New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio will announce his candidacy for President of the United States on Thursday, a campaign spokesperson confirmed Wednesday afternoon.
De Blasio is scheduled to formally launch his campaign tomorrow morning and then visit key primary states Iowa and South Carolina over a four-day period. The mayor’s wife, Chirlane McCray is expected to accompany him for parts of his first trip as a White House hopeful. “The mayor plans to highlight his record of liberal accomplishments in the nation’s largest city, including enacting universal pre-kindergarten, raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, and overseeing a drop in crime to an all-time low,” NBC News reports.
While De Blasio is unpopular in the Big Apple, his progressive record may help him amid a crowded Democrat primary field.
“Because he has such a present press corps in a tabloid city, we’ve seen him up close and in an aggressive and unflattering light, but if you look at his actual record of achievement, it’s quite lengthy,” Rebecca Katz, a Democrat strategist, told NBC News. “Yes, there’s an argument to be made about whether he should be running for president or not, but he is certainly qualified.”
Both De Blasio and McCray on Thursday will appear on ABC’s Good Morning America, where a handful of White House hopefuls have appeared ahead of their campaign launches.
Because only 20 candidates will be allowed to participate in next month’s first Democrat primary debated — hosted by NBC News, MSNBC and Telemundo — De Blasio’s late entry may keep him off the debate stage.