Adolfo Carrion is In 'With or Without' GOP Line

Adolfo Carrion will be running for mayor whether or not he gets on the Republican Party Line. “Absolutely. We’re going all the way to November,” Mr. Carrion told Ross Barkan for Politicker at a national Independence Party conference in Manhattan on Saturday. “We’re hopeful we can continue a discussion with the Republicans and they continue to engage us. But this is about ensuring that there is an independent choice for mayor of New York City. I think that’s where the voters are.” 

Acknowledging how hard it will be for him to get in the Republican primaries, Mr. Carrion, a former Obama Administration official who left the Democratic Party last year, didn't shy away, though, from saying he's a fiscal conservative, or rather a libertarian when it comes to gov't spending. “This was not a departure from the core principals of the Democratic Party for me, personally,” Mr. Carrion told Politicker of his decision not to run as a Democrat. “I’m a social progressive. I think that government should stay out of our personal lives as much as possible. That might be considered libertarian by some people, some standards. There are Republicans who feel the same way as well. I’m also a fiscal conservative. I believe we need to push back on special interests and make sure we balance the books. I do believe the best social program is a job and that we have a very dysfunctional relationship with communities of color that have been locked in poverty for three and four and five generations with apparently no hopes of ever getting out.” 

A source within the campaign pointed at Carrion's ability to appeal to New York City’s booming Hispanic demographic, which lacks a front-line mayoral candidate in the general. Erick Salgado, a Hispanic Pastor, is running in the Democratic primary, but is considered a long, long shot.   

In any case, if he moves forward, Mr. Carrion’s presence in the general election could cause trouble for a Democrat, particularly if he can draw away outer borough minority voters that traditionally vote for Democrats.