PRIMARY DAZE
BILL WINS BIG IN RACE FOR MAYOR — BUT TURNOUT’S TINY
MAYOR DE Blasio claimed a “resounding victory” Tuesday, easily winning the Democratic mayoral primary and far outpacing nearest challenger Sal Albanese in an election with dismal turnout.
De Blasio had 74% of the vote as of 12:30 a.m. Wednesday to Albanese’s 15%, with nearly 98% of the votes counted. The mayor’s showing was the largest margin of victory in a Democratic primary in decades. But turnout was on track to be close to the lowest ever, with just under 14% of active registered Democrats casting their ballots.
“I want to say something this evening you normally wouldn’t hear when an incumbent is blessed to receive the nomination for his party again,” de Blasio told supporters at Roulette, a theater in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn. “I want to make clear that no matter how much I love this place, no matter how much good I’ve seen, I do not accept the status quo in this town. We’ve got more work to do, my friends.”
The Associated Press called the race for the mayor less than 30 minutes after the polls closed, with Albanese speaking to supporters in Park Slope shortly afterward to concede his loss and note he’d been vastly outspent.
“The lesson of tonight’s campaign is once again that money matters,” Albanese said at the Prospect Bar and Grill. “And we have to amend our corrupt political system because when you’re up against a mountain of special-interest money, it’s very difficult to compete. And I think we did a pretty good job.”
The turnout hovered just above the worst in modern history, which came in 2009 when just 11% of voters bothered to show up in the primary that William Thompson won.
“I think it will be abysmal,” Christina Greer, a professor of political science at Fordham University predicted in the late afternoon. Greer was the 53rd person to vote at 10 a.m. at her polling place on the typically politically engaged Upper West Side.
Turnout is often poor in primaries Sal Albanese
CITY COUNCIL
Carlina Rivera Mary Silver Ronnie Cho Keith Powers Marti Speranza Rachel Honig NAME Diana Ayala Robert Rodriguez Tamika Mapp 326,141 75% 66,616 15% VOTES 8,140 2,198 1,139 VOTE % 81% 16% 9% VOTES VOTE % 4,019 41% 2,220 23% 837 9% VOTES VOTE % 3,705 44% 3,583 42% 814 10% — which in some years determine who will go on to win in the general election. In 2013, when the race for the open seat was jampacked with candidates and controversy, thanks to Anthony Weiner’s mayoral bid and Eliot Spitzer’s controller run, just 23% of active registered Democrats voted. De Blasio squeaked past a runoff with 40% of the vote. In 2005, 18% of registered active Democrats turned out in a primary won by Fernando Ferrer, who earned 40% of the vote.
An exception came in 2001, when turnout surged to 28.9%
VOTES VOTE % Mark Gjonaj 3,326 39% Marjorie Velazquez 2,958 34% John Doyle 1,644 19% Ruben Diaz Amanda Farias Elvin Garcia Francisco Moya Hiram Monserrate Adrienne Adams Richard David Hettie Powell Justin Brannan Khader El-Yateem Nancy Tong 3,845 1,905 1,363 VOTE % 42% 21% 15% 3,480 56% 2,782 44% 3,341 39% 2,763 32% 2,483 29% VOTES VOTE % 3,561 39% 2,879 31% 1,459 16% after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and Mark Green scored a surprise victory, with 35% of the vote, over Ferrer. In other races, acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez won the Democratic Party nomination to succeed the late Kenneth Thompson. “I’m honored by the trust each of you put in my candidacy to follow in the footsteps of the late, great Ken Thompson. It’s a special night for us,” he said. “I’ll never forget the principles that guided me in the office for 23 years.” Gonzalez had the support of Thompson’s widow, Lu-Shawn
Thompson, who noted he would follow in Thompson’s footsteps.
“I was here when my husband became the first African-American district attorney, and now I’m here for Eric, who is the first Latino district attorney,” she said. “I’m so proud to be a part of all these firsts. I stand behind you.”
Public Advocate Letitia James also easily beat back a primary challenge from law professor David Eisenbach.
In the mayoral race, de Blasio’s win was not a surprise — he was expected to cruise to the Democratic nomination as the incumbent and was double-digits ahead of Albanese, a former Brooklyn city councilman, in the one public poll conducted in the race. In his remarks, de Blasio hit upon his reelection campaign slogan of “This is your city,” and touted initiatives like universal pre-K and police reform.
In his 25-minute speech, de Blasio did not mention Albanese, whom he debated twice, or any other Democratic challenger. Nor did he mention Staten Island Republican Nicole Malliotakis, whom he’ll face in the general.
De Blasio stumped for his second-term proposals, including a millionaires’ tax to fund the MTA and a mansion tax to fund senior housing. Neither is expected to go anywhere in Albany, which has to pass such taxes. De Blasio acknowledged there would be “doubting Thomases.”
“Well we’ve seen a lot of things that were politically impossible happen in recent years, haven’t we?” he asked. “Some of them good, some of them not so good. But we don’t get limited by someone else’s idea of what’s possible or not.”
He argued the same was said about universal pre-K, and the reduction of stop-and-frisk while crime continues to fall — two of his signature accomplishments. He went on to quote Pablo Picasso: “He said, ‘Everything you an imagine is real.’
“We’ve got a lot more to change in this town,” de Blasio said. “But I believe we can make that real.”
Albanese blamed the low turnout as one reason for his loss.
“There was an effort — unfortunately, it was successful — to chill turnout in this race, and of course the political machines always win when that happens,” he said.
But he said he won’t be disappearing from the mayoral campaign — he will appear in the general election on the Reform Party line after beating back writein challenges from Malliotakis and independent candidate Bo Dietl. He argued he could be competitive in a general election, where some voters dissatisfied with de Blasio will not be open to voting for Malliotakis.
“I don’t believe a Republican who voted for Donald Trump or other candidates out there can really compete with this mayor,” Albanese said. “We’re going to give him a run for his money.”
Also running in the Democratic primary were police reform activist Robert Gangi, Michael Tolkin and Richard Bashner.