Politics

7 Democratic NYC Mayoral Candidates Said They Wouldn’t Accept Bill De Blasio’s Endorsement

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Seven Democratic New York City mayoral candidates agreed that they wouldn’t accept Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio’s endorsement at a mayoral forum, the New York Post reported Tuesday.

The candidates diverged on most other issues like personal marijuana use and whether or not to take down the Christopher Columbus statue in Columbus Circle, the Post reported.

During a lightning round of questions at the first forum for the 2021 election, the seven participants also said they would fire New York City Police Department Commissioner Dermot Shea, the Post reported. Some city leaders have criticized Shea’s response to recent protests for being too severe.

The candidates played nice with one another in NYC’s first mayoral forum, which was conducted through Zoom.

But they weren’t so kind to Mayor de Blasio. https://t.co/qyQWcQDJLs

— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) October 14, 2020

Forum participants included the Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, Obama administration cabinet member Shaun Donovan, former Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia, City Council Member Carlos Menchaca, non-profit leader Dianne Morales, Comptroller Scott Stringer, and former de Blasio counsel Maya Wiley, the Post reported.

Adams and Stringer said the Colombus statue should remain, and criticized de Blasio for ejecting homeless individuals from the Lucerne Hotel, the Post reported.

Republican candidates including Guardian Angles founder Curtis Sliwa, mogul John Catsimatidis and Andrew Giuliani were not invited to the forum, the Post reported.