Bloomberg won't endorse a candidate for replacement
(CNN) – The man who once courted Hillary Clinton to be his successor won't be making any endorsements in the coming election, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's deputy confirmed via Twitter Friday morning.
Deputy Mayor Howard Wolfson tweeted Friday that Bloomberg "will not be making an endorsement in Mayor's race. Will focus on governing and transition," he wrote.
As first reported by Talking Points Memo, in a separate tweet Wolfson responded to a tweet by New York Times reporter Michael Barbaro that quoted Bloomberg on the John Gambling radio show as saying "I decided am not going to make an endorsement in the race."
Barbaro went on to write, "Primary or general? Unclear."
To that tweet, Wolfson said "both."
@MikeBloomberg announces he will not be making an endorsement in Mayor's race. Will focus on governing and transition.
— howard wolfson (@howiewolf) September 13, 2013
On air, Bloomberg told Gambling: "I have two goals for the next 109 days," he said. The three-term mayor famously has a countdown clock at Gracie Mansion ticking away his time in office.
"The first is to continue the services that New Yorkers expect from their government," Bloomberg went on to say. "The second is to make sure that we have a world-class transition."
"I don't want to do anything that complicates it for the next mayor and that's one of the reasons I've decided I'm just not going to make an endorsement in the race. I've never been a partisan guy," Bloomberg said. "I was a Democrat, ran as a Republican, ran as an independent."
Tuesday's primary radically altered the landscape of candidates seeking to fill every city-wide office in New York. Every position from the city council to the mayor's office will be up for election.
Bloomberg is prohibited from running again by term limits and has remained vague about his plans after he leaves office, although the multibillionaire founder of Bloomberg Media has said he will not be returning to the company that bears his name. In addition to running New York City, Bloomberg has gained national prominence as a major supporter of gun control, spending $300,000 in a failed effort to keep two Colorado lawmakers from losing a recall election for their support of state background checks and magazine capacity limits.
Colorado recall: Pro-gun control Democrats ousted
As for the individuals eyeing Bloomberg's job, the candidates have been whittled down to two with an important hanger-on.
The former chairman of New York's transit authority and deputy mayor to Rudy Giuliani, Joe Lhota, outright won the Republican primary.
On the Democratic side, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio has so far counted a little over 40 percent of the primary vote, seemingly enough to avoid a runoff with the second place candidate, former Comptroller William Thompson.
De Blasio tops NY mayoral primary; Weiner distant fifth
Thompson, however, has vowed to stay in the race. Until all the votes are counted, which won't happen until at least next week, no winner can be certified, with a 40 percent plurality necessary to avoid a runoff.
Despite his vow not to give any direct endorsement, Bloomberg has not exactly stayed out of the fray. He supported Lhota during the latter's time running the transit authority. More importantly, Bloomberg has had choice words for de Blasio, whom he accused last week of running a "racist" campaign based on the liberal Democrat's "two cities" campaign narrative of a New York divided.
In the past, Bloomberg has been far from mum on the bid to replace him. Much of the early campaign narrative was of his all-but-open endorsement of City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who finished third on Tuesday. Bloomberg also once tried to draw in a few handpicked candidates to replace him, including an invitation last year to then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to run for New York City mayor.
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That should help each candidate.
Michael has chosen. You left out the part about Bloomberg calling DiBlasio's ads that featured his family members as racist.
And the sun will still rise, the moon will still glow and the rivers will still flow.
Who cares?
After his hateful, blatantly racist comments regarding Bill DiBlazio's family he should just slink quietly away with his tail between his legs, never to be heard from again.
No wonder he's not endorsing anyone, after the whole DiBlasio debacle he has already said enough. Good riddance!
More importantly, Bloomberg has had choice words for de Blasio, whom he accused last week of running a "racist" campaign based on the liberal Democrat's "two cities" campaign narrative of a New York divided.
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not surprising.... this is exactly what the democrats do on a national level. just what you want to do in a very large city.... stir up racial tensions and animosity. i guess democrats all over think this is a winning strategy. but what about the consequences of their actions? what about when people start getting attacked and injured or killed? they don't care.
just saying wrote:
not surprising.... this is exactly what the democrats do on a national level. just what you want to do in a very large city.... stir up racial tensions and animosity. i guess democrats all over think this is a winning strategy. but what about the consequences of their actions? what about when people start getting attacked and injured or killed? they don't care.
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That is completely wrong. Bloomberg called DiBlasio's TV ads racist and divisive. The "two cities" campaign had absolutely nothing to do with race. If you knew the actual facts, then you would be calling it "class warfare". "Two Cities" is an outgrowth of the mood generated by "Occupy Wall Street", and 99% versus the 1%. That's what "two cities" actually refers to, the two different worlds that exist for people of different income levels.
God bless you Rudy, you have more patients than me. I've not the energy it requires to tolerate such ignorance. He is one of the few men that truth and logic cannot penetrate, but you already knew that. Don from alb.said it best
I'm delighted. It means the Republican is no-doubt a Tea Party wing nut and the Democrat a liberal breath of fresh air after two decades!
Rudy NYC
just saying wrote:
not surprising.... this is exactly what the democrats do on a national level. just what you want to do in a very large city.... stir up racial tensions and animosity. i guess democrats all over think this is a winning strategy. but what about the consequences of their actions? what about when people start getting attacked and injured or killed? they don't care.
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That is completely wrong. Bloomberg called DiBlasio's TV ads racist and divisive. The "two cities" campaign had absolutely nothing to do with race. If you knew the actual facts, then you would be calling it "class warfare". "Two Cities" is an outgrowth of the mood generated by "Occupy Wall Street", and 99% versus the 1%. That's what "two cities" actually refers to, the two different worlds that exist for people of different income levels.
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yeahhhh... riiight.... liberal dog whistles in play here when most of the black/minority community is poor and most of the white community is affluent. class warfare is also race warfare in the urban areas.
nice try though but we gotcha.
kirk
God bless you Rudy, you have more patients than me.
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And here I am thinking only healthcare providers have lots of "patients" than both of you combined.
just saying wrote:
yeahhhh... riiight.... liberal dog whistles in play here when most of the black/minority community is poor and most of the white community is affluent. class warfare is also race warfare in the urban areas.
nice try though but we gotcha.
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A swing and a miss. I'll give a Mulligan.
@Fair is Fair
kirk
God bless you Rudy, you have more patients than me.
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And here I am thinking only healthcare providers have lots of "patients" than both of you combined.
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Awwww Fair....life must be miserable for you these days. You are reduced to "throw away one liners" as a member of the party with nothing to offer except hate and division. Eventually the GOP will be remembered as a dishonored foot note in history...what a legacy....Congrats.