Democratic nominee Bill de Blasio became the 109th mayor in New York City’s history in a landslide victory over Republican candidate Joe Lhota.
Bill de Blasio, the former Public Advocate, was leading all mayoral polls after the primaries, leaving little suspense at the conclusion of the election.
However, de Blasio’s rise in popularity was a surprise. At the right time, he was able to benefit from the distractions in the media caused by the scandal surrounding Democrat Anthony Weiner. De Blasio was also able to capture the support that remained for democrat Christine Quinn, the New York City Council Speaker. Her close ties with the Bloomberg administration, as well as her support of the term limits repeal, created a negative association in many voters’ minds, which left her unable to stop the steady decline in her polling numbers.
De Blasio’s popular messages and pledges to change several city institutions drew in great numbers of people who originally supported other candidates, but who instead offered him a late surge of support. Many citizens agree with his ideas about public safety, stop-and-frisk, affordable housing and improvements in education.
De Blasio’s most popular message of the “Tale of Two Cities” addresses the hot-button issue of income inequality that plagues New York City. He was able to fully capitalize on this message and gain even more ground in the polls because of it. The message allowed him to position himself as a progressive alternative to the other candidates and many citizens were more than willing to show their support.
“I believe that a Bill de Blasio win would show a significant change in the political landscape of New York City,” College Democrats President Luis Quinones said. “With the help of the super majority in the City Council, democrats can work on shifting income inequality that de Blasio has talked about in his ‘Tale of Two Cities’ message.”
As for the College Republicans, President Gregory Mitchell was disappointed with the defeat of Joe Lhota.
“Joe Lhota ran a disciplined campaign focused on his vision for New York City,” he said. “Lhota is a strong leader and even though he did not win the election, I am confident that he will continue to fight for the betterment of New York City no matter what capacity he is in.”
