Bill de Blasio
The photo was originally added to Flickr by Gage Skidmore (https://flickr.com/photos/22007612@N05/48609239838). This image has not been edited.Bio | Bill de Blasio is the 109th mayor of New York City. He is also a member of the Democratic Party and was the city’s public advocate from 2010 to 2013. |
Status and Position | Current Mayor of New York |
Political Party and Jurisdiction | Democrat, New York |
Elections | Election Jurisdiction | Started Campaign | Campaign Status | Poll Rankings (of the vote) |
| 2020 Presidential Election United States | United States | Yes | Dropped Out | N/A |
Campaign Financing | De Blasio has been involved in a number of campaign finance scandals, including accusations of conflict of interest in his fundraising and recent complaints that his presidential campaign accepted donations that exceeded federal limitations. His campaign will not be accepting campaign contributions from the fossil fuel industry, corporate PACs, or federal lobbyists. |
Voting Rights | De Blasio has not released any plans to strengthen voting rights in the United States, but has been critical of policies that limit enfranchisement. |
Opinions on Issues
Issues | Stance | Summary |
| Universal Healthcare | For | Has said private insurance is hurting the American people. De Blasio is a strong advocate for universal healthcare, which is a right he believes should be extended to everyone, regardless of immigration status. He supports Medicare-for-All and is one of the few candidates that would support the complete abolition of private insurance. |
| Socialized Healthcare | Nuance | Supported the Affordable Care Act but would replace it with Medicare-for-All. |
| Private Healthcare | Against | Has said private insurance is hurting the American people. |
| LGBT Rights | For | Believes marriage equality is an essential right. De Blasio is an advocate for LGBT rights and has sided with LGBT advocates on a number of issues. As Mayor of New York, he took executive action to allow transgender people to use restrooms that matched their gender identities in public buildings and signed a bill that added a gender-neutral alternative on birth certificates. He has also been a strong supporter of same-sex marriage. Following the Supreme Court decision that legalized same-sex marriage, de Blasio officiated a number of same-sex weddings himself. |
| Taxes | For | Has proposed a plan that would implement a wealth tax, an inheritance tax, a Wall Street tax, among others. De Blasio is a proponent for a number of tax proposals, including a wealth tax, and inheritance tax, and a Wall Street tax. He has also indicated that he would support income tax rates as high as 70%. If elected, he would seek to reverse the 2017 GOP tax cuts. |
| Flat Tax Rate | Against | Supports progressive tax rates. De Blasio is a proponent for a number of tax proposals, including a wealth tax, and inheritance tax, and a Wall Street tax. He has also indicated that he would support income tax rates as high as 70%. If elected, he would seek to reverse the 2017 GOP tax cuts. |
| Abortion | For | Criticized Biden for his support of the Hyde Amendment. Supported New York law allowing abortion after 24 weeks. De Blasio is a pro-choice candidate. He generally opposes any legislation that restricts abortion access, though it is unclear whether or not he believes there should be restrictions on late-term abortions. He supports the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits federal funds from being used to provide abortions. As Mayor of New York, de Blasio denied federal funding that was tied to the Trump Administration’s abortion ‘gag-rule,’ citing that the restrictions would reduce the quality of care that patients in the city received. |
| Gun Control | For | Has called for common sense gun legislation. De Blasio is an advocate for gun control. He has specifically expressed support for universal background checks, and has said that if elected president, he would implement a mandatory buyback program on assault weapons. |
| Assisted Suicide | Unknown | Has not made a public statement. De Blasio is an advocate for gun control. He has specifically expressed support for universal background checks, and has said that if elected president, he would implement a mandatory buyback program on assault weapons. |
| Government Interference | For | Supports measures such as gun control, environmental regulations, and the abolition of private healthcare. |
| Planned Parenthood | For | Believes Planned Parenthood provides essential healthcare services for women. |
| Welfare | For | Has supported measures to reduce work requirements for recipients of welfare. As Mayor of New York, de Blasio lead efforts to reduce barriers to welfare programs such as SNAP. He has also been an advocate for expanding access to affordable housing. |
| Welfare | For | Supported the New York stem cell research industry as Mayor of New York. |
| Death Penalty | Against | Would abolish the death penalty. De Blasio supports a number of criminal justice reforms. As Mayor of New York, he phased out ‘stop and frisk’ policies within the NYPD and signed the Criminal Justice Reform Act, which aimed to decrease numbers of arrests in the city. He also attempted to address the so-called ‘school to prison pipeline’ by reducing reforming school disciplinary codes. As president, de Blasio would support abolishing the death penalty. |
| Mandatory Prison Sentence | Against | Has been critical of Biden for his past support of mandatory minimums. However, he has not explicitly committed to abolishing them if elected. |
| Military Spending | Unknown | Has not specifically outlined what military spending would look like under his Administration. |
| War on Terrorism | Unknown | Has not been vocal about the War on Terror. |
| Foreign Policy International Interaction | For | Supports international collaboration to address climate change. Compared to some of the other candidates, de Blasio has relatively little foreign policy experience and has thus shied away from making foreign policy a focus of his campaign. As Mayor of New York, he endorsed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and urged the Obama Administration to address threats of terrorism without military action. He has also described himself as a pro-Israel candidate. |
| United Nations power | For | Has spoken at the UN. |
| Nationalism | Against | Has criticized Trump's nationalist tactics. |
| Free Markets | Against | Has supported socialist policies. De Blasio has been critical of several free-trade agreements, including NAFTA and the TPP, although he has not clearly outlined what trade policy under a de Blasio administration would look like. |
| Brexit | Unknown | Has not identified himself as either pro-remain or pro-leave, but has said that the issue of Brexit was rooted in income inequality and racism. |
| Affirmative Action | For | As Mayor of New York City, advocated to extend affirmative action programs into regional high schools. |
| Government Spending | For | Supports increasing government spending on social programs |
| Charter Schools | Against | Has said that he does not support federal funding of charter schools. |
| Common Core | Against | Has said that he sympathizes with criticisms of the Common Core. De Blasio has not outlined any specific education policies that he would pursue as president, although he does have a history of supporting moderately progressive education initiatives in the past. As Mayor of New York, he successfully implemented a universal pre-k program in the city, and has previously expressed support for student debt forgiveness for veterans. |
| Clean Energy | For | Believes the US should increase use of sustainable energy sources. De Blasio believes that action does need to be taken to combat climate change, and is supportive of the Green New Deal. As Mayor of New York, he proposed a multi-billion dollar initiative to protect Manhattan against various threats of climate change, including rising sea levels and extreme weather. De Blasio is supportive of environmental protection, although he hasn't outlined many specific policy measures he would support as president. He has expressed interest in banning fracking. |
| Religious Freedom | For | Supported measures to expand religious freedom as Mayor of New York City, but does not believe that religious freedom includes the right to discriminate. As Mayor of New York, de Blasio initiated several policies to expand religious freedom, including allowing churches to use public schools for services on the weekends and requiring public schools to observe the Muslim holidays Eid al-Adha and Eid al-Fitr. While de Blasio considers himself to be an advocate for religious freedom, he does not believe that religious beliefs can be used to justify discrimination against LGBT people or to deny women access to reproductive care. |
| Separation of Church and State | For | Believes there should be separation between church and state. |
| Slavery Reparations | Unknown | Has not made any public comments. |
| Border Control | Against | Supports a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and supports sanctuary cities. Has condemned Trump's policies on refugee intake. As Mayor of New York City, de Blasio offered frequent protections for the city’s undocumented residents. He championed efforts to open up eligibility for a city ID to undocumented immigrants and sued the Trump administration for trying to cut federal funding for sanctuary cities. He has been supportive of legislative efforts to provide a pathway to citizenship, and was a strong advocate for the Dream and Promise Act, which would have extended protections for immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children. He has also vocally opposed the Trump Administration's efforts to reduce refugee intake. |
| Passenger Profiling | Against | Would support laws to prevent profiling. |
| DACA | For | Would grant citizenship to DREAMers. |
| Sanctuary Cities | For | Believes that sanctuary cities should be protected, opposed Trump Administration efforts to remove federal funding from sanctuary cities. |
| Legalizing Marijuana | For | De Blasio has been supportive of efforts to legalize marijuana. |
The photo was originally added to Flickr by Gage Skidmore (https://flickr.com/photos/22007612@N05/48609239838). This image has not been edited.