Former New York City mayor Bill de Blasio has announced that he is running for Congress in the upcoming midterm elections in November, in New York’s tenth congressional district.
De Blasio make the announcement during an appearance on MSNBC’s Morning Joe on Friday. It comes merely 48 hours after de Blasio announced via Twitter that he was forming an exploratory committee to raise money for a potential bid. The committee was legally turned into a formal campaign on Friday.
In announcing his candidacy, de Blasio told host Joe Scarborough that “people are hurting, they need help, they need help fast,” and that “they need leaders that can actually get them help now.” Citing his record, he said, “I know how to do it from years of serving the people of this city.”
The announcement comes after months of speculation about de Blasio’s political future. The controversial two-term mayor, whose time in office was marked by high disapproval ratings and increasing crime, left office in December.
He had run for president in 2020 in the Democratic primary but dropped out after receiving 0 percent support in most straw polls. Another run for governor in this November’s election was aborted after polls showed de Blasio last in a potential field, including former governor Andrew Cuomo, with 3 percent support.
It also comes after new draft congressional maps for this year’s election were announced. The tenth district of New York will now cover all of Lower Manhattan below 14th Street and the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Park Slope, Prospect Park, and Dumbo.
The old seat, overlapping with these areas, is being vacated by Representative Jerry Nadler, who will run against Representative Carolyn Maloney in the twelfth district nearby. De Blasio has long-time ties to the new seat’s Brooklyn areas, having represented them in the New York City Council for six years, from 2003 to 2009.
Given his unpopularity as mayor, with his approval rating falling to 26 percent during his final months in office — among the lowest in recorded history — the New York Post has reported that a raft of candidates are expected to challenge de Blasio in the primary.