FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.queenscourier.com september 12, 2013 • THE QUEENS COURIER 3 primary NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: Lhota takes Republican ticket Runoff possible for de Blasio & Thompson BY CRISTABELLE TUMOLA [email protected] Tuesday came and went with a mayoral Republican nominee but an unclear outcome in the Democratic primary. Public Advocate Bill de Blasio’s last minute momentum was enough to secure him a first place finish, but not necessarily enough to earn him the nomination without a runoff. Though he beat former City Comptroller Bill Thompson by a significant lead, he was still hovering around the 40 percent threshold needed to avoid an October 1 election, according to unofficial results. With 98 percent of precincts reporting, de Blasio had 40 percent and Thompson had 26 percent. “What we have achieved here tonight, and what we’ll do in the next round of this campaign, won’t just change the view of how things look inside City Hall, but will change the policies that have left behind so many of our fellow New Yorkers outside of City Hall,” de Blasio said to his supporters in Brooklyn on election night. “I think we all know that this race is incredibly close and there are still tens of thousands of ballots that remain to be counted,” Thompson told his supporters. “But every voice in New York City counts,” he also said, “and we’re going to wait for every voice to be heard. We’re going to wait for every voice to be counted.” Republican Joe Lohta easily secured his party nomination with 53 percent of the vote, beating grocery store mogul John Catsimatidis, who had 41 percent, and Doe Fund founder George McDonald, who had 7 percent. “Ladies and gentlemen, tonight represents a mile marker on our road to victory in November. Our journey continues—just at a faster pace,” said Lohta, speaking to supporters. “Now is the time for our party to come together and unite for the common good.” The ex-MTA chairman and former deputy mayor under Rudy Giuliani was ahead of the other two GOP candidates, according to recent polls. Unlike the GOP Primary, the Democratic race not only had various front-runners, but also more controversy. City Council Speaker Christine Quinn was the early front-runner, but when former Congressmember Anthony Weiner entered the race in May, her lead shrunk in the polls. Weiner, however, soon faced another sexting scandal, and he lost favorability with voters. In August, de Blasio started to gain ground, becoming the front-runner. He eventually surged ahead, and in some surveys, even had enough support to avoid a runoff. As the race drew closer, some of those same polls showed Quinn losing support among voters, and even predicted her third place finish. In the primary, Quinn had 16 percent, followed by former Queens City Councilmember and current Comptroller John Liu with 7 percent. Liu, the only mayoral candidate from Queens, was optimistic that his numbers on election night would be better than the single digits the polls were showing, but his campaign was facing several issues. Though he was never accused of any wrongdoing, two of his campaign workers were found guilty in connection to illegally funneling funds to his campaign, and he was denied millions in public matching funds for his run. Weiner finished behind Liu, with 5 percent, even though he was polling better than him. “We had the best ideas,” Weiner said, giving his concession speech. “Sadly, I was an imperfect messenger.” IT’S STRINGER OVER SPITZER BY CRISTABELLE TUMOLA ballot. [email protected] He was able to meet that July 11 deadline with more than enough support. Eliot Spitzer’s comeback failure was Initial polls showed Spitzer ahead Scott Stringer’s political triumph in the of Stringer, but in the days before the comptroller primary. election, they showed the race was too The Manhattan borough president close to call. beat the former governor, earning 52 Though the former governor had the percent of the vote with 98 percent of stigma of a prostitution scandal that the precincts reporting, according to forced him to resign in 2008, some unofficial results. argued his name recognition would give “I will bring integrity to this office. I him an advantage. will bring experience and leadership. I Stringer will go on to face Republican will make sure that I make you proud,” John Burnett, who has worked on Wall said Stringer in his election night victory Street; Libertarian candidate and activist speech on Tuesday, September 10. Hesham El-Meligy; and Green Party “And to the people of this city as candidate and former school teacher I continue to get to Julia Willebrand in the know you, I want COMPTROLLER November 5 general you to know I believe election. that public office can In an additional twist make a difference. I’ve believed that to an already interesting election season, since I was a little kid. I believe it more another potential opponent was than ever tonight.” former madam Kristin Davis. Stringer was looking at a guaranteed Running as a Libertarian candidate, Democratic nomination until Spitzer Davis spent time in jail for running her decided to throw his hat in the ring. prostitution business, and said she provided Following on the heels of Anthony women to Spitzer, though those Weiner’s political comeback attempt, claims were never verified. Spitzer entered the race less than a She was arrested in August for allegedly week before he had to collect the 3,750 selling prescription drugs, and signatures needed from registered reportedly never filed petitions to get Democratic voters to make it onto the on the ballot. Although a runoff might be imminent, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio garnered around 40 percent of the vote over Bill Thompson’s 26 percent. Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer bested former Governor Eliot Spitzer in the race for comptroller. Photo courtesy of Twitter/@deBlasioNYC Photo courtesy of Twitter/@Stringer2013 MAYOR
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