Bill de Blasio, the former New York City mayor whose Gracie Mansion years left him with a complicated public standing, has stepped back from the race for the newly drawn 10th Congressional District and from electoral politics altogether. It is a quiet closing of a chapter in which ambition met the verdict of voters, and the sense of a public life that has not entirely ended. What he will do instead, and how the district chooses its next representative, remain open questions.
Bill de Blasio Exits NYC Congressional Race, Says He's Done With Electoral Politics
Time for me to leave electoral politics and focus on other ways to serve.
Mark
So he's out of the race, and out of electoral politics entirely. Why is the second part the bigger news?
Mimi
Because he'd already dropped the governor's run earlier this year and kept looking at other bids. This time he said he's done with running for office, period.
Mark
What pushed him?
Mimi
A Working Families Party survey the day before put him nearly last in the district, and earlier in the month 1199 SEIU endorsed Carlina Rivera instead of him.
Luke
Let me flag something. The poll is one organization's district-wide survey. We're told he was nearly last, but the reporting gives no numbers, no sample size, no margin of error.
Mimi
That's fair. And his own words are that he listened carefully and people want another option. He doesn't cite the poll directly.
Luke
Right, so the link between the poll and the decision is the timing, not something he confirmed.
Mark
What about his promise to keep serving?
Mimi
He said he'll find a different way to serve, and that's all.
Luke
Which means it's unknown. No job, no organization, no timeline. Treat it as intent, not a plan.
Mark
And the race itself?
Mimi
It continues without him, with Rivera holding a major union endorsement.
O Pulso
- A poll placing him nearly last in the district put his candidacy under sudden and public pressure.
- The loss of the 1199 SEIU endorsement to Carlina Rivera cut away a powerful source of organized support.
- He moved quickly, withdrawing from the race and announcing he would leave electoral politics entirely.
- With no stated next role and the 10th District field reshaping without him, the path forward is unsettled.
Bill de Blasio, the former New York City mayor whose Gracie Mansion years left him with a complicated public standing, has stepped back from the race for the newly drawn 10th Congressional District and from electoral politics altogether. It is a quiet closing of a chapter in which ambition met the verdict of voters, and the sense of a public life that has not entirely ended. What he will do instead, and how the district chooses its next representative, remain open questions.
On Tuesday morning, Bill de Blasio posted a video ending his run for Congress and declaring he was done with electoral politics. Filmed on his Park Slope block, the same spot where he had announced he would not run for governor, the message was brief. He said the people of the district wanted another option, and he respected that.
The decision followed a difficult stretch. A Working Families Party survey the day before had placed him near the bottom among district voters, and earlier in July he had lost the 1199 SEIU endorsement to City Council Member Carlina Rivera. He described the campaign as humbling and healthy.
De Blasio framed his exit as a change of method rather than a withdrawal from public life. He said he loves the people of the city and intends to keep serving in some other way, though he has not named what that will be. The 10th District race now moves forward without him.
On Tuesday morning, Bill de Blasio posted a video to Twitter in which he ended his run for Congress and said he was finished with electoral politics altogether. The video appears to have been filmed on his Park Slope block, the same spot where he announced earlier this year that he would not run for governor.
"I've listened really carefully and it's clear to me that when it comes to this congressional district people are looking for another option and I respect that," the former mayor said. He had entered the race for the newly mapped 10th Congressional District a couple of months earlier.
He went further than leaving one race. In his Twitter post, he wrote that it was time for him to leave electoral politics and focus on other ways to serve. That is a notable step for a man who, since leaving Gracie Mansion, has considered several political bids even while acknowledging his own unpopularity.
The announcement came a day after a district-wide survey by the Working Families Party showed him in nearly last place among voters in the district. The poll was the most recent sign of trouble. Earlier in July, he had lost the endorsement of 1199 SEIU, a powerful union, to City Council Member Carlina Rivera.
De Blasio did not frame his exit as a retreat from public life. "I love the people of this city, I really want to keep serving and I'm going to find a different way to serve," he said in the video. He promised that New Yorkers have not seen the last of him, though he did not say what form that service might take.
Looking back on the campaign, he called the experience "humbling" and "healthy."
What comes next is open on two fronts. De Blasio has not named any role he intends to pursue outside elections, and the 10th District field will now take shape without him, with Rivera among the candidates who had been competing for the union backing he failed to win.
Citações Notáveis
I love the people of this city, I really want to keep serving and I'm going to find a different way to serve.— Bill de Blasio
He described the congressional bid as humbling and healthy.— Bill de Blasio
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Leia o original em Joliet, IL Patch ↗
Politics & Governance