2009 New York City Comptroller election

The 2009 election for New York City Comptroller was held on November 3, 2009, to coincide with the 2009 mayoral election to determine who would serve as New York City Comptroller. The Democratic and Republican primaries were held on September 15, 2009. There was a run-off election for the Democratic Party nomination on September 29, 2009.

Joe Mendola was nominated as the Republican candidate. John Liu was nominated as the candidate of the Democratic Party; he was also on the Working Families Party line in November. Liu won the race and was elected Comptroller, becoming the first Asian American to be elected to a citywide office.

Democratic nomination Four candidates sought the Democratic Party nomination.

They were: Melinda Katz, City Council member and former State Assemblywoman John Liu, City Council member David Weprin, City Council member and former Deputy Superintendent of the New York State Banking Commission David Yassky, City Council member

In March 2009, Liu announced that he was running for the post of New York City Comptroller. As part of this bid, Liu donated $10,000 to the Working Families Party; they endorsed him less than 6 months later. Liu raised $3 million for his political run, more than his competitors.

Beginning in May, Liu picked up several endorsements. The Village Independent Democrats, The Queens County Democratic organization,Queens Chronicle, May 28, 2009 the local Americans for Democratic Action chapterThe Daily Gotham and the Working Families Party,April 23, 2009 1199 SEIU union local and the Uniformed Firefighters Association endorsed him. On September 1, the United Federation of Teachers endorsed Liu.

Primary election + 2009 New York City comptroller election democratic primary debates Date Host Moderator Link Democratic Democratic Democratic DemocraticKey: Participant Absent Not invited Invited Withdrawn Melinda Katz John Liu David Weprin David Yassky1 Aug. 23, 2009 League of Women Voters of New York CityNew York City Campaign Finance BoardWINS (AM)WXTV-DT Diana Williams YouTube 2 Sep. 10, 2009 Citizens UnionNew York OneNew York One NoticiasNew York Daily NewsNew York City Campaign Finance BoardTime Warner CableWNYC-FM Dominic Carter YouTube

In the September 15 Democratic primary, Liu was the front-runner, ending up with 133,986 votes, or 38 percent of the vote.

Run-off election + 2009 New York City comptroller election democratic primary run-off debate Date Host Moderator Link Democratic DemocraticKey: Participant Absent Not invited Invited Withdrawn John Liu David Yassky1 Sep. 24, 2009 New York OneNew York One NoticiasNew York Daily NewsNew York City Campaign Finance BoardTime Warner CableWNYC-FM Diana Williams YouTube

Because he did not manage to reach 40 percent of the vote, a run-off election was required between Liu and runner-up Yassky, who received 30 percent of the vote in the primary. The Daily News wrote that Yassky and Liu slung mud in a spirited debate on September 24, 2009. On September 29, Liu won the run-off by taking 55.6% of the vote against Yassky.

Republican nomination One candidate sought the Republican Party nomination.

Joe Mendola

Polling Source Sample size DateKatzLiuWeprinYasskyUndecidedSurveyUSASurveyUSA 2,200 August 14–18, 2009 22%23% 12% 15% 28%

Election returns

Democratic primary election

First round, Tuesday, September 15, 2009

2009 Democratic PrimaryManhattanThe BronxBrooklynQueensStaten IslandTotal%John C. Liu36,62518,88842,72737,6584,458140,35637.8% 32.9%42.5%36.8%43.2%37.0%David Yassky44,2729,88240,77516,6713,162114,76230.9%39.8%22.2%35.1%19.1%26.3%Melinda Katz21,14311,40020,11520,2113,34276,21120.5% 19.0%25.6%17.3%23.2%27.8%David I. Weprin9,2234,28512,36612,6301,07739,58110.7% 8.3%9.6%10.7%14.5%8.9% all Write-Ins145751041080.03%T O T A L 111,27744,460116,05887,18012,043371,018

Most (about 65) of the 108 write-in votes were for Salim Ejaz, over 40 of which were cast in Brooklyn.

Democratic primary run-off election

As no candidate had received 40% of the Democratic vote for this office in the September 15 primary, a run-off election between the two most-popular candidates was held on Tuesday, September 29, 2009.

2009 Democratic Run-off PrimaryManhattanThe BronxBrooklynQueensStaten IslandTotal%John C. Liu36,90618,01943,12033,2373,818135,10056.0%47.6%65.2%57.1%62.0%55.6%David Yassky40,6449,63332,39120,3913,047106,10644.0%52.4%34.8%42.9%38.0%44.4%T O T A L 77,55027,65275,51153,6286,865241,206

General election + 2009 New York City comptroller election debate Date Host Moderator Link Democratic Rent Is Too Damn HighKey: Participant Absent Not invited Invited Withdrawn John Liu Salim Ejaz1 Oct. 18, 2009 League of Women Voters of New York CityNew York City Campaign Finance BoardWABC-TVWXTV-DT Diana Williams C-SPAN

John Liu won the general election held on Tuesday, November 3, 2009.

2009 general electionpartyManhattanThe BronxBrooklynQueens Staten IslandTotal%John C. LiuDemocratic191,74895,795203,499180,24933,242704,53372.2% Working Families Party12,6353,40418,6418,8112,31045,8014.7%Total204,38399,199222,140189,06035,552750,33476.9% 81.0%83.7%80.0%73.5%50.5%Joseph A. MendolaRepublican39,10315,16643,71857,26629,803185,05619.0% 15.5%12.8%15.7%22.3%42.3%Stuart AvrickConservative3,3252,1196,4396,8183,93022,6312.3% 1.3%1.8%2.3%2.7%5.6% Salim Ejaz Rent Is Too High3,6141,5693,4222,60769111,9031.2% John Clifton Libertarian2,0225251,9461,4883896,3700.7%Total Write-ins157201410660.01%Total Votes252,462118,585277,685257,25370,375976,360

Source: Board of Elections in the City of New York

2009 New York City Comptroller election

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