Tom Allon Drops Out of New York City Mayoral Race

NEW YORK—Tom Allon, president and CEO of Manhattan Media, announced Monday he was dropping out of the New York City mayoral race. 

Allon tweeted from his mayoral candidate Twitter account: “While no longer a candidate, I will continue to relentlessly pursue a reform agenda as an education activist, columnist, and parent.” 

Allon, who was participating in his first election as a candidate, had generated little financial support. As of the March 15 filing date, Allon had net contributions of $299,519 and had received a loan of $86,575. After expenditures, his campaign was left with a deficit of $4,217.

He joked at a mayoral forum in Harlem on Feb. 28, “Campaign fundraising is a dirty little secret in politics. It is very hard. I don’t know if any of you want to try it. I don’t think you should.”

Allon, a former Democrat, was backed by the Liberal Party and ran a campaign focused on education reform, something he understood from his days as a teacher at Stuyvesant High School. 

Executive Director of the Liberal Party, Martin Hassner said in a statement, “We respect his decision, recognizing that the people of New York may have lost a strong candidate for its highest office but that it will not lose his voice or his thinking. We expect that Tom will come to play an important role in the growth of Liberal Party leadership and that he will develop a number of opportunities to continue to speak out on those issues which he feels are vital to the health and growth of the city.”