The 2009 New York City Public Advocate election took place on Tuesday, November 3, 2009, along with elections for the mayor, the city comptroller, borough presidents, and members of the New York City Council. The Democratic candidate, Bill de Blasio, won election with 77% of the vote against 18% for the Republican nominee, Alex Zablocki, 3.6% for the Conservative nominee, William Lee, and 1.7% for two others.2009 Election Results , The New York Times, published and retrieved on November 4, 2009
The public advocate has the formal role of presiding over meetings of the New York City Council (although the Speaker elected by the Council itself now does much of this work), and, until the next election, would serve as acting Mayor whenever the elected Mayor is unable to serve.
This election has drawn significant interest from politicians looking to advance their careers, as the extension of New York City term limits allows more incumbents to seek reelection.
Candidates
Democratic party Despite the extension of term limits in late 2008, the outgoing public advocate, Betsy Gotbaum announced that she would not run for reelection.
Candidates included Councilman Eric Gioia of Queens, who has raised $2.5 million for the campaign; Norman Siegel, the civil liberties lawyer who lost in a runoff to Gotbaum in 2001; former public advocate Mark Green, and Councilman Bill de Blasio of Brooklyn.
After acknowledging he was considering the race in December 2008, Green announced on February 10, 2009, that he would again run for the office."Mark Green Announces Candidacy For Public Advocate" , NY1. Accessed February 10, 2009. Green was Gotbaum's predecessor as public advocate and the first person to hold this title. His entry changed the landscape of the race, due to his name recognition and ability to raise money.
Councilman John Liu, also from Queens, had been considered a potential candidate for advocate, but he ran for and won the office of New York City Comptroller—an office uncontested by the current city comptroller, Bill Thompson, who preferred to seek election as mayor in 2009. Councilwoman Jessica Lappin and Guillermo Linares, a former councilman and current commissioner of the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs, were also considering a run Assemblyman Adam Clayton Powell IV was also considered a potential candidate. Lappin decided not to run.Paybarah, Azi, "Lappin Won't Run for Public Advocate", PolitickerNY.com, March 6, 2009. Imtiaz S. Syed, a lawyer, economist, investigative accountant, banker, administrator and management consultant, also ran. Board of Elections in the City of New York.
On September 15, 2009, de Blasio won 32.6% of the Democratic primary vote and Green 31.5%. (Most of the remaining 36% of the primary voters cast their ballots for Gioia or Siegel.) Neither de Blasio nor Green won enough votes (40%) to avoid a run-off primary election between them two weeks later.
On September 29, Bill de Blasio won that run-off election by 62.4% to 37.6% for Mark Green. Turnout was very light, about 220,000 or 10% of the eligible voters, according to The Associated Press. (In the same run-off election, John Liu led his fellow City Councilman David Yassky, of Brooklyn, for the Democratic nomination for New York City Comptroller by 56% to 44% of a similar turnout.)Sewell Chan, Liu and de Blasio Win Primary Runoffs, City Room Blog, The New York Times, Tuesday, September 29, 2009, retrieved on September 30, 2009
Debates + 2009 New York City public advocate election democratic primary debates Date Host Moderator Link Democratic Democratic Democratic DemocraticKey: Participant Absent Not invited Invited Withdrawn Bill de Blasio Eric Gioia Mark Green Norman Siegel1 Aug. 23, 2009 1010 WINSLeague of Women Voters of New York CityNew York City Campaign Finance BoardWABC-TVWXTV-DT Diana Williams YouTube 2 Sep. 9, 2009 Citizens UnionNew York OneNew York One NoticiasNew York Daily NewsNew York City Campaign Finance BoardTime Warner CableWNYC-FM Dominic Carter YouTube
+ 2009 New York City public advocate election democratic primary run-off debate Date Host Moderator Link Democratic DemocraticKey: Participant Absent Not invited Invited Withdrawn Bill de Blasio Mark Green1 Sep. 23, 2009 New York OneNew York One NoticiasNew York Daily NewsNew York City Campaign Finance BoardTime Warner CableWNYC-FM Dominic Carter YouTube
Republican party Alex Zablocki, an aide to State Senator Andrew Lanza of Staten Island, declared his candidacy. At 26 years old, Zablocki was the youngest candidate to run for public advocate.
Other parties William Lee, Conservative Party of New York Maura DeLuca, Socialist Workers Party Jim Lesczynski, Libertarian Party of New York
Campaign Gotbaum set up meetings with each of her potential successors in order to help them understand the position. On March 30, 2009, Alex Zablocki, Republican candidate for public advocate, met with Gotbaum in her office for about an hour to discuss the importance of the office and afterwards thanked her for her service.
On March 10, Fordham Law School hosted a town hall meeting with Gioia, Siegel, de Blasio and Green. Zablocki was not invited, which he considered an "outrage". The organizer said that he believed students wanted to see the Democratic contenders first, and wished to set up a debate including Zablocki in the future.
Endorsements De Blasio was endorsed by The New York Times, the Working Families Party, and over 150 elected officials and organizations. Gioia was endorsed by various labor unions, including Local One of the Stagehands, the Sergeants Benevolent Association (SBA) and the Captains Endowment Association (CEA).Paybarah, Azi, "Stagehands Back Gioia for Public Advocate", PolitickerNY.com, February 18, 2009. http://www.politickerny.com/1926/gioia-rolls-out-union-calling-todays-public-advocate Alex Zablocki was endorsed by all five Republican county organizations in New York City, led by his home borough of Staten Island. Alex Zablocki was also endorsed by the Staten Island Advance on October 30, 2009, as well as The Wave, Rockaway's leading newspaper, on October 23, 2009.
Results Democratic primary
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Official results from the New York City Board of Elections as of September 25, 2009:
2009 Democratic initial primary Manhattan The Bronx Brooklyn Queens Staten Island Total % Bill de Blasio 35,013 16,662 47,791 17,054 2,947 119,467 32.6% 31.7% 36.7% 41.3% 20.5% 24.6% Mark Green 34,601 14,426 33,790 28,480 4,211 115,508 31.5% 31.3% 31.8% 29.2% 34.2% 35.1% Eric Gioia 17,309 6,859 15,082 24,838 2,771 66,859 18.2% 15.7% 15.1% 13.0% 29.8% 23.1% Norman Siegel 20,246 5,745 14,335 10,135 1,759 52,220 14.2% 18.3% 12.7% 12.4% 12.2% 14.7% Imtiaz S. Syed 3,221 1,679 4,750 2,875 295 12,820 3.5% 2.9% 3.7% 4.1% 3.4% 2.5% all write-in votes 14 1 18 10 0 43 0.01% T O T A L 110,404 45,372 115,766 83,392 11,983 366,917
As no candidate reached 40%, a runoff election for de Blasio and Green set for September 29 was required.Board of Elections in the City of New York, "Statement and Return Report for Certification Primary Election 2009 – September 15, 2009 Crossover – Democratic Party Democratic Public Advocate Citywide", published on September 25, 2009, and retrieved on November 4, 2009
Democratic run-off primary Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Official returns (as reported on October 20, 2009):
2009 Democratic run-off primaryManhattanThe BronxBrooklynQueens Richmond [Staten Is.]Total% Bill de Blasio 46,295 17,074 49,667 28,450 3,927 145,413 62.4% 61.4% 61.7% 67.6% 57.0% 58.0% Mark Green 29,121 10,589 23,814 21,429 2,840 87,793 37.6% 38.6% 38.3% 32.4% 43.0% 42.0% T O T A L 75,416 27,663 73,481 49,879 6,767 233,206
Bill de Blasio became the Democratic nominee for public advocate.Board of Elections in the City of New York, Statement and Return Report for Certification Run-off Primary 2009 – September 29, 2009 Crossover – Democratic Party Democratic Public Advocate Citywide, published on October 20, 2009, and retrieved on November 4, 2009]
General election Tuesday, November 3, 2009
2009 general electionPartyManhattanThe BronxBrooklynQueens Staten IslandTotal% Bill de Blasio Democratic 183,917 92,022 205,155 166,119 32,153 679,366 72.7%Working Families 12,608 3,434 18,602 8,215 2,404 45,263 4.8% Total 196,525 95,456 223,757 174,334 34,557 724,629 77.6% 81.5% 84.9% 81.7% 73.2% 50.5% Alex T. Zablocki Republican 35,515 13,013 37,683 49,988 27,891 164,090 17.6% 14.7% 11.6% 13.8% 21.0% 40.7% William J. Lee Conservative 4,929 2,902 8,737 10,523 5,185 32,276 3.5% 2.0% 2.6% 3.2% 4.4% 7.6% Maura de Luca Socialist Workers 2,455 788 2,555 2,029 478 8,305 0.9% Jim Lesczynski Libertarian 1,812 268 1,223 1,138 367 4,808 0.5% Total write-ins 37 17 30 29 10 123 0.01% Total votes 241,273 112,444 273,985 238,041 68,488 934,231
Source: Board of Elections in the City of New York http://www.vote.nyc.ny.us/results.html
Bill de Blasio was elected public advocate.
See also New York City Public Advocate Government of New York City 2009 New York City mayoral election 2009 New York City Comptroller election
External links Candidate websites Bill de Blasio for Public Advocate Eric Gioia for New York
Imtiaz S. Syed for Public Advocate Alex Zablocki for Public Advocate
References