Why to vote Ulrich

You — yes, you, whether your party registration is Democratic, Republican, Working Families, Independence or nothing at all — are eligible to vote in today’s special election to choose an interim public advocate, selecting the man or woman who for the next nine months will be first in line to take over the mayoralty.

And, like it or not, you — yes, you, provided you pay your taxes — have ponied up more than $7 million in public matching funds to help 17 people compete in the all-comers contest.

So whatever your reservations, you — yes, you — should go to your polling place and bubble in a name. Even if you suffer from heptadecaphobia (look it up).

But since turnout is sure to be abysmal, and since there are soooo many people running, and since there will be no runoff, the ugly reality is that someone could eke out a win with as little as 6% plurality of a small slice of New York City’s population. Sliver of a sliver: That’s no way to pick a citywide elected official.

Which is why we strongly urge voting for Eric Ulrich, Republican councilman from Queens. If he wins today’s contest, that will set up something closer to an actual election in this Democrat-dominated town: a crowded party primary to oppose him in June, a runoff if nobody tops 40%, and then a general election in November.

If you can’t stomach choosing a Republican, our favorite Democrat in the field is Michael Blake.

The best long-term solution is eliminating the do-next-to-nothing office and putting the controller first in line to the mayoralty. For today, vote Ulrich.