A little over a month past his two terms as mayor, Bill de Blasio wants to stay in your face…as a congressman. Perhaps?
According to a recent report from the New York Post, the currently jobless de Blasio plans on forming an exploratory committee eyeing a run for congress. He would be challenging fellow Democrat Max Rose, who served one term as congressman in the 11th Congressional District, and current seat holder Republican Nicole Malliotakis (who beat Rose in the 2020 election).
It’s something that political consultant Basil Smikle sees as a time-wasting effort.
“It’s unlikely that a former mayor of New York City can be elected to any other office,” stated Smikle. “It’s rare that’s happened in the entire history of the city. But the redrawn lines might favor him as a candidate now more so than they ever did.”
Smikle is referencing the recently redrawn district lines that were approved by the Democrat-dominated state government. In southern Brooklyn particularly, the new lines swap out swing areas with liberal-leaning ones.
Malliotakis’ district has historically covered all of Staten Island and small parts of Brooklyn.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) has already gone on the offensive, tying Malliotakis to former president Donald Trump, whose presence looms over the Republican Party. With Malliotakis spokesperson Rob Ryan referring to the redrawn lines as an attempt by the state government to “steal” her seat, Democrats wasted no time firing back bringing up the Jan. 6 insurrection.
“New Yorkers deserve to know whether Nicole Malliotakis will stand with law enforcement as they continue to investigate and prosecute violent insurrectionists, or whether she stands with the lawless ex-president and his promise of pardons,” said DCCC Spokesperson Abel Iraola in a statement. “Malliotakis is not just out of touch with New Yorkers, she’s downright dangerous—and her extremism will be rejected at the ballot box.”
Smikle still believes that the seat will be a conservative-leaning one regardless.
“It’s still a lot more conservative than Bill de Blasio,” Smikle said when discussing the former mayor’s political ideology. “It’s gonna be hard for a lot of that progressive rhetoric to resonate in that congressional seat.”
So why is de Blasio looking to run for Congress?
“For the same reason that I am not a giraffe,” said political strategist Hank Sheinkopf. “A horse is only as good as it runs and I know how to be human and he knows how to be a giraffe, i.e. the only thing that he’s done really well in his life is being an elected official or involved in politics.”
Rose made waves in a 15-second campaign ad in 2020 calling de Blasio the worst mayor in the history of New York City. Smikle told the AmNews that he thinks de Blasio wants to hurt Rose’s chances of getting back to Washington, but it could clear the lane for Malliotakis.
“His entrance into the race definitely hurts,” Smikle said. “It hurts Democrats’ chances of taking back the seat by, you know, splitting the vote. And even though I think Max Rose is a great candidate, standing up for Black
Lives Matter in many ways cost him his seat.”
De Blasio not taking a step back from the public eye before eyeing a political run of any kind is a bad idea in Sheinkopf’s eyes. But he believes that the mayor is addicted to campaigning.
“He’s won upset elections [and] keeps winning upset elections,” Sheinkopf said. “And therefore, that makes him an expert at really doing one thing. He does not have much skill at much else. That’s the problem.”