“Let’s fight for a future New York City that we can be proud of – together. Join us at YangforNY.com,” he added.
Yang suspended his presidential campaign in February last year, and he spent time as a CNN contributor after leaving the campaign trail. By the time he ended the campaign, Yang had said he had no plans to run for mayor of New York, where he has lived for nearly 25 years.
He joins a field with dozens of mayoral candidates, according to city records. Competitors are fighting to take responsibility for a city plagued by pandemics, where unemployment is skyrocketing, poverty and hunger are growing, and a budget button on the horizon could force the next mayor to make deep cuts in public sector jobs and services .
Very unknown outside of technology circles before the 2020 primary, Yang won the affection – if not always the votes – of Democrats who valued his happy warrior character on the debate stage and campaign track. And he was backed by supporters of the brand “Yang Gang”, which helped him raise $ 40 million during the race – including a surprising $ 16.5 million as the race warmed up in the last three months of 2019.
This story has been updated with background information.
