[Poll numbers below.] City councilmen Bill de Blasio and John Liu have beat out their opponents in today’s Democratic primary runoff for public advocate and city comptroller, respectively. With 100 percent of the precincts reporting, de Blasio soared past former public advocate Mark Green with 62 percent of the votes.
The following are the final return tallys from Tuesday’s two citywide Democratic runoff races:
Public Advocate – NYC
Bill de Blasio (Dem) – 138,736 – 62.50%
Mark Green (Dem) – 83,241 – 37.50%
Reporting: 6110 of 6110 precincts – 100.00 percent
Comptroller – NYC
John Liu (Dem) – 127,173 – 55.68%
David Yassky (Dem) – 101,215 – 44.32%
Reporting: 6110 of 6110 precincts – 100.00 percent
With his on-the-job experience, Green was once considered the favorite in the race. But that changed two weeks ago when de Blasio outgained Green in the primary, forcing the runoff.
Come November, de Blasio will face Republican Alex Zablocki in the general election where he is heavily favored.
Meanwhile, in the race for city comptroller, John Liu defeated fellow City Council member David Yassky with nearly 56 percent of the vote.
Following tonight’s win, Liu is expected to become the first Asian-American elected to citywide office.
Liu is expected to easily defeat Republican Joe Mendola when the two go head to head in the general election.
Today’s runoff election featured yet another low and, at times, sluggish voter turnout.
Earlier this month, the Democratic primary saw historic lows in the number of voters coming out to the polls.
The Board of Elections estimates that the runoff with cost the city between $13 million to $15 million.
When asked about the runoff elections, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who cannot vote in these primaries because he is an independent, said he did not object to them.
“I don’t see anything wrong with runoffs. I think we could solve the problem, however. As you know, I’ve been a huge supporter for nonpartisan elections. If you think about the number of people who can participate in this runoff, it is very small. When you think about the number of people who actually vote, it is disgracefully small,” said Bloomberg. “I think we can have voting on weekends, we can have automatic voting registration, you can make it somewhat better.”
Yet voters who did turn out of the runoff races in Park Slope, Brooklyn told NY1 there is no excuse for not voting.
“I always vote. It’s important to me to vote,” said one voter. “Because if you don’t vote, then how can you complain? It’s your fault. I think it’s a civic duty.”
“I think all of these races are important. I think all of the candidates have pluses and minuses, but they’re important,” said another. “People will be out in November.”
“People in other countries would love to be able to vote, and here we all have the opportunity and we don’t get a lot of people out,” said a third. “In this election, you get the feeling that the guy with the most family and friends can win.”
{NY1/WCBS880 News/Noam Amdurski-Matzav.com Newscenter}
