By Phil Corso and Bianca Fortis
The race to determine the next mayor of New York City was only half decided, with Democrats waiting to see if their primary winner would face a run-off and Republicans choosing a clear-cut victor.
Public Advocate Bill de Blasio finished on top of the crowded Democratic primary for the seat with 40.2 percent of the vote, according to the Associated Press, barely securing the needed 40 percent to avoid a runoff. Former city Comptroller Bill Thompson came in second with 26.1 percent, allowing neither frontrunner to call the race complete.
The two beat out Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan) with 15.4 percent, Comptroller John Liu with 7.1 percent and former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner with 4.9 percent.
An official vote count was scheduled for Monday, when a final tally should determine whether or not there will be a runoff election Oct. 1.
Surrounded by his family and introduced by his teenage daughter, de Blasio thanked voters for his victory.
“To all of you, I offer my love and gratitude,” he said. “You have made this campaign a cause. I thank you for elevating it to that level.”
With supporters chanting “three more weeks,” Thompson congratulated de Blasio on his first-place finish, but also assured the crowd there would be no concession speech Tuesday evening.
“This race is incredibly close, and there are still tens of thousands of ballots that remain to be counted,” said Thompson. “Tonight is for everyone of you out there that has been counted out.”
In his concession speech, Weiner said his campaign had generated “125 new ideas every single day” but he told a crowd of supporters “sadly, I was an imperfect messenger.” Despite calls from some Democratic heavyweights for him to drop his candidacy after he revealed he had continued sexting, Weiner said “there was never any quit in this campaign.”
An emotional Quinn, after suffering a stinging defeat, told supporters that although she disagreed with her opponents on some issues, they all cared deeply about the city.
Liu, a former Flushing Councilman, had strong pockets of support in northern Queens, but he was dogged by the conviction of two campaign workers for soliciting illegal donations. Liu was never charged, but he was denied matching funds.
“To have been elected comptroller and be a candidate for mayor are far beyond anything I imagined would happen in my lifetime growing up as an immigrant kid in Queens,” he said. Wednesday.
As for the Republicans, former Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman Lhota rolled up a margin of 52.7 percent of the vote, beating out Republicans John Catsimatidis with 40.6 percent and George McDonald with 6.7 percent for the nomination.
“This is the first step toward continuing a strong future for our city,” Lhota said. “Tonight marks a milestone. Our journey continues, just at a faster pace.”
Lhota attributed his win to the campaign he ran, which focused on “issues, vision, principle and experience.”
He also gave a jab at de Blasio and said New Yorkers will see two completely different visions for the city.
“The other side says it is a tale of two cities, but this tale is nothing more than class warfare,” said Lhota, the former MTA chairman and the deputy mayor under Rudy Giuliani. “I’m not going to let the other side divide our city.”
In his concession speech, Catsimatidis apologized to his campaign staff and volunteers for Tuesday’s outcome.
“Next time I’ll work harder,” Catsimatidis said. “I want to let everyone know … go home and go to bed. I don’t think I’ve slept in the last three nights.”
During his campaign, Lhota appeared to garner a strong base of conservative voters in southwestern Queens.
Last week he stumped for votes alongside Councilman Eric Ulrich (R-Ozone Park) in Ulrich’s own neighborhood. Both repeatedly referenced Lhota’s association to Giuliani.
“If you like the kind of mayor that Rudy Giuliani was, and if you agreed with at least half the things Mike Bloomberg tried to do to continue along those policies, you are going to love Joe Lhota as the mayor,” Ulrich told the crowd who had assembled at Aldo’s II Pizzeria to hear the mayoral candidate speak.
Lhota will face off against the top Democrat in the general election Nov. 5.
