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.
- State Sen. Brad Hoylman, the only openly gay member of the New York State Senate, is the other major candidate currently running.
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.