Bill de Blasio heads to New Hampshire as he stokes 2020 speculation
New York City’s mayor, Bill de Blasio, is heading to New Hampshire this week, stoking new speculation about a surprise 2020 presidential run.
De Blasio will make a swing through the first in the nation primary state on Friday, after speaking on Thursday night at Harvard’s John F Kennedy School of Government.
He plans to meet Mayor Jim Donchess of Nashua and may do some retail politicking with voters in the city, said his communications director, Michael Casca.
De Blasio will then head to Concord on Friday afternoon and meet with organizers with the group Rights and Democracy New Hampshire, where he plans to discuss efforts to raise wages and promote access to family leave and healthcare.
“He wants to make sure ideas like Pre-K for All, paid personal time and mental health are on the table as Democrats debate the party’s vision for the future,” said Casca, who joined De Blasio’s team after working on Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential race.
De Blasio has said he won’t rule out jumping into the already crowded Democratic primary field. “I never rule things out, because you never know what life brings,” he said during an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union last month.
The trip, first reported by Politico, is the latest foray into national politics for a mayor who has tried to establish a profile as a national progressive champion throughout his two terms in office, to sometimes frustrating results.
His effort to organize a forum for 2016 candidates flopped after no candidates agreed to participate. After months of waffling he ended up endorsing Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary, but has since allied himself with Sanders, who swore him in for his second term as mayor.
He has recently rolled out high-profile programs such as a push to provide healthcare for New Yorkers without insurance, and to require employers to offer paid vacation time. His administration has struggled, meanwhile, to improve decrepit conditions in the city’s public housing and bring downa high homeless population.
“There’s plenty of money in this city. It’s just in the wrong hands,” he declared in his recent State of the City speech, debuting a catchphrase he has repeated since.
De Blasio’s New Hampshire trip comes as another former New York City mayor, Michael Bloomberg, is also exploring a 2020 bid. Bloomberg, who may run as a Democrat but with a more centrist profile than his successor, traveled to New Hampshire last month.
A Quinnipiac University poll last month found New York voters ranked De Blasio last among New York leaders who could run for president. Only 5% said De Blasio would make the best president.