Bill de Blasio and other New York Democrats eye rare, open congressional seat

NEW YORK — A newly open congressional seat in Manhattan and Brooklyn created by a redistricting plan is drawing a large field of potential contenders — and former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is considering jumping into the race.

Under draft district maps released Monday, New York’s 10th District would cover lower Manhattan, brownstone Brooklyn and the Orthodox Jewish enclave of Borough Park, Brooklyn that enjoys consistent voter turnout.

The solidly Democratic seat has no incumbent, after Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), who represents the current 10th District, announced he will instead run against fellow longtime incumbent Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) in the 12th District, which will be reshaped to include his upper West Side home under the new plan.

The rare open seat has prompted a scramble from potential candidates, including the former mayor. Four state lawmakers — Sens. Brad Hoylman and Simcha Felder and Assemblymembers Robert Carroll and Jo Anne Simon, all Democrats — told POLITICO they may run. Fellow Democrat former City Comptroller Scott Stringer also did not rule out jumping in.

De Blasio is “no doubt” considering a run, according to a person familiar with his thinking.

“Open seats don’t come around that often,” the person said. "We're just still looking at all the numbers.”

De Blasio lives in Park Slope, which will be a core part of the new 10th District. The former mayor briefly flirted with running for Congress under district lines approved by the Democratic-controlled state Legislature, which would have lumped Park Slope into a Staten Island-based district held by Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.), but ultimately opted against it. “This seat actually is better than the other one,” the de Blasio source said, predicting he could perform well among Orthodox Jews in Borough Park and public housing residents.

The Legislature’s plan was thrown out by the courts as an unconstitutional gerrymander, resulting in the new maps released Monday by a court-appointed special master. Changes could still be made before they are finalized on Friday.

Hoylman said he is very likely to run and has been calling political supporters and allies in organized labor to let them know of his plans.

“I was as shocked as anyone that there would be a new congressional seat, although I’ve learned in this business to expect the unexpected,” he said.

“It’s a very exciting prospect at such a crucial point in our nation’s history, with a mass shooting in Buffalo by a white supremacist, abortion rights hanging by a thread, and the seemingly endless attacks on LGBTQ kids and their families. [It] compels me to step into the void of this open seat and run,” Hoylman said in an interview.

“I really think it’s also a test of progressive politics,” he said, arguing it was important for lower Manhattan’s new representative to follow in the footsteps of Nadler and Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.), who has represented part of the neighborhood.

Carroll, of Park Slope, said he is considering jumping into the contest and will make a decision once the lines are finalized.

“I think I have a good base of support in that district and the surrounding neighborhoods. I think I’ve been a real champion for both progressive issues and reform issues in Albany,” he said.

“Our country’s kind of at a crossroads, a crisis point. What I think we need is progressive leadership that can actually get results,” he said.

Felder, a conservative Democrat who represents Borough Park, said he is “crunching the numbers” and might jump in — in part because locals have been asking him to thwart a potential bid by de Blasio.

"There clearly is a part of the district that's more conservative and especially, I would say, that the issues of safety and security — those issues that are so critical to people, I think that would be attractive to anyone in that district,” Felder said. "Obviously I need a base. The base I would have is the Orthodox Jewish vote and the conservative Democratic vote throughout the district."

He added that two business people in the neighborhood called him after hearing rumors of a de Blasio run. They “said they would do anything to make sure he does not get elected,” he said.

Simon, who represents brownstone Brooklyn, said she is also considering a congressional bid, noting voters in her current district turn out at the highest rates in the state. “Congress needs women’s voices and coalition builders, and that’s been my history,” she said.

Stringer, who ran for mayor but saw his campaign derailed by sexual misconduct allegations, said he is still reviewing the new lines but added, “I love public service, and I am talking to people in both Manhattan and Brooklyn.”

Meanwhile, allies of both Nadler and Maloney have been pressing for one of the incumbents to run in the 10th District instead and avoid a primary between two longtime Manhattan powerhouses, according to a person familiar with the campaigns. But both pols have balked at the idea and insisted they will run in the 12th District, which is now set to include both the Upper West and East sides as well as Midtown.

"Jerry and Carolyn are dead set at the moment to run against each other,” the person said. "Both of their bases are in the district which is why neither of them wants to contemplate moving into a district that's 60 blocks from their home."