New York City Mayoral Election, 2009

The 2009 election for Mayor of New York City took place on Tuesday, November 3. The incumbent Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, an independent who left the Republican Party in 2008, won reelection on the Republican and Independence Party/Jobs & Education lines with 50.7% of the vote over the retiring City Comptroller, Bill Thompson, a Democrat (also endorsed by the Working Families Party), who won 46.3%.Board of Elections in the City of New York
Statement and Return Report for Certification General Election 2009 – 11/03/2009 Crossover – All Parties and Independent Bodies Mayor Citywide (PDF)
, November 24, 2009, retrieved on November 27, 2009. Thompson had won the Democratic primary election on September 15 with 71% of the vote over City Councilman Tony Avella and Roland Rogers. This was the fifth straight mayoral victory by Republican candidates in New York despite the city's strongly Democratic leaning in national and state elections.

Six other parties' candidates also contested the general election in November. Stephen Christopher of the Conservative Party of New York won 1.6% of the votes, more than the combined total of all the other minor candidates. The turnout of voters—fewer than 350,000 in September and fewer than 1.2 million in November—was relatively low for recent mayoral elections, and Bloomberg won with fewer votes than any successful mayoral candidate had received since women joined the city's electorate in 1917.

Prior to the election, the New York City Council had voted to extend the city's term limits, permitting Bloomberg (previously elected in 2001 and 2005) and other second-term officeholders such as Thompson to run for a third term.Sewell Chan and Jonathan P. Hicks
Council Votes, 29 to 22, to Extend Term Limits
''The New York Times'', published on-line and retrieved on October 23, 2008. Attempts to put this decision to a popular referendum, to reverse it in the federal courtsFernanda Santos
The Future of Term Limits Is in Court
''The New York Times'', New York edition, October 24, 2008, page A24 (retrieved on October 24, 2008)

''The New York Times'', New York edition, January 14, 2009, page A26, an
Appeals Court Upholds Term Limits Revision
''The New York Times'' City Room Blog, April 28, 2009 (both retrieved on July 6, 2009). The original January decision by Judge Charles Sifton of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (Long Island, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island) was upheld by a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (Vermont, Connecticut and New York state). or to override it with state legislation were unsuccessful.

As of 2021, this is the last mayoral election in which a candidate on the Republican ballot line carried Manhattan or Queens.

Background

New York City elected its Mayor by popular vote when Greater New York was formed in 1897, then in 1901, 1903, 1905 and every four years thereafter, as well as in the special elections of 1930 and 1950.

Nineteen of the 31 mayoral elections held between 1897 and 2005 were won by the official candidate of the Democratic Party, eight by the Republican Party's nominee, and four by others. (The last official Democratic candidate to win the mayoralty was David Dinkins in the election of 1989; the last candidate to win the mayoralty without winning either the Republican or the Democratic primary was Mayor John V. Lindsay, running for re-election on the Liberal column in 1969.)

Michael Bloomberg, formerly a Democrat, was elected as a Republican in 2001 and 2005, succeeding another Republican mayor, Rudy Giuliani, elected in 1993 and 1997. Bloomberg left the Republican Party in 2008 and became a political independent.

By a hotly contested vote of 29–22 on October 23, 2008, the New York City Council extended the former two-term limit for Mayor, Council and other elected city offices to three terms, allowing Mayor Bloomberg to pursue his announced intention of seeking a third term in 2009. Legal challenges to the extension failed in Federal court, and a proposed law in the New York State Legislature to override the extension was not passed.

Bloomberg's most prominent opponent was Bill Thompson, who could (similarly) have run for a third term as New York City Comptroller in 2009, but instead sought and won the Democratic nomination for Mayor.

General election candidates

Democratic Party

* Bill Thompson, New York City Comptroller from January 2002 to December 2009. Bill Thompson was also the candidate of the Working Families Party.Elections Board in the City of New York
The Contest List, Primary Election 2009
, as published and retrieved on July 28, 2009.

Working Families Party

*The Working Families Party's candidate for mayor was the City Comptroller and Democratic nominee, Bill Thompson

Republican Party

*Although changing his party affiliation from Republican to Independent in 2007, Bloomberg decided to run again as a Republican and was uncontested in the primary.

Independence Party

*Incumbent Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a political independent who was the endorsed Independence Party candidate, as well as the successful Republican primary nominee and an unsuccessful seeker of the Working Families Party nomination. Since he belonged to no political party, Bloomberg used the nominal label of "independent–Jobs & Education", which was merged with the Independence Party's line on the general election ballot to read "Independence/Jobs & Education".

Conservative Party

* Stephen Christopher, a pastor at Memorial Baptist Church in Park Slope, Brooklyn, was unopposed for the nomination of the Conservative Party of New York.

Green Party

* Reverend Billy Talen – announced his mayoral candidacy under the Green Party banner in Union Square on March 1, 2009.

Libertarian Party

* Joseph Dobrian – 2005 Libertarian candidate for Manhattan Borough President, journalist and TV talk show host.

New Voice Party

* Tyrrell Eiland, an architect by training who builds green charter schools and founded the New Voice Party. Eiland also sought the nomination of the Independence Party.

Party for Socialism and Liberation

* Frances Villar – mother, student at Lehman College, activist on domestic and international issues.

Rent Is 2 Damn High

* Jimmy McMillan – war veteran and party candidate for Mayor in 2005, when he won 4,111 votes (0.3% of the total); also registered for the 2009 Democratic mayoral primary ballot.

Socialist Workers Party

* Dan Fein – 2005 candidate for New York City Comptroller.

Independents (no affiliation)

* Jonny Porkpie, the "Burlesque Mayor of NYC". Announced his candidacy on August 3, 2009, targeting "The Naked Cowboy" as his main opponent.
*John M. Finan, Chief Executive Officer, New York City Consulting Group LLC, and a candidate for the Libertarian Party's 2008 nomination for U.S. President.

Candidates who were unsuccessful, withdrew or declined to run

Democratic Party

*Tony Avella, current City Council-member representing District 19 in Queens
*Jimmy McMillan, also the candidate of the Rent Is Too Damn High Party in both 2005 and 2009.Board of Elections in the City of New Yor
2005 General Election official results
McMillan received 23 write-in votes in the 2009 Democratic mayoral primary.
*Roland Rogers
*Anthony Weiner, U.S. Representative, had announced that he was a candidate for mayor, but withdrew his candidacy on May 28, 2009, and endorsed Bill Thompson.

Republican Party

*Bruce Blakeman, attorney and Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Board Member, dropped out and endorsed Michael Bloomberg
*Richard Parsons, chairman of Citigroup, insisted he was never going to run and endorsed Michael Bloomberg

Independence Party

* Tyrrell L. Eiland, non-profit executive, green architectural designer, and author. Eiland then ran as the candidate of the New Voice Party.Emily S. Rebb
"Seven Others Striving to Win the Mayor's Job"
''The New York Times'', published on line October 13, 2009, retrieved October 14, 2009.

Independents (no affiliation)

* Naked Cowboy, Robert Burck Announced his candidacy on July 22, 2009, and withdrew in early September, 2009

Primaries

Uncontested nominations

Bloomberg was unopposed for the Republican and Independence Party nominations (which he had also won in 2001 and 2005), Thompson was unopposed for the Working Families Party nomination, and Stephen Christopher was unopposed for the Conservative Party nomination.''The New York Post'',
New York – Summary Vote Results Mayor-NYC – Citywide – Dem Primary
, published and retrieved on September 16, 2009.

Democratic primary

Campaign

City Comptroller Bill Thompson and Councilman Tony Avella held their first televised debate on Wednesday, August 26, at the New York Public Library. They both directed more fire at Mayor Bloomberg than at each other. "After eight years of a Republican mayor who is focused on developers and the wealthy, I think New Yorkers are looking for change," said Thompson, while Avella declared that the "arrogance of billionaire Mike Bloomberg to think he's so important that he can overturn the term limits law, I think, is disgraceful." Another debate was held on September 9.

Primary election results

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

From the Board of Elections in the City of New York, September 26, 2009

Tony Avella, member of the New York City Council, representing a district in Queens. Out of the nearly 400 write-in votes, almost half or 184 (representing about one Democratic voter in 2,000) were some form or spelling of Mayor Michael Bloomberg.Board of Elections in the City of New YorkStatement and Return Report for Certification Primary Election 2009 – 09/15/2009 Crossover – Democratic Party Democratic Mayor Citywide (PDF)
, September 25–26, 2009, retrieved on October 21, 2009.

Endorsements and public reception

In the final weeks of the campaign, Mayor Bloomberg was endorsed "enthusiastically" by the ''New York Times'', which – while acknowledging Bill Thompson as a "worthy opponent" – praised Bloomberg for handling city matters "astonishingly well". Most other local newspapers had preceded the ''Times'' in endorsing the mayor, but many did so tepidly, presaging the misgivings of ''The New Yorker''. In a report filed days before the election, the magazine likened Bloomberg to Marcus Licinius Crassus:Hertzberg, Hendrik
"Biggus Buckus"
''The New Yorker''. (NYC, NY). November 9, 2009.

Polling

Post-primary match-up

Pre-primary match-ups

Bloomberg vs. Thompson

Bloomberg vs. Avella

Bloomberg approval ratings

''The first table shows Bloomberg's approval ratings since June 2009. The other table shows whether or not people want a new mayor.''

General election results

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

See also

*2009 New York City Public Advocate election
*2009 New York City Comptroller election
*2013 New York City mayoral election
*2005 New York City mayoral election
*2001 New York City mayoral election
*New York City mayoral elections

References

External links

2009 New York City Mayor General Election: William Thompson (D) vs Mayor Michael Bloomberg (i)
chart of aggregated poll results from ''Pollster.com''

{{New York City mayoral elections

2009
New York City mayoral
New York City mayoral
New York
Michael Bloomberg