Andrew Yang, the technical entrepreneur who became prominent in 2020 as a Democratic presidential candidate, filed paperwork Wednesday to begin raising money for a New York City mayoral campaign.
Two recent polls show that Yang’s recognition of the name from his presidential bid and subsequent appearances on CNN as a political analyst would plunge him into the field’s top level, which is crowded with more than two dozen candidates.
One of these polls, conducted by Public Policy Polling, showed him getting 17 percent of the vote in a virtual band with Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams receiving 16 percent.
No other candidate broke 10 percent – but 40 percent of the 755 Democratic primary voters interviewed said they remained unopposed or insecure with the June primary still six months away.
Yang’s application to the city’s campaign finance council comes just a day after he sat in Harlem with pastor Al Sharpton, one of the city’s most influential African-American political activists.
The paperwork with the CFB shows that Yang has decided to opt for the city’s public funding system for his race, which provides up to $ 8 dollars in funding for every dollar he travels privately.
However, to accept city funding, he also agreed to limit his spending to $ 7.3 million for the Democratic primary in 2021. Proponents of a Yang bid for Gracie Mansion have said they expect the large donor base from his 2020 campaign can easily allow him to hit those numbers.
Yang’s presidential bid attracted a significant successor during the Democratic presidential election for his advocate of policies that would guarantee a basic level of income for all Americans.
However, Yang has little other experience in politics or government – meaning there are few clues as to how he would campaign in the famous rough world of New York City politics or rule the Big Apple if he were to win the election. .
A Yang representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.