This morning, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he knows of no Republicans or independents seriously considering a run to succeed him, and because of that, the next mayor will be chosen by a very small group of people.
The mayor was responding to a question about his education policies, and whether he had any expectation that the Democrats bying to succeed him in City Hall would continue them. The mayor’s chief Albany lobbyist, Micah Lasher, is leaving the administration to lead a new political advocacy group, called StudentsFirstNY, to counteract the influence of the United Federation of Teachers on the election.
“Look, I‘ve worked well with all of them, all of those people whose names are mentioned,” said the mayor this morning, following a press conference at Jet Blue’s new headquarters in Long Island City. “I think, you know, some—my personal opinion is—would be better than others and I will make a decision when I get to the ballot box and then I will vote.
“Unfortunately, what’s likely to happen is that the real election will be the Democratic primary and not the general election this year,” he continued. “I don’t know of any Republicans or independents that have talked about, seriously talked about, running. Which is a great shame, because that means the next mayor will be picked by a very small group of people in New York City. But whatever, I think each of them should make their case and I will be out there urging them to do so.”
“If they say they’re gonna change something we’ve done, and you ask me a question about it, I’ll tell you why we’ve done it and why I think it’s the right thing to do,” he added.
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