A Staten Island lawmaker who has challenged Mayor de Blasio’s policy of shielding illegal immigrants is considering running for mayor.
“I’m not going to deny that I’m looking at it. I do have a platform and ideas that could improve our city and state,” said Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis (R-S.I.).
In recent days, a “draftnicole4nycmayor” has appeared on Facebook that claims nearly 1,000 “likes.”
Malliotakis, a daughter of Cuban and Greek immigrants, has taken a high profile position in challenging de Blasio’s “sanctuary city” policy to protect undocumented residents in the Big Apple from deportation — including refusing to cooperate with federal immigration officials.
Malliotakis is a plaintiff in a lawsuit that seeks to block the de Blasio administration from destroying records retained for the municipal ID card program. She argued the records should be kept to aid law enforcement.
De Blasio has prevailed in court thus far.
“De Blasio supports a policy that protects people that commit crimes against our citizens,” Malliotakis said Tuesday.
Party activists are talking up Malliotakis because they say the other GOP candidates, Paul Massey and Michel Faulkner, haven’t caught fire.
De Blasio, at least thus far, faces no serious Democratic Party primary challenger to his re-election bid .
It’s late in the game for someone to jump in and raise funds for a party primary in September.
But sources said Malliotakis will hold off on making decision until a close ally, Republican business mogul John Catsimatidis, decides whether to enter the race. She definitely won’t run if he does.
Catsimatidis ran four years ago, but lost the GOP primary to Joe Lhota.