Andrew Yang filed the paperwork to run for New York City in 2021, the campaign’s finance council confirmed.
The 45-year-old tech entrepreneur has gathered loyal followers in the Democratic primaries and joined at least 35 other candidates who want to succeed the largely unpopular mayor Bill de Blasio. Yang lives in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen. He never ran for public office, but the recognition of his name and the power of fundraising can put him on the list of first place.
Democratic primaries are in June. Before Yang entered the race, many thought it would be a two-man fight between city controller Scott Stringer and Brooklyn neighborhood president Eric Adams.
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A Slingshot Strategies poll of 1,000 Democrats obtained by the New York Post before the announcement found that Yang, if he joined the race, would lead the group. Twenty percent of respondents listed Yang as their first choice, while 14% listed Adams and 11% named Stringer.
Yang withdrew from the presidential race in February. Joining the race as one of the lesser-known candidates, he rose to the middle tier in the polls thanks to his “Freedom Dividend” – a universal basic income that would pay every American adult $ 1,000 a month – and his vigorous and open mental approach to the campaign.
He fired warnings at members of his own party for policing cultural issues.
“I would say, ‘Hey! I’m running for president! ‘ for a truck driver, retail worker, waitress in a cafeteria. And they said, ‘What party?’ And I would say ‘democrat’ and they would back off as if I said something really negative or had just changed color or something, “said Yang in November.
“And there is something deeply wrong when working-class Americans respond to a large party that should theoretically be fighting for them,” he continued. “So you have to ask yourself, what has the Democratic Party been defending in their minds? And in their minds, the Democratic Party, unfortunately, has taken on that role of coastal urban elites who are more concerned with policing various cultural issues than improving their declining lifestyle for years! “
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The next mayor of New York City, who will take office one year from January, will certainly be tasked with stimulating economic development based on the consequences of the pandemic. Tens of thousands of New Yorkers have fled the city due to easier access to work at home, tight quarantine quarters, crime and massive unemployment rates due to prolonged and repeated business closings.