New York Mayoral Election 2013: Is It Bill Thompson's Turn to Take Office?

Impact

The 2013 New York City mayoral elections are fast approaching, and Bill Thompson is in it to win it — again.

Thompson ran a competitive race in 2009 against Mayor Bloomberg, who was then seeking his third term in office, only to fall short by receiving 46% of the vote compared to the incumbent mayor’s 50.6%. In addition, after having racked up  $619,125 in fines from not complying with the city’s postering rules and then wiggling his way out of paying the fees, he then decided to start the 2013 elections with a clean slate by paying them off. 

But in order to make it to the general election, Thompson has to get through the Democratic primary first. According to a Wall Street Journal-NBC New York-Marist poll released Tuesday,among Democratic candidates Thompson is in third place with 13% of the vote, trailing behind City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who is in second place with 20%, and former Congressman Anthony Weiner, who is leading with 25%. However, a day later, a poll released by Quinnipiac University indicated that Quinn is leading with 19%, Weiner is at 17%, and Thompson is at 16%.                                                                  

Nevertheless, these figures do not concern Thompson, who says he has “seen how inaccurate they have been over the years, and how inaccurate they continue to be.” Thompson may well be correct, especially given that these are preliminary numbers and the primary isn't until September.                                                                 

This mayoral election is one that will be tough to break through. With more than five Democrats running, it will be close to impossible for a single person to pass the 40% mark, the amount that is necessary for a candidate to move on to the general election without having to go through a runoff. 

If the three-way tie between Quinn, Weiner, and Thompson continues, we at least know for sure that either Quinn or Weiner would make the runoff election. Should Thompson catch up and earn a spot in the runoff, he would then be facing one of those two candidates. Though some may not favor Thompson, Quinn and Weiner both seem to inspire far more passionate disapproval (Quinn because many liberals see her as a de facto fourth term for Bloomberg, and Weiner because, well, yeah).                                   

Given how well Thompson did in the 2009 elections and considering the lack of a clearly dominant leader in the Democratic primaries, if he manages to climb up to one of the top two spots, the runoff election could very well go in his favor.