May 20, 2022 - Politics & Policy

Former NYC mayor Bill de Blasio is running for Congress

Then Mayor Bill de Blasio

Then Mayor Bill de Blasio speaking at the One Police Plaza in September of 2021. Photo: Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" that he is running for Congress.

Driving the news: De Blasio will run to represent New York's 10th Congressional District, which includes parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn.

The backdrop: After the New York State Court of Appeals rejected a map drawn by Democrats in the state legislature aimed at maximizing the number of Democratic House seats, a court-appointed mapmaker drew new preliminary maps that were released Monday.

  • The maps made significant changes to districts in the name of competitiveness and compactness, including breaking up Rep. Jerrold Nadler's (D-N.Y.) district, which spans the West side of Manhattan and snakes down into Brooklyn.
  • In the new map, Nadler would be placed in a contest against Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), leaving a lower Manhattan-Brooklyn seat with no incumbent and a massive bench of Democrats waiting in the wings
  • The maps are set to be finalized on Friday, with potential changes being made based on public feedback.

The state of play: A massive array of Democrats in the new district has signaled interest in running in the 10th.

What he's saying: "I'm ready right now to serve and address the issues that are so deep in communities in Brooklyn and Manhattan," de Blasio said on Morning Joe this morning.

  • De Blasio served as mayor of New York from 2014 to 2021 and briefly ran for president in 2020 on a progressive platform.
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