Thompson concedes NYC mayoral primary, endorses de Blasio
New York (CNN) - Former City Comptroller Bill Thompson ended his bid for New York City mayor Monday and endorse Bill de Blasio.
Speaking to reporters at a news conference on the steps of City Hall, Thompson made his announcement surrounded by city and state-wide New York Democratic leaders. Thompson had been holding out since last Tuesday's Democratic primary hoping for the possibility of a runoff in the primary.
"Every single vote should and must be counted- every vote…but Bill de Blasio and I want to move our city forward in the same direction. We share the fundamental same views and values. This is bigger than either one of us," Thompson said.
In the primary race, Thompson came in a distant second to de Blasio, who began his campaign as a liberal long-shot, overwhelming his opponents to finish first. By apparently breaking a 40% vote threshold, de Blasio appears to have avoided an automatic primary runoff.
De Blasio tops NY mayoral primary; Weiner distant fifth
De Blasio, the city's public advocate, will now square off as the favorite in the general election over Republican Joe Lhota, the former top deputy to Rudy Giuliani.
Bloomberg won't endorse a candidate for replacement
Just Friday, Thompsons's resolve seemed steady, hoping a re-canvass of voting machines would result in a runoff between he and de Blasio, saying he wanted to wait for the official count, but Monday Thompson called for party unity.
"In the greatest city in the world, in the greatest democracy on Earth, we ought to be able to count all the votes, but the reality is right now the votes have not been counted, and it's by no means clear when they will be counted… Under those circumstances it is impossible to even campaign let alone offer a meaningful choice to Democratic voters. It would be disservice to my supporters, a disservice to Democrats, and most of all, a disservice to the people of New York City."
Thompson was the Democratic nominee for New York City mayor in 2009, a deputy borough president in Brooklyn, Board of Education President, and City Comptroller.
"For years I've had the honor of working with Bill (Thompson) In this city, in this party. There is no man with greater integrity, a man who has given his life to public service to the betterment of all of us… throughout this campaign, even when we disagreed our friendship, our mutual respect continued," said de Blasio, who appeared early after the primary to have reached the 40% of the vote needed to avoid a three-week runoff race for the Democratic nomination.
De Blasio, began his campaign as a long-shot but rode a late wave of momentum by tapping into liberal anxiety over the three-term administration of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, painting Bloomberg's New York as an increasingly unaffordable metropolis that rewarded wealthy Manhattanites at the expense of the outer borough middle class.
A Brooklyn resident who showcased his interracial family in television ads, de Blasio ran up sweeping margins in nearly every borough and demographic category, besting his opponents among voters of all ages, races and income levels. According to exit polling conducted by Edison Research for various New York City media outlets, de Blasio, who is white, even outperformed Thompson, the lone black candidate in the race, among black voters.
"As Democrats, as part of the core of who we are, we don't believe in allowing a 'A Tale of Two Cites.' As Democrats it is our urgent imperative to create equality, to make sure everyone has a piece of the American dream, that everyone has a piece of the dream that is New York, so I am profoundly honored, I am profoundly humbled to receive the support of Bill Thompson," de Blasio said.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo was among Democratic leaders at Monday's press conference. Cuomo praised Democratic Party unity, thanked Thompson and congratulated de Blasio on his nomination.
CNN's Peter Hamby contributed to this report
The field is set. "This is where the fun begins."
Hey Rudy, just curious, is there any reason to believe that di Blasio WON'T beat Lhota? It seems that sometimes NYC has a predilection for Republican mayors, much like California occasionally prefers Republican governors.
"As Democrats, as part of the core of who we are, we don't believe in allowing a 'A Tale of Two Cites.' As Democrats it is our urgent imperative to create equality, to make sure everyone has a piece of the American dream, that everyone has a piece of the dream that is New York, so I am profoundly honored, I am profoundly humbled to receive the support of Bill Thompson," de Blasio said
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looks like we got another little mini-obama socilaist here. another class warfare, confiscate the wealth and give it away. does this clown know he is a mayor? the leftist democrats are so far out in leftist field they have no idea how our economy works and who deserves the fruits of their labor. democrats have turne dthe government into a criminal shakedown operation using the tax code.
Data Driven
Hey Rudy, just curious, is there any reason to believe that di Blasio WON'T beat Lhota? It seems that sometimes NYC has a predilection for Republican mayors, much like California occasionally prefers Republican governors.
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Bloomberg's controversial third term, which overrode a term limit referendum, will ensure a Democratic mayoral win.
@just saying,
I don't know why you're complaining. America is just the way you apparently want it to be. No redistribution to us Great Unwashed: 95% of all the wealth from the recovery has gone to the 1% of the richest people in the country, according to a study released last week.
Freedom over Marxism!
As Democrats it is our urgent imperative to create equality
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Watch out NYC! If you thought Bloomberg had a lot of nutty ideas, you had better dig long and deep in what this guy thinks he's going to do as mayor. Does he think he's going to raise the minum wage to $20/hour in NYC to create this equality? Will NYC have a city wage tax of 10% to create this equality? This guy sounds like he is WAY out there. People WORK to achieve the Ameircan dream. It is not something that one presents, as a gift, to others.
Rudy NYC
Data Driven
Hey Rudy, just curious, is there any reason to believe that di Blasio WON'T beat Lhota? It seems that sometimes NYC has a predilection for Republican mayors, much like California occasionally prefers Republican governors.
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Bloomberg's controversial third term, which overrode a term limit referendum, will ensure a Democratic mayoral win.
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????? is there any logic in this??? bloomberg was a far left progressive. gun control, regulating drink sizes, supported obama. nyc might have had enough of this nonsense.
10-4, Rudy
Anybody else notice the sour looks on Cuomo and de Balsio's faces??? You'd think they would be all smiles.
just asking wrote:
????? is there any logic in this??? bloomberg was a far left progressive. gun control, regulating drink sizes, supported obama. nyc might have had enough of this nonsense.
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Your remark demonstrates a prohibitive lack of facts about the NYC mayoral race, or an extreme position that is so far to the right that everyone else is light years to the left of you. Worst of all, your hyperdrive is broken.
Donna
Anybody else notice the sour looks on Cuomo and de Balsio's faces??? You'd think they would be all smiles.
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It may have been raining, and it just stopped. There have been scattered, cool drizzles throughout the NYC tri-state area.
Too bad Weiner couldn't keep it up.........
-just asking
Rudy NYC
Data Driven
Hey Rudy, just curious, is there any reason to believe that di Blasio WON'T beat Lhota? It seems that sometimes NYC has a predilection for Republican mayors, much like California occasionally prefers Republican governors.
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Bloomberg's controversial third term, which overrode a term limit referendum, will ensure a Democratic mayoral win.
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????? is there any logic in this??? bloomberg was a far left progressive. gun control, regulating drink sizes, supported obama. nyc might have had enough of this nonsense.
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He was elected as a Republican because Giuliani was term-limited, as well as limited ethically. New Yorkers were subjected to hearing about how their mayor cheated on hsi second wife by using the mayor's limo to head out to Long Island for trysts with the woman who became his third wife. Bloomberg was selected by the GOP because he was rich and had business experience, the usual prerequisites for getting a GOP candidate with a thin resume elected ( Mitt Romney).
Interesting... NYC didn't go with the black Democrat candidate. Looks like NYC is rampant with racists. Time to cal the Dept. of Justice and have them take over the elections.
Yea, Bloomberg the 'leftist'. The complete and utter ignorance of some on here amazes me. Anybody who doesn't beleive people should work for whatever pittance the corporations and rich are willing to pay and that the rich should get ALL the tax breaks for creating pittance jobs so it will trickle down to the poor (who are rolling in the dough from the kajillions they receive from the nanny state) and everyone should have a gun on their hip and anyone black, brown or other color than white should be taken to the sidewalk and anally searched for no other reason than 'Because I want to'.
All those who don't believe this... you are Leftists.