Andrew Yang has filed paperwork to run for mayor of New York City in 2021, New York Daily News reports.
The City Campaign Finance Board confirmed that Yang registered his campaign on Wednesday.
Yang, 45, is a businessman and philanthropist who worked in the tech industry for several years.
Yang gained a huge following, known as the Yang Gang, when he ran in the Democratic presidential primaries. His idea to provide Americans with a universal basic income of $1,000 was popular with voters.
Yang’s political consultant Chris Coffey said that the filing was not an “official” signal that Yang is running, according to New York Daily News.
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“We aren’t accepting donations,” Coffey said. “No status change.”
So far, Yang has not publicly commented on his potential mayoral bid, but he did tweet on Wednesday evening that 2021 is going to be epic.
Yang would be running against several candidates including city Comptroller Scott Stringer, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, former Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia, Mayor de Blasio’s former legal adviser Maya Wiley, former HUD secretary Shaun Donovan, City Councilman Carlos Menchaca and former Citigroup executive Ray McGuire and several others.
Two recent polls have Yang leading the current field, according to Politico. One poll was commissioned by a charter school advocacy group and the other by Tusk Strategies. The Public Policy Polling survey found that Yang would get 17 percent support in a Democratic primary, NBC New York reports.
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