The de Blasio administration silenced us, sabotaged our campaign and stole the election. But we’re still standing.
My run for mayor of New York City began with a simple thought: What if we did it without compromising our values?
We aimed to reinvent the modern political campaign from within and launched a candidacy built on integrity and compassion, and with a focus on big ideas and a fresh vision for our future.
And it worked. We received more than 10 million engagements on social media and more than 1.4 million video views. Hundreds of volunteers joined our campaign.
But as we gained traction, the government clamped down. In an effort to silence us, they orchestrated a plot to keep us out of the government-run “Official NYC Debates,” a critical component of our election process.
Here’s how they did it: First, they tried to prevent us from meeting the eligibility requirements to participate, but we challenged their decision, appeared for an official hearing and won.
When we qualified (i.e., we were officially authorized by the government to participate), the government reinterpreted the Debate Law to allow the TV networks to choose, at their discretion, which candidates were able to participate. And then the government coerced the TV networks to exclude us. Three separate times.
Simply put, we played the game by the government’s rules, and when we beat them, they changed the rules and kicked us out.
If that sounds unlikely, it’s because it is. In fact, it’s unprecedented. In the entire history of the government-organized debates—approximately 360 events and more than 1,000 candidates—no other candidate has met the predetermined eligibility requirements, and then been excluded by the government. Not one.
And for good reason. The Debate Law states that the Official NYC Debates must be administered on a “non-discriminatory, objective, non-partisan” basis.
For the first time ever, the New York City Law Department, which reports directly to Mayor de Blasio, intentionally misinterpreted the law (i.e., they empowered the TV networks to exclude candidates when they had not previously done so), and then applied that misinterpretation exclusively to our campaign (i.e., they coerced the TV networks to exclude me, but no other candidate). Even Bo Dietl, who we beat in the general election, was allowed to participate on the basis of “his showing in a recent poll.” Ironic.
New York City government, particularly under de Blasio, is commonly thought to be corrupt. But this behavior takes government corruption to new heights. The tampering with our free and fair elections is a direct violation of democracy’s most foundational tenet: representative government.
Now, through an investigation of government documents and internal emails retrieved via a Freedom of Information Law request, we’ve been able to stitch together a pattern of facts that undeniably exposes the government’s lies and intentional sabotaging of our campaign.
It turns out that the government, itself, had determined that our campaign would be excluded from the debates well before the debate program was set—before we were able to have qualified, before we were rejected, before we appeared in an official hearing to challenge the rejection and before the TV networks were notified of our qualification. This exclusion was a premeditated, coordinated and intentional act by the government, and it was executed three times with two separate TV networks. Most important, the government and TV networks lied to cover it up.
Why would they go to such great lengths to silence us? Why would they break the law and risk the potential consequences?
It’s because we’re a real threat to the establishment government. We’re challenging the status quo and uprooting their power structure. We have massive proposals to redesign government, return power to the people and distribute income fairly. And we’re unapologetic in our mission to implement them.
But our political beliefs, however unorthodox, are no excuse for government oppression. In fact, government oppression is precisely why we need radical reform. When an election is stolen by our leaders, then our government has failed us in the most basic terms.
Get angry, New York. We’ve been silenced, but we have strength in truth. And truth is not invisible.
Michael Tolkin is a tech entrepreneur and was a candidate for mayor.
