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Former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that, despite prior hints, he will not be running to be New York’s next governor.
In a video posted to Twitter Tuesday morning, de Blasio stood on the same Brooklyn street where he first announced his mayoral candidacy.
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“No, I am not going to be running for governor in New York state,” he said. “But I am going to devote every fiber of my being to fight inequality in the state of New York.”
Earlier in the message, de Blasio made reference to a couple of moments for which he drew scorn.
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“Now, I made my fair share of mistakes. I was not good with groundhogs at all. Probably shouldn’t have gone to the gym,” he said, alluding to how in 2014 he dropped groundhog Staten Island Chuck (who later died from the injuries), and how he continued to go to the gym early in the coronavirus pandemic right before they closed down all over the state.
Despite those missteps, de Blasio claimed that he “changed things in this town,” pointing to free pre-K, “hundreds of thousands of affordable apartments,” the Green New Deal, and cutting carbon emissions. He also addressed the pandemic, claiming that New York City went from the “epicenter” to “the safest place in this country.”
De Blasio, whose term ended at the close of 2021, teased that he would “share some more news with you in the days ahead.”
De Blasio’s announcement comes after a Siena College poll that was released in December showed him having support in the Democratic primary race from just 6% of New York Democrats, compared to 36% for current acting Gov. Kathy Hochul. The poll showed that among all voters, 55% had an unfavorable view of de Blasio.
He becomes the latest high-profile Democrat to announce they are not running, after New York Attorney General Letitia James dropped out in December.
The Democratic field was wide open following former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s resignation. So far, Democrats running in the primary race still include Hochul, Rep. Tom Suozzi of Long Island and New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams. The Republican race features candidates including Rep. Lee Zeldin of Long Island, Andrew Giuliani and former Westchester County executive Rob Astorino, who ran for governor in 2014.
