Results tagged “2009nycelection”

In his race for a third term, the richest man in New York City spent an astounding $102 million of his $17 billion fortune. New filings reveal that Mayor Bloomberg shelled out about $174.53 per vote in his narrower-than-expected victory over Democratic challenger Bill Thompson, far exceeding his expenditures of $85 million in 2005 and $74 million in 2001, according to the Times.

Apparently, today's a bad day to be the richest and most powerful person in New York City. In the wake of last night's not-as-big-as-predicted victory over Democrat Bill Thompson, the press has decided that Mayor Bloomberg's easy days are behind him. The Times thinks that for the first time in years, the mayor "finds himself governing New York City from a most unaccustomed vantage point: Vulnerability" — a fact that "could have profound implications for the tenor of a third Bloomberg term, not least that it is likely to hinder the mayor’s well-honed ability to cow Democrats and liberal interest groups."

For the first time ever, black, Latino, and Asian politicians will outnumber white politicians in the City Council. In last night's election, minority candidates secured 28 seats while white candidates won 23, according to the Daily News. Currently in the Council, white politicians outnumber minorities 26 to 25.

Though the end result of last night's mayoral election doesn't come as much of a surprise, the closeness of the race shocked a lot of onlookers. After running a record-breaking $100 million campaign that won major endorsements and blanketed the city in nearly non-stop advertising, Mayor Bloomberg defeated the underfunded Democratic candidate Bill Thompson by only 5 percent of the vote, winning with 51 percent to his rival's 46. This comes after polls from the days before the election predicted Bloomberg ahead by double digit — some even anticipating a win almost as large as his 20 percent victory in 2005. The pollsters might have some explaining to do.

The Bloomberg and Thompson bout was certainly been more entertaining than many expected, but it wasn't the night's only contested race. Though all of the incumbent Borough Presidents won another term and the citywide elections for Comptroller and Public Advocate were unsurprising (John Liu and Bill de Blasio won easily), several City Council races were action packed.