Andrew Yang dropped out of New York City’s mayoral race late Tuesday, as early results showed him in a distant fourth place in the Democratic primary.
“I am not going to be the next mayor of New York City, based upon the numbers that have come in,” Yang told supporters at his Election Night party in Midtown.
The tech entrepreneur, a frontrunner for the early weeks of the race, was the first City Hall contender to concede on Tuesday.
Early returns from the Board of Elections showed the former presidential candidate performing poorly, with just 11 percent of the vote behind, Eric Adams, Maya Wiley and Kathryn Garcia.
“This campaign has been amazing,” Yang told his backers, striking an optimistic tone.
Before he ran for mayor, Yang said, “there was so much about New York City I did not know.”
And then, in perhaps a too-frank admission that went to the heart of his reputation as a Big Apple outsider, Yang said that before he ran for mayor, “there was so much about New York City I did not know.”
During the campaign, Yang said, he got to learn a lot about various neighborhoods in the Big Apple, adding, “this is an amazing city.”
Yang made his concession speech about two hours after polls closed.
With his wife Evelyn by his side, he told his backers that, “It’s been the most amazing experience running for mayor of New York City.”
He also vowed to work with the next mayor, noting that his last-minute alliance with Garcia was “something that no one had ever seen before.”
“I thought we could elevate each other and give New York City a better chance at leadership that I was excited about.”
As his speech ended, the crowd of a few hundred began chanting “Andrew Yang.” One cheeky supporter also shouted “universal basic alcohol,” in an apparent nod to Yang’s universal basic income plan.