Huffington Post political reporter Daniel Marans said Wednesday that Andrew Yang’s fall from an early lead in the New York City mayoral race’s Democratic primary came following multiple public “fumbles” that showed his “inexperience in New York City politics was actually a liability.”
In an interview on Hill.TV’s “Rising,” Marans said that Yang’s polling decline, which ultimately led him to concede on Tuesday night, came after he “was riding high” in his campaign’s early months.
“Yang made, I think, a number of fumbles during public comments and interviews that really reinforced this idea in the public’s head that this was a guy whose inexperience in New York City politics was actually a liability, was something that undermined his image as a competent sort of businessman and outsider who could shake things up,” he explained.
Marans specifically cited Yang’s suggestion last month that shelters be established for survivors of domestic violence, despite the fact that they already exist throughout the city.
“That became one of several headlines sort of hammering home this idea that, maybe it actually matters that Andrew Yang hasn’t voted in a single municipal election in 25 years of living in the city of New York,” the reporter said. “It just contributed to this image that he could not truly be trusted, that he was sort of out of his league.”
While the election has not yet officially been called, former police captain Eric Adams had a sizable lead with 32 percent of the vote as of noon Wednesday, followed by civil rights lawyer Maya Wiley at almost 10 points behind him.
Watch part of Marans’s interview above.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.