Bill De Blasio Drops House Bid, Quits Politics After Learning No One Wants Him to Run: ‘I Respect That’
Former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio ended his bid for the House and quit politics Tuesday, a day after a poll showed almost half of voters wanted anyone but him to represent them in Congress.
A poll released Monday showed de Blasio with only 3% support in his bid to represent Democrats in November in New York’s newly-drawn 10th congressional district.
The poll found that 40% of voters were undecided. Still, 49% said they would definitely not vote for the former mayor of the country’s biggest city.
Yuh-Line and Carlina are tied (at 16%) in the latest NY-10 poll from WFP, while 40% of likely voters are still undecided. And half the undecided voters are open to most candidates but absolutely refuse to vote for de Blasio. https://t.co/vHWzKeb5rS pic.twitter.com/4J6FSkholG
— Peter Sterne (@petersterne) July 18, 2022
De Blasio apparently took the poll to heart. He announced on Twitter Thursday he was ending his campaign and calling it a career.
“It’s clear the people of #NY10 are looking for another option and I respect that,” de Blasio wrote. “Time for me to leave electoral politics and focus on other ways to serve. I am really grateful for all the people I met, the stories I heard and the many good souls who helped out. Thank you all!”
It’s clear the people of #NY10 are looking for another option and I respect that. Time for me to leave electoral politics and focus on other ways to serve. I am really grateful for all the people I met, the stories I heard and the many good souls who helped out. Thank you all! pic.twitter.com/gpt6V6WLUf
— Bill de Blasio (@BilldeBlasio) July 19, 2022
De Blasio also posted a short video message. He said:
I just want to say these last couple months I have had this really amazing opportunity to spend time with people in Brooklyn, in Manhattan, talking about their lives. Listening to New Yorkers. Everything they’ve been through and all the amazing spirit people have brought fighting back after Covid.
“It’s clear to me that when it comes to this congressional district, people are looking for a different option and I respect that,” de Blasio said.
He concluded he would find “a different way to serve” the people of New York.
“Even though this is not gonna work out, I hope you know I appreciate you,” de Blasio told his Twitter followers.
