Source: Politics<\/p>\n
NEW YORK \u2014 Mayor Bill de Blasio was in his element, just as New York\u2019s political lens was focusing on others.<\/p>\n
He\u2019d made a stop last Sunday at a Black church in Brooklyn to tick off a list of accomplishments \u2014 and sounded more like someone running for office than someone whose time as mayor of America’s biggest city was about to come to an end.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to look ahead; we need to build something new; we need to build something better,\u201d he said to a receptive audience, recounting a previous conversation with a pastor concerned about New York\u2019s post-pandemic future. \u201cThe better question is, when will we reach our greater glory? And let\u2019s do that together.\u201d<\/p>\n
By the end of the week \u2014 with politicos taking bets on when state Attorney General Tish James would announce her bid for governor<\/a> \u2014 de Blasio had quietly mailed paperwork to launch a committee of his own for the state\u2019s highest elected office. The moves by de Blasio and James set up a potential primary showdown between two of New York\u2019s most prominent Democrats, both of whom would be looking to take advantage of a power vacuum left by Andrew Cuomo\u2019s August resignation.<\/p>\n De Blasio and James, who declared her candidacy on Friday, would fight for many of the same voters in New York City in a battle to unseat incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul.<\/p>\n The mayor has not officially announced a bid. Asked about his plans on Tuesday, he told MSNBC, \u201cI want to continue in public service and there’s a lot that needs to be fixed in Albany.\u201d<\/p>\n Last week, he finalized forms to establish a candidate committee \u2014 \u201cNew Yorkers for a Fair Future\u201d \u2014 with the state Board of Elections, as first reported by POLITICO.<\/p>\n His longtime friend and adviser Peter Ragone is overseeing the operation, reasoning de Blasio has a loyal base of Black and Latino voters throughout the city who will be persuaded by his record of launching universal pre-kindergarten and shepherding New York through Covid-19. The mayor appointed Queens resident Daniel Point as the committee\u2019s treasurer, according to documents obtained by POLITICO. <\/p>\n The committee does not specify de Blasio\u2019s exact plans. But it allows him to fundraise for a run for governor \u2014 something he has indicated he is considering, both in public statements and calls to potential supporters and donors<\/a>, as first reported by POLITICO.<\/p>\n In recent months, he has reached out to labor affiliates, lobbyists and Orthodox Jewish community leaders \u2014 including people who have business interests before his administration \u2014 to assess support and ask for money. Several people familiar with the calls said he has requested donations of up to $25,000 from prospective donors.<\/p>\n The mayor has long raised money from people looking for access to his administration \u2014 a benefit that will not be available to him after his term ends Dec. 31. He now faces a mountain of debt<\/a> from prior campaigns and legal bills, while two complaints issued against his presidential bid<\/a> remain unresolved.<\/p>\n Over the past year, he has been raising money through his 3-year-old state PAC<\/a> to retire some of his debt. Donors include luxury developer Aby Rosen of RFR Holdings, Texas-based lobbyist Ben Barnes \u2014 who represents a real estate project on Staten Island that requires city approvals \u2014 and Peter Ward, former president of the influential hotel workers union.<\/p>\n Money troubles aside, the mayor remains popular with his base of Black and Latino Democrats across the city, if last Sunday\u2019s church visit is any indication.<\/p>\n Bishop Orlando Findlayter introduced de Blasio<\/a> as \u201cone of the greatest mayors in the city of New York, in the history of New York,\u201d and subsequently told POLITICO he thinks de Blasio is consistently \u201cunderestimated, both in his accomplishments and in his ability.\u201d<\/p>\n The friendship encapsulates de Blasio\u2019s approach to politics: He was willing to take heat just weeks after he took office for trying to help Findlayter when the bishop was arrested for driving on a suspended license<\/a>. The mayor seemed to believe the alliance outweighed criticism from people he readily derides as \u201celites\u201d and \u201cpundits.\u201d<\/p>\n That loyalty has sustained him as support from white Democrats has steadily slipped<\/a> and he failed to register in a recent gubernatorial poll<\/a>.<\/p>\n Still, de Blasio\u2019s path to Albany promises to be steep.<\/p>\n He faces stiff competition in his quest for Black and Latino Democrats from James, who would be the first Black female governor elected in the country<\/a>. James also hails from Brooklyn and has remained popular there<\/a>, securing 56 percent of the vote in her three-way primary in 2018. She made a name for herself taking on former President Donald Trump, the National Rifle Association and Cuomo, whose resignation followed her investigation into his alleged sexual misconduct.<\/p>\n New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, another Black Democrat from Brooklyn, is also contemplating a run for governor<\/a> after a strong showing<\/a> in his own statewide race for lieutenant governor.<\/p>\n \u201cAnyone looking at Tish\u2019s numbers in her attorney general race in Brooklyn and how she swept, even with limited resources, should be pretty nervous right now,\u201d said Democratic consultant Camille Rivera, who worked in de Blasio\u2019s administration and is currently unaffiliated with any of the campaigns.<\/p>\n Asked if de Blasio could outshine James in Brooklyn, given his own ties there, Rivera suggested James\u2019 appeal was overwhelming: \u201cShe is a queen in Brooklyn.\u201d<\/p>\n De Blasio has also been utilizing his taxpayer-funded position to interact with New Yorkers in areas where he remains popular after a challenging tenure. On a recent Saturday, he issued an unusually busy public schedule that included stops in Brooklyn with his son Dante, who has factored into most of his father\u2019s political campaigns.<\/p>\n Earlier this month, the mayor also hosted a City Hall bill signing that doubled as a political rally<\/a>, even as he continues to refuse in-person press conferences. The celebration with the Hotel Trades Council underscored his alliance with a union that took a gamble on endorsing his longshot presidential bid<\/a>.<\/p>\n Weeks later, de Blasio personally intervened<\/a> when his own City Planning Commission was threatening to reject a controversial proposal the union had been pushing for 13 years.<\/p>\n And the mayor \u2014 more a creature of local politics than his sweeping rhetoric would signal \u2014 is relying on his relationship with politically engaged Orthodox Jewish figures in Brooklyn. In recent weeks, he has phoned Sephardic leaders and a prominent Satmar rabbi to share his aspirations, according to several people familiar with the discussions.<\/p>\n The Satmar community has long been an ally, raising small amounts of money to help him qualify for presidential debates while hinting in Yiddish fliers that the support might compel him to resolve a long-standing dispute over a synagogue<\/a>.<\/p>\n