Test-prep entrepreneur and former presidential hopeful Andrew Yang campaigned for almost three years for the top Democratic ticket — and may soon begin again for another executive position come 2021.
According to a report from Politico, Yang has been calling elected officials to see if they may support him in a run for New York City mayor next November. He has also been in touch with the consulting firm that helped
Michael Bloomberg win his third term in 2009.
Yang, who grew up in Westchester and lived most of his adult life in Hell’s Kitchen, ran for the Democratic candidacy with plans for mass employment post-automation and a signature universal basic income initiative of $1,000 per month for every American adult. Though the idea was considered a political impossibility in early February when he suspended his campaign, a little over six weeks later, a Republican Senate passed a law providing a one-time UI payment of $1,200 to most adults as part of the coronavirus stimulus.
If the businessman does enter the Democratic primary, he will be running in a crowded field in a race that will shape the future of the city after the pandemic. Among those running are former policeman and Brooklyn borough president Eric Adams; MSNBC contributor and former de Blasio counsel Maya Wiley; former Obama Housing and Urban Development secretary Shaun Donovan; and former sanitation commissioner Kathryn Garcia. Others who are reportedly considering primary bids are former City Council speaker Christine Quinn, who lost the primary to the current mayor in 2012; and Staten Island Representative Max Rose, who lost his seat in Congress in November.
Though Yang may be checking out Gracie Mansion, he is doing so from afar at the moment. This week, while condemning the federal government for failing to pass a stimulus, Yang has been in Georgia campaigning for Democratic challengers Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock in the January runoff that will decide control of the Senate.
This post has been updated.
