Des Moines, IA – NYC Mayor Visits Iowa To Deliver Speech To Progressive

Des Moines, IA – New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is in Iowa on Tuesday to deliver a speech to progressives that could also aim to elevate his national profile.

De Blasio is scheduled to headline a “holiday party” fundraiser in Des Moines hosted by Progress Iowa, a self-described progressive advocacy organization.

De Blasio, who won re-election recently, said in a blog post last month he would travel outside of New York City to push a progressive agenda that helps efforts to flip Congress into Democratic control. But any visit from a politician to Iowa, with its first-in-the-nation presidential caucuses, is watched for signs of future aspirations. The mayor has indicated he plans to serve all of his new four-year term.

De Blasio has had limited success promoting his political agenda in Iowa. He launched a nonprofit group during his first term that planned to host a presidential forum in the state in 2015 on economic inequality. The forum was later cancelled because of lack of interest.

Unions representing New York City employees have been critical of de Blasio’s labor policies and used his latest Iowa visit to highlight those views. The Transport Workers Union, which represents bus and subway employees, paid for a full page ad against de Blasio in the state’s largest newspaper, The Des Moines Register, and called him a “phony progressive” on social media. The Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, New York’s largest police union, sent representatives to Des Moines to protest ahead of the mayor’s speech. The Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association also released a statement.

“At a time when assaults on Correction Officers are rising, while punishments to assaultive inmates are declining, Mayor Bill de Blasio has left New York City for Iowa today to begin his political pursuit of winning the presidency,” said COBA President Elias Husamudeen in a statement. “His absence from his real job is part of a continued pattern by the Mayor.”

A message left Tuesday for a de Blasio spokesman was not immediately returned.