Just one month after his term in the Big Apple expired and now that his Park Slope, Brooklyn address has been redistricted, former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is reportedly considering a congressional run in New York’s 11th Congressional District.
If he does jump into the race, the lifelong Democrat would challenge former Democratic Rep. Max Rose in a June primary, which would most likely be contentious, and the winner will likely face incumbent Nicole Malliotakis, who took over Rose’s old seat in 2020.
The new district lines released this week, which will now go to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s desk for signature, diminished Malliotakis’s advantage in a district that supported Donald Trump in 2020 by swapping out Southern Brooklyn’s swing areas with more progressive neighborhoods.
The new congressional map – favoring Democrats in 22 House districts and Republicans in just four – could assist Democrats in flipping as many as three House seats in November.
Malliotakis, whose district now is bluer, blasted the change as Democrat leadership’s blatant attempt to steal this seat though New Yorkers already voted twice for non-partisan maps by ballot referendum.
In line with the old district lines, De Blasio’s home is currently represented in Congress by his close ally Yvette Clarke whom he’d be unlikely to challenge but he doesn’t have such a relationship with Rose, who has not shied from publicly expressing his disapproval of de Blasio branding him the worst mayor in the history of NYC.
Having served as mayor of New York from 2014 until 2021, Bill De Blasio was barred from running for reelection by term limits and he also dispelled rumors of a potential gubernatorial run last month, stressing he would do anything to fight inequality in the state of New York, but would not race against Hochul.
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