Mayor Invoice de Blasio of New York, whose transient presidential marketing campaign did not get off the bottom final 12 months, will endorse Senat
Mayor Invoice de Blasio of New York, whose transient presidential marketing campaign did not get off the bottom final 12 months, will endorse Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont for the Democratic nomination, in accordance with individuals aware of the plans.
The timing of Mr. de Blasio’s announcement was nonetheless being hashed out on Friday.
His selection is a reversal from 4 years in the past, when he endorsed Hillary Clinton over Mr. Sanders, however it isn’t totally surprising. He said last summer that on reflection, he believed Mr. Sanders would have received the 2016 election if nominated.
It’s also notable that Mr. de Blasio selected to make the endorsement solely now, after Mr. Sanders’s victory in New Hampshire and powerful efficiency in Iowa have made him a transparent front-runner for the nomination.
Mr. de Blasio was anticipated to journey with Mr. Sanders on Sunday and Monday in Nevada, the place they are going to seem collectively at canvassing occasions forward of the caucuses there on Feb. 22.
Mr. de Blasio and Mr. Sanders have spoken a number of instances for the reason that mayor ended his presidential campaign in September.
The mayor additionally hung out at Mr. Sanders’s trip house in Vermont in 2018. Mr. Sanders swore Mr. de Blasio in on the inauguration for his second time period as mayor.
Although Mr. de Blasio ran for mayor — and, later, president — on an unapologetically progressive platform, he has typically not endorsed progressive insurgents. He didn’t endorse Zephyr Teachout in 2014 or Cynthia Nixon in 2018 once they challenged Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo from the left. Nor did he endorse Tiffany Cabán within the Queens district legal professional’s race final 12 months, as Mr. Sanders and Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts each did.
Mr. de Blasio’s backing provides to Mr. Sanders’s record of endorsements, which incorporates quite a few unions and grass-roots organizations in addition to Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.
Mr. de Blasio was within the presidential race for under 4 months final 12 months and by no means exceeded 1 % in a debate-qualifying ballot; even voters in New York did not support him. However in one thing of a twist, his predecessor as mayor, Michael R. Bloomberg, has reached double digits in latest nationwide polls with a veritable tsunami of spending from his private fortune.