Longtime Panther Takes On City Politics
Browning alumnus assumes crucial role on NYC mayoral campaign.
May 2021
In June, millions of NYC Democrats will enact their civic responsibility and choose their party’s representative for the November mayoral election. For Chris Coffey ’98, the choice is clear.
“I think Andrew [Yang] is kind of a perfect anecdote to Bill de Blasio,” Coffey said. “He’s someone who works nonstop. He’s someone who thinks you can have both helping folks in poverty and helping homeless folks, while also trying to get jobs and stimulate the economy. It doesn’t have to be an either-or.”
Coffey is serving as the Co-Campaign Manager for Yang’s mayoral campaign, which has taken this year’s race by storm. Yang has consistently polled well within the large pool of contenders to be de Blasio’s successor. His unsuccessful campaign in the 2020 Democratic Presidential Primary race strongly boosted his name recognition.
Coffey’s interest in politics stems back to his days in Washington, DC, where he attended George Washington University. There he interned for Bloomberg at age 21 and became acquainted with its founder, Michael Bloomberg, subsequently helping him win his first mayoral race in 2001.
Coffey spent the next 11 years working for Bloomberg at City Hall before joining Tusk Strategies, a consulting firm where he now leads the New York and New Jersey practices. Throughout his time at Tusk, he has also continued his career in politics, working on Corey Johnson’s Speaker of the New York City Council race and Governor Andrew Cuomo’s re-election campaign.
Coffey commented that he has always enjoyed his time in New York much more than in Washington; he appreciates the immediacy of the impact he has been able to make through local government. Indeed, he and his fellow New Yorkers have observed multi-billion-dollar deficits, rising shootings and crime, and above all a general sense of stillness from the COVID-19 pandemic. He believes New York is ready for a change in leadership. Perhaps most importantly, Coffey believes it is time for a mayor who unites New Yorkers.
“Bill de Blasio often talks about two cities: the folks who have resources, and the folks who don’t have resources,” he said. “And he’s obviously right that there’s a huge income inequality gap in New York City that we need to fill. It’s just the way he’s gone about it has been, by and large, to pit people against each other.
Coffey on the campaign trail with Andrew Yang.
Speaking at Browning’s career panel event in 2018.
“Andrew Yang talks about one city. The idea that you have to be anti-business to be anti-poverty is not Andrew’s way.”
This mayoral campaign season is like none prior as New York rises out of the pandemic. Coffey commented that for the first time in his career campaigning, his team has not had an official campaign office for much of the campaign. Nonetheless, the Yang team has been hard at work at outdoor events and look forward to offering more traditional events as more people are vaccinated against COVID-19 and distancing precautions become less stringent.
On May 13, these events culminated in the first mayoral debate, at which Coffey believes Yang performed very well. Members of the team played the role of other candidates in mock debates, during which Coffey portrayed Ray McGuire.
“Andrew’s a very good debater. He’s been in a bunch of presidential debates, but the difference is as a frontrunner in a mayoral race, you really have people bringing it. He did very well.”
Coffey is better suited than most Browning graduates to lead a campaign, considering he was the face of a winning one more than 20 years ago. Coffey was elected Student Council President for the 1997-98 school year. His competition was formidable, as his most prominent opponent, Edward Isaac-Dovere ’98, has gone on to serve as the Chief Washington Correspondent for Politico, as well as currently staff writer for The Atlantic.
The two former political adversaries met with Yang at a meal this past spring, during which Isaac-Dovere interviewed Yang. Coffey recalls that he and Isaac-Dovere spent at least five minutes discussing their days at Browning with Yang, including Coffey’s delivery of his primary campaign promise: a Snapple machine.
Coffey commented on what it takes to succeed on the journey from the Red Doors to career dreams.
“You have to be willing to do basically everything. You have to figure out how to be the hardest-working person there. Then I think you’re putting yourself in a really good position to be somebody who gets noticed and is asked to do something.
“And always be really, really nice to people,” he concluded. “You just don’t know who’s going to be where.”
