Republican mayoral candidate Paul Massey has received the endorsement of the state Independence Party, which helped elect former Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Independence Party Chairman Frank MacKay announced Thursday that the party — the third largest in the country — chose Massey because City Hall needs new leadership.
“He will shake up City Hall and get our government working for New Yorkers once again,” MacKay said in a statement.
Massey, a millionaire real estate exec with political views similar to Bloomberg, will now get a ballot line with the Independence party.
That helps the Republican in overwhelmingly Democratic New York City, where some voters won’t vote for a Republican as a principle.
Bloomberg, who became a Republican to run for mayor in 2001, ran on the Independence line during his City Hall three elections, and it helped give him enough votes to win.
Mayor de Blasio’s term ends at the end of this year.
Ex-New York Jet Michel Faulkner is also running as a Republican.
So far no major Democratic candidates have emerged to challenge de Blasio in a primary.