Former Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Tuesday that he won’t run for governor of New York despite spending his last months in office repeatedly teasing a campaign for the state’s top post.
De Blasio, who handed over the reins at City Hall to Eric Adams on Jan. 1, made the anticlimactic announcement in a video shot outside his Park Slope home, a spot from which he launched his first campaign for mayor in 2013.
“So this is the right place for me to share some important news with you: I am not going to be running for governor of New York,” de Blasio said in the video.
The ex-mayor gave scant details about why he opted against challenging Gov. Hochul in June’s Democratic primary.
But he once again asked New Yorkers to stay tuned for an announcement about his future plans, suggesting he’s not hanging up his political hat just yet.
“I am going to devote every fiber of my being to fighting inequality in the state of New York. We’ve got a lot to do together,” he said. “I’m going to share some more news with you in the days ahead.”
For weeks before leaving City Hall, de Blasio hinted he would run for governor, telling reporters he planned to “stay in public service” when asked about the prospect.
He also formed a statewide fundraising committee that appeared aimed at laying the groundwork for a gubernatorial bid and privately called up loyal backers and donors to line up support for a run, according to sources familiar with the conversations.
Despite testing the waters, de Blasio performed abysmally in most early polling of the gubernatorial primary in an apparent sign that he remains deeply unpopular among New Yorkers after eight years in City Hall.
Surveys from last month had de Blasio courting single digits of support, while Hochul, the odds-on favorite in the race, routinely clutched nearly 40% among registered Democrats.
In another blow to de Blasio, many of his longtime supporters, like Brooklyn Democratic Party leader Rodneyse Bichotte and the Hotel Trades Council union, endorsed Hochul’s campaign late last year.
Ironically, a Siena College poll released hours before de Blasio’s Tuesday announcement proved his best showing yet, placing him second with about 12% support. Hochul topped the Siena survey with 46%.
De Blasio’s exit makes the gubernatorial primary a three-way race between Hochul, city Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and New York Rep. Tom Suozzi.
Hochul, who took office in August in the wake of disgraced ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s resignation, has dominated Williams and Suozzi in both polling and fundraising, making it her race to lose.
Neal Kwatra, a veteran political strategist who has worked for de Blasio, said the former mayor presumably bowed out because he saw the writing on the wall, especially considering how little support he has outside of the five boroughs.
“His own brand in the state outside of NYC and a very politically strong Kathy Hochul were likely part of the equation,” Kwatra said. “I think it was a wise decision that allows him to still have a voice in the party on his signature issues and accomplishments.”
By contrast, Suozzi, a moderate Democrat, showed no signs of following de Blasio’s lead on Tuesday, announcing the hire of a new campaign manager and reporting more than $5 million in his war chest.
“Voters want a candidate with proven executive experience, common sense solutions, and a willingness to work with Democrats and Republicans to tackle the serious problems New York faces. That’s Tom Suozzi,” said Kim Devlin, a Suozzi spokeswoman.
A major reason for why de Blasio struggled to break through in the gubernatorial polls is because he left office with plenty of political baggage, said Chris Coffey, a Democratic consultant who worked in ex-Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s administration.
“Even Bill de Blasio didn’t want to launch a kamikaze mission. Poll after poll showed most New Yorkers just didn’t like Bill de Blasio,” Coffey said, noting that both progressive and moderate Democrats soured on the ex-mayor toward the end of his tenure due to a flurry of scandals, including investigations into his fundraising practices.
In his dropout announcement, de Blasio touted his signature accomplishments — like implementing universal pre-K and building thousands of affordable housing units — but acknowledged his political weaknesses.
“I made my fair share of mistakes, I was not good with groundhogs at all,” he said with a smirk, referencing an embarrassing episode early on in his administration that resulted in the death of a groundhog. “But you know what? We changed things in this town … We proved we can do big things.”
