Groundhog-Dropping Mayor de Blasio to Skip Ceremony This Year to Stump for Clinton

	Country				Total
1	United States	35	33	32	100
2	China	20	16	22	58
3	Great Britain	22	21	13	56

NEWSLETTERS

Mayor Bill de Blasio will miss New York City's annual Groundhog Day commemoration.

De Blasio, a Democrat, will be in Iowa on Monday to campaign for Hillary Clinton in that state's caucus.

Nature Made Vitamins Recalled

Traditionally, the city's mayor attends the festivities at the Staten Island Zoo and reveals whether or not the groundhog, dubbed Staten Island Chuck, sees its shadow.

De Blasio dropped the groundhog in 2014, the first year he attended the ceremony while mayor. The groundhog died a few months later.

De Blasio Meets Feisty Staten Island Chuck

Mayor de Blasio took part in his first official Groundhog Day ceremony on Sunday at the Staten Island Zoo. (Source: Staten Island Advance) (Published Monday, Feb. 3, 2014)

The mayor joked Thursday that the "groundhogs' union" would be happy that he won't be attending the event next week.

He attended last year but did not touch the groundhog. His predecessor, Michael Bloomberg, missed the ceremony five of his 12 years in office.