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Bloomberg wins, but Thompson surprises with close finish
Mayor Michael Bloomberg was re-elected to a third term last night with a stunningly slim margin, just edging out city Comptroller Bill Thompson by five percentage points.
Bloomberg, 67, a billionaire businessman who spent at least $85 million of his own money to win a third term, had been ahead in most polls by double digits but in the end, he managed only a 51 to 46 percent victory.
Bloomberg during his victory speech just after midnight argued that the tough economy and a general anti-incumbent sentiment made for a “hard-fought victory in a very difficult year.”
“Tonight, throughout the nation, voters were very clear and some incumbents heard loud and clear that they’re tired of politics as usual,” he said. “New Yorkers have defied tonight’s trend.”
However, many political observers were caught off guard by how close the mayoral race was.
“[The Bloomberg campaign] should be embarrassed,” said Democratic political consultant Joe Mercurio. “If the Democratic Party had run a better campaign they could have blown him out.”
Thompson, who released a poll over the weekend indicating that the race was tightening, built his campaign around the anger voters felt over Bloomberg’s extension of term limits. The limits were approved twice by referendum.
“Your support, your enthusiasm, and your desire for change is what carried me to this point,” Thompson told his supporters last night. “This campaign was about not backing down in the face of a formidable challenge,” said Thompson in an address that carried the whiff of a victory speech.
The race turned especially negative in the final days, with Bloomberg flooding the airwaves with attacks on Thompson, which some speculated might have been an indication that the campaign was getting nervous.
Bloomberg, who became the fourth mayor to win three terms, has won plaudits for dropping crime rates and deft management of the city’s finances during his first eight years, despite recent fiscal troubles.
He won control of the schools early in his first term and made education reform one of his signature issues.
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Henican: Hey, Mike, regarding third terms, ask Ed and Mario about how that went
Thirds terms are tough.
Ask Ed Koch. Ask Mario Cuomo.
Both men were riding two-term waves of public appreciation — Koch at City Hall, Cuomo in Albany — when they asked themselves, “Why stop now?” The polls were with them. The jobs were fun. And truly, they’d both learned some things about governing New York.
There are many theories for why their third terms stunk.Koch’s exhausting exuberance. The governor’s brooding soul. Tougher economies and harsher race relations.
But I’ve always been convinced it was more elemental than that: They’d just hung around too long. People got sick of looking at them.
No one can say for certain how four more years might turn out for Mike Bloomberg. He’s been an undeniable success for eight. He certainly appears likely to win on Tuesday.
So what does history say?
History says that in the 1985 mayor race, Koch got a whopping 78 percent of the vote against Carol Bellamy and Diane McGrath, and things went immediately downhill from there. He picked petty fights with Jesse Jackson, got dragged into the gay-bathhouse disputes, refused to let the 1987 Super Bowl Giants parade in Manhattan (“If they want a parade, let them parade in front of the oil drums in Moonachie”) and had his popularity shaken by Donald Manes’ suicide. He had a small stroke and even then couldn’t stop himself, getting beaten by David Dinkins in 1989.
“How’m I doin’?” Koch was fond of asking.
“Oh, shut up,” the people eventually replied.
Cuomo’s third term wasn’t any more fun.
No longer was he the governor of soaring oratory and moral strength.
It’s hard to remember what his actual third-term accomplishments were. Those were the years Cuomo perfected his “Hamlet on the Hudson” routine.
Would he run for president in 1992? Would he like to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court? Third-term Cuomo could never quite decide.
And when George Pataki ran against him in 1994, the 12-year governor was easily caricatured as an out-of-touch, bummed-out liberal.
Mike Bloomberg, take notice: After a third term like that one, Cuomo lost, of course.
E-mail ellis@henican.com.
Follow him at twitter.com/henican.Tags: Henican, Michael Bloomberg, Ed Koch, Mario Cuomo, mayoral election, 1989, 1985, 1980s, New York City, politics, history, old school
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Largest city union backs Thompson for mayor
The city’s largest municipal employees union endorsed Comptroller Bill Thompson for mayor Thursday, a reversal from four years ago, when it backed Mayor Michael Bloomberg for re-election.
“He is not only an ally in our struggle to protect our members but a champion of millions of hard-working New Yorkers we serve,” said Lillian Roberts, head of the union, District Council 37, which represents about 125,000 city employees.
Though Thompson, who is seeking the Democratic nomination, would seem a natural fit for a labor union, Bloomberg sought the DC 37 endorsement, which he won four years ago when he ran against another Democrat, former Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer.
But the union, which received 4 percent raises in its most recent contract, has turned against Bloomberg, slamming his administration in a public ad campaign for its use of outside contractors. The mayor also vetoed legislation – later overridden by the City Council – allowing members to live outside the city.
“It’s time that we make hard-working men and women a priority again,” Thompson said. “I look forward to having DC 37’s continued support over the coming months as we work to bring new leadership to City Hall.”
The Bloomberg campaign called on Thompson to release a questionnaire both men filled out for the union (Bloomberg released his) and issued a statement asking “what promises Mr. Thompson made them and how much his promises will cost taxpayers.”
Thompson said he would not release the questionnaire, which covers a range of topics, from mayoral control of the schools to the creation of a new pension tier for city workers.Tags: mayoral election, Bill Thompson, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, DC 37, labor
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Top candidates fail to get matching funds
The two Democrats vying for mayor and the front-runner for public advocate didn’t raise enough money to qualify for public matching funds, the city Campaign Finance Board announced Thursday.
Neither City Comptroller Bill Thompson nor Councilman Tony Avella (D-Bayside) raised the $250,000 towards matching funds that is required to receive the six-to-one match.
The next filing deadline is Aug. 14. The current cycle included donations made through July 11.
The winner of the Democratic primary will face Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a self-financed billionaire who has already spent $36 million and has opted out of public financing.
Mark Green, the former public advocate seeking the Democratic nomination to run for his old post, failed to reach the $125,000 threshold for that office.
His finance director, Alyson Grant, said the campaign expects to qualify in the next round.
“We’ve been working very diligently,” she said.
The thresholds don’t represent the total amount raised – Thompson has raised nearly $4 million. Candidates can only count the first $175 of each contribution from a New York City resident towards their matching total.
Thompson submitted just over $251,000 in matching claims but an audit disqualified some of those contributions.
“It’s not incurable,” said Eric Friedman, a spokesman for the campaign board. “The paperwork isn’t there but it could be.”
Aella’s chief of staff, Mariah Craven said it was “troubling” that neither Democratic mayoral candidate qualified.
“The public financing program exists to level the playing field and the Campaign Finance Board needs to look into the reasons why it’s not doing that effectively.”
Thompson’s campaign declined to comment.
Tags: mayoral election, campaign finance
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Fighting uphill battle, Bill Thompson tries to make his case
It may not quite be David vs. Goliath, but it’s close.
Presumed Democratic mayoral nominee Bill Thompson is facing a financial juggernaut and popular incumbent whose ubiquitous TV ads and glossy brochures have been blanketing the city for months.
Contrast that with Thompson, who, according to a recent poll, is virtually unknown to 72 percent of New Yorkers.
Such a number looks daunting for a man who’s spent much of his adult life in public office, including the last eight years in a citywide post, comptroller in a heavily Democratic city.“He’s had an inability to define himself,” said Democratic political consultant, Evan Stavisky. “It is going to be extremely difficult for Bill Thompson to get any traction.”
It is this conventional wisdom – that Mayor Michael Bloomberg, with his $16 billion fortune and 60 percent approval ratings, is virtually unbeatable – that Thompson seeks to dispel.
“The first thing is getting past this feeling of inevitability,” Thompson said in an exclusive interview this week. “Yes, he can be beat.”
The Bloomberg camp declined comment, but political experts inside and outside the campaign say Thompson must do three things between now and Election Day: introduce himself to voters, make the case against Bloomberg, and time his move right.
Making himself known to voters
Thompson is limited to $6 million in spending before the September primary, when he faces token opposition in Councilman Tony Avella from Bayside.
With no TV ads, Thompson is relying mostly on press coverage, leafleting and grass roots organizing. His appearances have increased in recent months, speaking out on high-profile issues such as mayoral control of the schools, the MTA bailout and the current leadership battle in the state senate.
“It’s going to be tough but he has to push through,” said potential voter, Aziz Jackson, 40, of Harlem. “He has to put himself out there.
Case against Bloomberg
Thompson has been quick pitting himself against Bloomberg, denouncing the mayor on everything from his opposition to raising income taxes on the wealthy to his support of work requirements for certain food stamp recipients.
Thompson has also made water rate hikes a pet cause, last week calling for the re-organization of the water board.
“If somehow or another Thompson can tangle Bloomberg up in that (populist) rage he may have an opening,” said David Birdsell, dean of Baruch College. “The risk on that is it’s essentially a negative play.”
It’s about timing
Most voters don’t pay attention until after Labor Day. Once the general election begins, Thompson will have no spending limit because Bloomberg has opted out of the public financing system and may drop $80 million on the campaign.
“Our strategy . . . has been don’t spend a lot of money now,” said Eddy Castell, Thompson’s campaign manager, who added that TV advertising will come in the fall. “Come September, the lights will come on.”
Shayndi Raice contributed to this story.
Tags: bill thompson, mayoral election, politics, city hall dispatch
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Mayoral race: It doesn't cost millions to advertise on YouTube
YouTube was an important tool in last year’s presidential campaign. Nationally televised debates fielded questions from voters asked via YouTube videos. Tech savvy candidates posted videos and messages. (OK, maybe they had their tech savvy people do it for them, but you get the point.)
This year’s mayoral election is arguably the first of the YouTube era. While technically YouTube was around when Michael Bloomberg won his second term in 2005, the video Web site was in its infancy then.
Today, YouTube is a full-fledged cultural phenomenon, and some candidates are taking full advantage of the low-cost way of reaching potential voters.
Here are some videos from this year’s hopefuls. (In case you’re wondering, there are no videos from U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner because he is still deciding whether he’ll run.)
Newark Mayor Cory Booker endorses Michael Bloomberg, the independent running on the Republican ticket. Then our mayor promptly thanks Booker by declaring, “We have the most wonderful city in the world!”
Throughout his term as city comptroller, Bill Thompson has been perhaps New York’s most You Tube-friendly pol. In this video, his campain stumps some New Yorkers by asking what positive things Bloomberg has done as mayor. City Councilman Tony Avella is running for mayor because he’s “mad as hell.” But he hasn’t posted a new campaign video since this welcome message for his Web site in February 2008.
Green Party candidate/performance artist/community activist Reverend Billy Talen unveils his remake of “New York, New York,” in which he and supporters sing, “Start spreading the wealth. I’m hoping to stay.”
Tags: youtube, mayoral election, michael bloomberg, tony avella, reverend billy talen, bill thompson, politics
