New York, NY – Michael Bloomberg’s Race Unexpectedly Close

November 3, 2009 - ט"ז חשון תש"ע
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New York, NY – New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg found himself in an unexpectedly tight race Tuesday night with long-shot challenger City Comptroller William Thompson Jr. – so close that NBC called the race for Bloomberg, then withdrew its call.

After running the most expensive self-financed campaign ever, Bloomberg was expected to cruise to a third-term over Thompson. But as the night wore on, the results stayed close – 49 percent for Bloomberg to 48 percent for Thompson, with 58 percent of precincts reporting.

NBC News called the race for Bloomberg, but shortly thereafter took back its call. The New York Times was still reporting “Bloomberg Projected to Win 3rd Term” on its website at 10:15 p.m.

Bloomberg, an independent who also ran on the Republican line, spent more than $85 million of his personal fortune to win re-election, dwarfing the sum spent by Thompson, a Democrat.

Bloomberg’s very presence on the ballot was something of a victory. Last year the mayor leaned on the City Council to give him the right to run for one more term.

But the change to the term-limit law as well as the barrage of television ads the Bloomberg campaign launched seemed to breed bitterness among some New Yorkers toward Bloomberg.

Thompson, however, was stymied by President Barack Obama’s refusal to issue an outright endorsement of him – a move that will almost certainly be second-guessed if the race remains close.

At a Democratic National Committee fundraiser in New York last month, Obama acknowledged Thompson – “Our candidate for mayor, my friend Billy Thompson, is in the house,” Obama said — but did not offer much else in the way of support for Thompson, the city’s first African-American comptroller.

The president has maintained a close ties to Bloomberg, who has twice been a guest at the White House.

In Boston, Mayor Thomas Menino defeated City Councilor at Large Michael F. Flaherty to win a record fifth term, by a margin of 57 to 43 percent with 95 percent of precincts reporting. Menino, who took office in 1993, is the city’s longest-serving mayor.

Residents of several other large cities — including Atlanta, Detroit, Houston, Miami, Pittsburgh and Seattle — also went to the polls on Tuesday to choose mayors.

In Maine, gay rights advocates in Maine were hoping that their state would become the first to approve same-sex marriage at the ballot box — a move that would also put an end to a series of defeats at the polls in recent years that have frustrated supporters of gay rights.

Voters there on Tuesday were deciding whether to uphold a marriage law passed by the state legislature in May. If they do, Maine would join five other states that already allow same-sex marriage.

The vote there was being closely watched by both supporters and opponents of gay marriage, not only in Maine but across the country one year after voters in the most populous state, California, passed a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

Gay marriage advocates were emboldened on Tuesday by what appeared to be higher than expected voter turnout in Maine – and even before polls opened on Tuesday roughly one-tenth of the state’s registered voters already submitted mail-in ballots or voted early.

Money also could make a difference in the outcome. The main group working to keep the state’s marriage law on the books, Protect Maine Equality, out-raised the leading opposition group, Stand for Marriage, by more than $1 million.

If the law passes, Maine would become the sixth state — in addition to Iowa, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Connecticut — to legalize gay marriage.

In Washington state, voters were also poised on Tuesday to decide whether to endorse the state’s so-called “everything but marriage” law, which would give gay and lesbian couples more of the same rights that married couples now enjoy.

In all, 26 measures appeared on the ballot in six states on Tuesday, making 2009 one of the slowest years for ballot initiatives in the last decade, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

On an Election Day when heavily-scrutinized gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey and a roller-coaster congressional special election in upstate New York largely dominated national attention, voters also decided a number of other key local races.

Luke Ravenstahl, the 29-year-old mayor of Pittsburgh, won his first full term outright, winning 55 percent of the vote and fending off challenges from two independent candidates. Ravenstahl was appointed to the post in 2006 following the death of former mayor Bob O’Connor.

In Atlanta, city council member Mary Norwood was vying to become the city’s first white mayor since the 1970’s. Norwood was facing council president and businesswoman Lisa Borders and Kasim Reed, a former state legislator. Detroit Mayor David Bing also was seeking reelection.

News Source: NY Times