Bill de Blasio

Bill de Blasio (/dɪˈblɑːzioʊ/ dib-LAH-zee-oh; born Warren Wilhelm Jr., May 8, 1961; later Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm between 1983 and 2001) is an American former politician who was the 109th mayor of New York City from 2014 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he held the office of New York City Public Advocate from 2010 to 2013.

De Blasio was born in Manhattan and raised primarily in Cambridge, Massachusetts.^[1] He graduated from New York University and Columbia University before brief stints working as a campaign manager for Charles Rangel and Hillary Clinton. De Blasio started his career as an elected official on the New York City Council, representing the 39th district in Brooklyn from 2002 to 2009. After one term as public advocate, he was elected mayor of New York City in 2013. De Blasio was reelected mayor in 2017.

De Blasio called attention to what he calls stark economic inequality in New York City, which he described as a "tale of two cities" during his first campaign. He supported socially liberal and progressive policies. In his first term as mayor, he implemented a free universal pre-kindergarten program in the city. De Blasio's other policy initiatives included the ThriveNYC mental health program, new de-escalation training for police officers, reduced prosecutions for cannabis possession, and ending the post-9/11 surveillance program of Muslim residents. De Blasio was term-limited and ineligible to seek a third term in the 2021 New York City mayoral election. He was succeeded by Eric Adams on January 1, 2022.

De Blasio ran in the Democratic primaries for the 2020 presidential election. After registering low poll numbers and failing to qualify for the third round of primary debates, he suspended his campaign on September 20, 2019. In 2022, he ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in the newly redrawn 10th congressional district, but withdrew his candidacy prior to the Democratic primary.