10 Questions With Michael Blake

At the first Democratic debate in this year’s New York City mayoral race, Michael Blake emerged as a scene-stealer, in part for his curt attacks on former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, the race’s front-runner.

For those familiar with Mr. Blake, his performance might not have been entirely unexpected. He worked at the White House during the Obama administration, served as a New York State assemblyman and is an associate pastor at a Bronx church who knows how to craft a strong one-liner.

That experience, however, has not translated into much success in his bid to become mayor. He has been near the back of the pack in the polls, and his campaign has not qualified for the city’s generous public matching funds program.

Ahead of the June 24 primary, the leading Democrats in the race visited The New York Times for interviews. We are publishing excerpts from those interviews, and this is the fourth in the series; our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

We asked Mr. Blake, 42, questions about 10 themes, with the occasional follow-up, touching on his push to eliminate credit scores on rent and homeownership applications and whether it’s OK to put ketchup on a cinnamon raisin bagel.

We’ve written previously about where Mr. Blake and the other candidates stand on key issues and which candidates are raising the most money in your neighborhood.