Blaz officially declares run for not yet finalized CD10 seat

Bill de Blasio – Mayor
Former Mayor Bill de Blasio.

Ex-Mayor Bill de Blasio officially declared his candidacy for the draft new Congressional District 10 Friday morning on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, mere hours before the potentially different final map for the new district is approved by a Steuben County judge.

“Joe, the polls show that people are hurting, they need help, they need help fast and they need leaders who can actually get them help now and know how to do it,” de Blasio told Morning Joe hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski.

“I do know how to do it, from years of serving the people in this city. So, today I’m declaring my candidacy for Congress in the 10th Congressional District of New York.”

The announcement comes on the heels of de Blasio launching an exploratory committee for a run in the 10th District Wednesday, which followed the release of draft Congressional maps Monday. The new district 10 includes all of lower Manhattan below 14th Street and several north and central Brooklyn neighborhoods that de Blasio – a Park Slope resident – represented when he served in the City Council over a decade ago.

While de Blasio has officially announced his candidacy Friday morning, the 10th District he declared for could very well change shape before the day is out, as Friday is the day by which court-appointed special master Jonathan Cervas is due to submit finalized maps to Steuben County Supreme Court Judge Patrick McAllister.

The draft map for CD10 would be an open seat as Jerry Nadler – the Congress Member representing much of the district – has decided to instead run against his longtime colleague Congress Member Carolyn Maloney (D – Manhattan, Queens). Maloney’s 12th Congressional District was redrawn to include the Upper West Side, where Nadler lives and much of his base resides.

Also eyeing runs for the new CD10 are state Senators Brad Hoylman (D – Manhattan), Simcha Felder (D – Brooklyn), Assembly Members Robert Carroll (D – Brooklyn), Yuh-Line Niou (D – Manhattan), Jo Anne Simon (D – Brooklyn) and former city Comptroller Scott Stringer.

The final maps are expected to be revealed sometime Friday.