Bloomberg extends 150-year streak of New York City mayors failing to achieve higher office


The Curses of the Bambino and the Billy Goat have nothing on this.
Now that billionaire and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has suspended his presidential campaign and endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden, the streak of New York City mayors failing to win higher office continues. It's been 152 years since the position wasn't the capstone of a political career.
Bloomberg, current New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, and Bloomberg's predecessor Rudy Giuliani have all tried and failed to win the presidency this century, causing some observers to point out that one seemingly has a better chance at the Oval Office if they're coming from South Bend, Indiana, than the Big Apple.
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Bloomberg, de Blasio, and Giuliani aren't alone. John Lindsay unsuccessfully ran for the White House in 1972, and Ed Koch took his shot at the New York governor's race in 1982, which he ultimately lost to Mario Cuomo. Koch actually beat Cuomo in the 1977 mayoral election, so in retrospect that defeat may have been just what Cuomo needed to make it to Albany five years later.
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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
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