Democratic Primary for Mayor of New York City
Democratic candidates have rushed in to fill the open mayor’s seat, bringing back unexpected faces from Brooklyn’s political past. Council Speaker Christine Quinn once seemed Bloomberg’s heir apparent, but her perceived closeness to hizzoner has become a liability. The frontrunner has changed multiple times, with polls showing DeBlasio in the lead as Sept. 10 approaches.
Christine Quinn
• Councilwoman (D–Manhattan), New York City Council Speaker, former housing activist.
• Entered Council in 1999 special election as representative from Manhattan, became first woman and first lesbian speaker in 2006. Spearheaded controversial effort to extend term-limits in 2008.
• 47, married, no children.
BILL DEBLASIO
• New York City Public Advocate, former councilman (D–Park Slope), former campaign manager for Hillary Clinton.
• Served as New York and New Jersey director of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development during the Clinton Administration. Entered Council in 2001 representing Park Slope. Became Public Advocate in 2009.
• 52, married, two children.
SAL ALBANESE
• Former financial advisor, former councilman (D–Bay Ridge), former public school teacher.
• Entered Council in 1982 representing Bay Ridge, served for 15 years. Ran for mayor in 1997 and placed third in Democratic Primary. Briefly ran again in 2000, then dropped out.
• 64, married, two children.
BILL THOMPSON
• Former deputy borough president, former president of the Board of Education, former city comptroller, former investment banker. Democratic nominee for mayor in 2009.
• Became youngest ever deputy beep in 1982, became Board of education president in 1996, became comptroller in 2002. Came within five percentage points of beating Mayor Bloomberg in 2009, despite being outspent 14 to one.
• 60, married, one daughter.
ANTHONY WEINER
• Former councilman (D– Sheepshead Bay), former congressman (D–Brooklyn).
• Became youngest councilman in history in 1992, representing Sheepshead Bay, served for six years. Entered U.S. House of Representatives in 1999, resigned in disgrace in 2011 after accidentally posting photo of his engorged penis to his official Twitter account, then lying about it.
• 49, married, one son.
JOHN LIU
• City comptroller, former councilman (D–Queens).
• Entered Council in 2001 representing Queens, became comptroller in 2010. Irregularities in fund-raising for comptroller race triggered federal investigation. City denied matching funds to mayoral campaign.
• 46, married, one son.
THE CAMPAIGN
• Other contenders have attacked Quinn for supporting term-limit extension and for rewarding and punishing council members by granting or withholding discretionary funds. Quinn has fallen from first place in the polls to third.
• Weiner experienced a spectacular rise and fall, becoming frontrunner upon entering race, then sinking dramatically after further sexually-charged interactions with women came to light.
• Quinn and Thompson have blasted DeBlasio for supporting term-limit extensions as councilman in 2005, then flipping his position when the bill came up in 2008.
• The financially challengedAlbanese has questioned his opponents’ ability to fight for reform given the large amounts of money he says they have received from corporations.
