Andrew Yang, the tech entrepreneur who rose to fame as a Democratic presidential candidate in 2020, filed paperwork on Wednesday to raise money for a New York City mayoral campaign.
Two recent polls show that Yang’s exposure through his presidential bid and subsequent appearances on CNN as a political analyst would lead him to the top of the field, which is packed with more than two dozen candidates.
One of those surveys, conducted by Public Policy Polling, found that he got 17 percent of the vote, in a virtual tie with Brooklyn Borough president Eric Adams, who received 16 percent.
No other candidate broke 10 percent – but 40 percent of the 755 Democratic voters interviewed said they remained un committed or insecure with the June primaries six months away.
Yang’s application to the city’s Campaign Finance Board comes just a day after he sat down in Harlem with Reverend Al Sharpton, one of the city’s most influential African-American political activists.
The paperwork at the CFB shows that Yang has decided to participate in the city’s public funding system, which provides up to $ 8 dollars in funding for every dollar he raises privately.
However, to accept funding from the city, he also agreed to cap his spending at $ 7.3 million dollars for the Democratic primary by 2021 to hit those numbers.
Yang’s presidential bid drew a significant following during the Democratic presidential primaries for his advocacy of policies that would guarantee a basic income for all Americans.
However, Yang has little other experience in politics or government – meaning there is little evidence of how he will campaign in New York City’s famously rugged world of politics, or lead the Big Apple if he would run the election. to win.
A representative for Yang did not immediately respond to a request for comment.