de Blasio Surprises Green In Advocate Race; Run-Off Next

Last night, primary returns showed that City Councilman Bill de Blasio earned 33% of the vote, with former Public Advocate Mark Green getting 31%. While both men will now be in a run-off (on September 29) since neither got 40%, the analysis is that de Blasio's results were surprising—the Daily News writes that he "pulled out a much better performance than the pre-primary polls suggested"—while there will be "hand-wringing" at Green's campaign headquarters. de Blasio told his campaign staffers, "You pulled off one miracle: You can do it again in two weeks," while Green said, "Because we've gone from a cluttered four-way race to a clarified head-to-head contest, I sure will contrast my story as a lifelong, independent consumer advocate, fighting for the middle class, and his proven record as a lifelong political insider." The other challengers in the race were Councilman Eric Gioia, who 18%, Norman Siegel, with 14%, and Imtiaz Syed with 3%.