City Council Speaker Corey Johnson said Monday he is considering a run for mayor in 2021.
“It’s a big decision, but I am thinking about a potential people-powered Mayoral run,” he wrote on Twitter.
Should he decide to run, Johnson pledged not to take any campaign donations from real estate developers, lobbyists and corporate PACs. He added that he won’t take more than $250 from any donor, even though the current limit on individual donations is $2,000.
Johnson, who told The New York Times last year that he “never” wants to be mayor, is accepting donations on a new website featuring photos of him on the subway, talking with fellow New Yorkers and speaking at rallies. He was “averaging about one contribution per minute” Monday morning, he wrote in another tweet.
It's a big decision, but I am thinking about a potential people-powered Mayoral run.
— Corey Johnson (@CoreyinNYC) January 28, 2019
✅ Zero $ from real estate developers
✅ Zero $ from lobbyists
✅ Zero $ from corporate PACs
✅ And I won’t take more than $250 total from anyone
Join me 👉 https://t.co/kxTwtmnXRT
Johnson is the first openly gay and HIV positive city council speaker and would be the first to become mayor. He has represented Chelsea, Hell’s Kitchen, Greenwich Village and parts of SoHo and midtown since 2014. Before that, he served on the Manhattan Community Board 4 and in 2011, he became the youngest community board chair in the city at age 28.
The speaker would face a growing field of potential mayoral candidates, including Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, City Comptroller Scott Stringer, former City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and more.
Current Mayor Bill de Blasio was first elected in 2013 after a stint as public advocate and won re-election in 2017. Under current law, he is limited to two consecutive four-year terms in office.
