Dem mayors pursue 2020 runs as solution to Washington paralysis

A slate of mayors considering presidential bids are hopeful of their 2020 prospects, as they look to leverage themselves as outsiders and effective negotiators at a time when Washington has just emerged from a record-long government shutdown.

Mayors have had little luck ascending to the highest office in the nation, with no sitting mayor ever elected to the White House.

But the new crop of potential 2020 contenders believe that their executive experience as mayors could differentiate them from the quickly growing pack of candidates running for the Democratic nomination.

“What usually happens in the U.S. is everyone declares ‘well that can’t happen, that’s never happened before,’” said Bruce Katz, who co-authored the book “The New Localism: How Cities Can Thrive in the Age of Populism.”

“I think what’s going to happen in the next year, mayors are going to come forward and reverse-engineer federal policy. This is not abstract policy thinking. This is real world policy thinking that gets scaled up.”

The more than half a dozen current and former mayors considering 2020 campaigns include Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti (D), former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (D), New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu (D), New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) and former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (D), who was mayor of Denver.

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/427065-dem-mayors-pursue-2020-runs-as-solution-to-washington-paralysis?userid=229233