It’s official. New York Mayor
Bill de Blasio has finally called it quits in his run for president, and it seems many New Yorkers are not complaining.
He made the announcement on Friday morning, saying that he was unable to successfully convey his ideas to the Democratic electorate. “I feel like I have contributed all I can to this primary election. It’s clearly not my time, so I’m going to end my presidential campaign,” he said on MSNBC’s
Morning Joe.
According to
NPR, de Blasio is the sixth candidate to drop out of the race, bringing the total number of Democrat nominees to 19. With so many candidates, de Blasio’s allies cautioned him to not run. He also didn’t have the most pristine image in his city of New York with many people complaining about his lack of action towards the subway conditions and the
police’s actions against Black and Brown people.
Love Magic 95.5 FM? Get more! Join the Magic 95.5 FM Newsletter
We care about your data. See our privacy policy.
According to
The Wall Street Journal, a Siena College poll showed that de Blasio was the preference of less than 1% of the Democratic voters in New York state. In the same poll, 25% of the 798 New York voters surveyed had a favorable view of de Blasio, while 57% had an unfavorable view. In New York City, 33% of voters had a favorable view of de Blasio, while 58% had an unfavorable view. According to
New York Post, de Blasio had less than 1% support statewide from Black people, union households and Hispanics in the same Siena survey.
Siena pollster Steven Greenberg told the
Post, “One person in the sample chose Bill de Blasio for president. That’s out of 359 Democrats queried statewide.” Greenberg said that the one vote came from a city voter.
It’s no surprise de Blasio wasn’t doing well, considering his debate run. Although he managed to appear at the first two primary debates in June and July, his polls and fundraising weren’t sufficient enough to qualify him for the September debate. De Blasio was probably not in the run to make the next debate in October.
When news hit that he was dropping out the race, of course, many New Yorkers were thrilled.
“About time!” one lifelong Brooklyn resident, Jerica Wind, told the
Post. Another New Yorker, Peter Velazquez, told the
Post, “I think we could use more of his presence in New York City.” He continued, “I think he had a few good points in the debate actually, but he probably overstayed his welcome, got a little obnoxious, and it’s time to come home.”
Leave it to New Yorkers to tell it like it is. Check out more reactions from the folks in the Big Apple below.
