- Mayor Bill de Blasio is no longer running for president.
- Many New York City residents urged de Blasio to not run in the first place.
- He will not refocus his efforts to running NYC.
NEW YORK – Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Friday that he is dropping out of the Presidential race.
Mayor de Blasio appeared on Morning Joe to talk about his experience with running for president. He said that he was appreciated that he got to hear the struggles of the American people. He also said that it is clearly not his time and he decided to drop out of the race.
Breaking: Bill de Blasio announces he is ending his presidential campaign pic.twitter.com/vL8GcX3xV5
— Morning Joe (@Morning_Joe) September 20, 2019
Mayor de Blasio never got his feet off the ground during his campaign. He essentially entered the race with zero support. A Quinnipiac poll released in April showed how little support he had.
New York City voters were asked a couple of questions about Bill de Blasio. Support for the mayor never reached over 53 percent. One of the starkest things to note is that 76 percent of voters said that de Blasio should not run for president. This is coming from a city where he is the mayor. He did not even have the support of NYC residents.
But he decided to enter the race anyway. During his campaign, he wanted to focus on working-class families. He created what he called the “Workers Bill of Rights” to garner support. He also went on the campaign trail and attacked President Trump repeatedly. None of the tactics the mayor used help him gain support.
That showed in national polling as well. Bill de Blasio was never above one percent in national polls. Due to that, he could not qualify for the September debates. The October debates also have the same qualifications. It became increasingly clear that the NYC mayor would not make it to the fourth debate. Missing another debate would have ended his election odds.
With Bill de Blasio out the race, the Democratic field is slowly becoming thinner. Only 10 candidates made it to the September debates. The other candidates could not make waves or a strong impact due to missing the third debate. It is likely that other Democratic candidates will drop out, much like Bill de Blasio did.