling on Adams to resign immediately.

Eric Adams Charges: Live Updates After NYC Mayor Charged With Murder

State Senator Zellnor Myrie (D-Brooklyn) called for Adams’ resignation and called the news of the indictment “particularly painful for so many black New Yorkers who place their hope and trust in this mayor.”

Myrie was first elected to his Central Brooklyn seat in 2018.

Democratic Socialist MP Zohran Mamdani is also considering running for office and joined the calls for his resignation on Wednesday evening.

One of Adams’ previously announced challengers who held off after the charges were announced was State Senator Jessica Ramos (D-Queens).

The state’s progressive senator released a critical statement about the Adams administration, ending with the words: “A new day for our city is long overdue.”

Ramos told the Post she had “no interest in dancing on anyone’s grave tonight.”

One of the more interesting questions arising from the indictment of Adams is whether it could open the door for former Governor Andrew Cuomo to make a long-awaited political comeback.

Cuomo’s spokesman did not respond to The Post Wednesday evening, but political sources have told The Post for months that the former governor viewed the indictment of Adams as a green light for him to enter the race.

Cuomo resigned from his third term as governor in 2021 amid a barrage of sexual harassment allegations and other scandals, including his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Cuomo continues to deny any wrongdoing.

Another politician who could potentially intervene in the dispute is City Councilman Joe Borelli (R-Staten Island).

When news of the indictment broke Wednesday evening, Borelli told the Washington Post that he would consider running, but only if Adams voluntarily resigned.

Adams can continue to hold office even if he is facing federal charges.

The only person who can replace Adams is Governor Kathy Hochul, who has the power to remove him from office through extraordinary measures before the end of his term.