NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio Files Paperwork for New York Governor Run
NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio Files Paperwork for N.Y. Governor Run
(Bloomberg) -- New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has filed paperwork that sets him up for a run for New York governor, jumping into a crowded field ahead of the 2022 gubernatorial race.
De Blasio, who is term-limited as mayor, on Oct. 28 filed two of the three forms required to create a committee called “New Yorkers for a Fair Future,” according to the state Board of Elections. Once he files further paperwork, the committee will allow him to start fundraising for public, statewide office.
If de Blasio officially declares his candidacy, he will face a Democratic primary against Governor Kathy Hochul, the former lieutenant governor who took over the Executive Mansion in August when Andrew Cuomo resigned over a sexual harassment scandal. Soon after becoming the state’s first female governor, Hochul declared her intention to run for the post in 2022. She was joined last month by bids from New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
The state’s Republican Party selected U.S. Representative Lee Zeldin as its presumptive nominee for the governor’s race in June, keen to avoid a primary. When asked about competition during a Monday press conference, Hochul said, “bring it on.” She said she was “focused on governing.”
This isn’t de Blasio’s first attempt at higher office: In September 2019, he folded his presidential run after failing to gain traction during the Democratic primary and declared on MSNBC that “it’s clearly not my time.” Only 6,700 people donated to de Blasio’s campaign, which is 5% of the threshold to join the debate in September.
With less than two months left in his administration, de Blasio said the committee was “a vehicle that I’ll be using to get the message out about things we need to do differently in New York City and New York state,” in an interview Monday on NY1.
He said he plans to continue in public service but declined to go so far as to officially declare his candidacy in a Tuesday interview on MSNBC.
“There’s a lot that needs to be fixed in Albany,” he said. “I look forward to being part of that discussion.”
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