Billionaire John Catsimatidis is weighing a potential bid in this year’s New York City mayoral race, with a decision to be made in the coming weeks.
Catsimatidis, a radio host who has supported President Trump, says he’s considering running as a Democrat to increase his chances for support in the ranked-choice voting system that will let voters choose several candidates in order of preference in the June primary.
“This is a Democratic city, and I was a Bill Clinton Democrat. I was a Democrat for a long time,” Catsimatidis told Politico. “I’m a middle-of-the-road guy. I can be a conservative Democrat, or I can be a liberal Republican.”
While Catsimatidis says he won’t deny his support for Trump, he believes there is room in the Democratic Party for some people to compete against the growing far-left wing of the party.
“The Democratic Party needs somebody with courage to stand up against the crazy Democrats,” Catsimatidis said. “There’s a lot of moderate Democrats I have a lot of respect for, I’ve supported in the past.”
Catsimatidis, also the CEO of Manhattan grocery store chain Gristedes Foods, has often hosted allies of Trump on his show, The Cats Roundtable, on WABC 77 AM. In the aftermath of the 2020 election, the mogul hosted Rudy Giuliani, who discussed the president’s legal strategy to fight election results.
A few other well-known Democrats have also been mulling bids for mayor, including ex-City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who lost her bid in 2013. Former Rep. Max Rose, who lost his recent congressional campaign to Republican Nicole Malliotakis after campaigning negatively about current New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, is also planning a run.
On Wednesday night, former presidential candidate Andrew Yang announced his bid for mayor, saying, “I moved to New York City 25 years ago. I came of age, fell in love, and became a father here. Seeing our City in so much pain breaks my heart. Let’s fight for a future New York City that we can be proud of – together.”
