Report: Andrew Yang Considers Run for Mayor of NYC

By Yehudit Garmaise 

    Former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang is testing the waters to assess New Yorkers’ interest in his potential candidacy in next year’s mayoral race, when Mayor Bill de Blasio can no longer run because of term limits.

   During the Democratic primary for president, Yang advocated for a “universal basic income” to be paid on monthly payments of $1,000 for Americans, whose jobs, he said, are increasingly being replaced by new technologies and automation.

   Politico reported today that a Facebook ad directed users to respond to a poll that was conducted through the online service Survey Monkey, which asked for feedback on 11 candidates who have expressed interest in running for mayor.

  Among those candidates was a contender who was not named as Yang, but who sounded a lot like him as it described a candidate who was a former entrepreneur, a nonprofit leader and, the 2012 recipient of former President Barak Obama’s “Champion of Change” award, which Yang had received that year.

  The poll sought to assess Yang’s viability not only in the Democratic primary but as a potential independent candidate, as well, which would allow Yang to differentiate himself from the crowded Democratic field and skip the Democratic primary in June. 

  Running as an independent candidate also would provide a path to victory for Democratic candidates who lose in the primary in June.

     Politico points out that registered Democrats vastly outnumber Republicans and unaffiliated voters in New York City, and New Yorkers rarely vote for Republican mayors, with the exceptions of Rudy Giuliani and Mike Bloomberg, who both won as during times of significant crisis.

   Also, Bloomberg was helped by significantly outspending his opponents.