Bill de Blasio drops out of Congress race after dismal polling
Strike two!
Bill de Blasio dropped his bid to represent the left-leaning 10th Congressional District on Tuesday, admitting that “it’s not going work out.”
“I’ve really listened carefully to people and it’s clear to me that when it comes to this congressional district, people are looking for another option. And I respect that,” the former mayor said in a video statement posted to Twitter.
He also conceded it’s finally time for him to “leave electoral politics” and “focus on other ways to serve.”
“Even though this is not going to work out, I hope you know how much I appreciate you and we’re gonna do a lot together to make this city better in the future,” he added.
De Blasio quit the race one day after a poll released by the progressive Working Families Party showed more than half of undecided Democratic voters in the district definitely would not back him in the crowded race.
Of the 15 candidates in the race, 49% of respondents — 254 of the 636 individuals surveyed — said they would not cast a ballot for de Blasio.
If elected, the 61 year old ex-pol would have represented parts of his old City Council district which includes his own Park Slope neighborhood.
De Blasio’s campaign raised over half a million dollars with $450,400 cash on hand, according to federal campaign finance records posted last week.
The exit from the NY-10 race is not the first time de Blasio dropped out of a race.
He abandoned his 2020 presidential campaign after failing to clinch even 1% of support in national polls — all the while infuriating the New Yorkers he was elected to serve for two terms.
At the time, de Blasio had lower favorability ratings from New Yorkers than former President Donald Trump — 25 percent compared to 32 percent according to the Siena College Research Institute poll.
He also toyed with the notion of running to succeed Cuomo last fall, but ultimately dropped that idea too.
Instead of de Blasio, NY-10 voters will choose from candidates including lefty Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou, Lower East Side City Councilwoman Carlina Rivera, Westchester Rep. Mondaire Jones, ex-House impeachment lawyer Daniel Goldman and Assemblywoman JoAnne Simon.
The primary is set for Aug. 23.
But the deplorable ratings shouldn’t come as a surprise for de Blasio, who admitted he’s become an “expert” in “being unpopular.”
He even gave President Biden unsolicited advice on how to counter being so unlikeable earlier this year, when the commander in chief’s own approval ratings were tanking.
“In 2017, I won my second term with two-thirds of the general-election vote. But by last year my popularity had tanked. Why?” de Blasio wrote in early May in an article published in The Atlantic.
“I failed to give New Yorkers a clear sense of where I was taking them. I lost my connection with the people because I mistook real policy for real popularity.”
De Blasio’s approval numbers were abysmal by the time he left office after eight years.
A Post survey conducted last June showed 72% of the 1,000 Democratic voters surveyed rated Mayor Bill de Blasio’s performance as “fair” or “poor” — while just 26 percent said he was doing a “good” or “excellent” job.
His poor performance even astounded his successor — Mayor Eric Adams — who told The Post in an exclusive interview last month that he was “shocked” by the sorry state of the city left for him to clean up.
De Blasio’s own former City Health Commissioner David Chokshi admitted his ex-boss impeded the state and city’s progress at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic thanks to his constant feuding with disgraced ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Meanwhile, de Blasio and his wife Chirlane McCray have racked up at least $2.5 million in debt.
The pair took out a loan on their Park Slope home to pay for major renovations to the row house as de Blasio prepared to leave office at the end of 2021.
That also includes $435,000 in personal legal fees — with interest — to lobby/law firm Kramer Levin tied to a federal fundraising probe. The Council passed legislation that would allow de Blasio to fundraise to pay off the tab, but he has yet to do so.
Additionally, de Blasio may also on the hook for nearly $320,000 thanks to using his security detail for “political purposes,” according to a city Department of Investigations report. The former mayor has appealed that ruling.
Despite the debt, he was living in a pricey, New York Marriott in Brooklyn after he left office but has since returned to Park Slope.
