De Blasio Misread Text He Says Promised Prez Debate Spot: DNC

NEW YORK — Mayor Bill de Blasio got his hopes up. The presidential hopeful claims he got a text from the Democratic National Committee telling him he had a place in its first candidate debate.

But, apparently, he misread.

De Blasio said Wednesday that DNC Chairman Tom Perez personally told him in a text that he had locked up a spot in the debate later this month based on public polling results. Democratic White House hopefuls can qualify for the debate by getting support from 1 percent of supporters in at least three polls that meet certain criteria.

"The chair, who I have a longstanding relationship with, sent a text and said, ‘You’re gonna be in’ based on the information that was already publicly available," de Blasio said at an unrelated news conference, adding that he'd reached the minimum level of support in six polls.

But a DNC spokeswoman said that was not true, indicating de Blasio had misread the text that Perez sent him. The committee is expected to announce the qualifying candidates Thursday afternoon.

"Mayor @BilldeBlasio asked @TomPerez about a Reuters poll, and Tom confirmed that the poll does indeed count, as has been reported by other media outlets," DNC Communications Director Xochitl Hinojosa said on Twitter. "The DNC has not confirmed to any candidate whether they have or have not made the debate stage."

Any of the roughly two dozen Democratic presidential candidates can also qualify for the DNC's first two debates by raising money from at least 65,000 unique campaign donors.

The committee recently announced tougher requirements to participate in the third and fourth debates this fall: Candidates must reach 2 percent in four approved polls and rack up 130,000 unique donors from the start of their campaigns.

De Blasio joined a chorus of criticism of those rules this week, arguing that they would present voters with fewer choices.

"I appreciate the impulse but I think we have to ask the question, is this going to limit debate and limit the diversity of the field and limit the options for voters in a way that is unhelpful?" the mayor said Monday on NY1's "Inside City Hall," according to a transcript.