After costly run, Bloomberg wins, but not by a lot
NEW YORK - Billionaire Michael Bloomberg won a third term as New York mayor yesterday in a closer-than-expected race against a Democratic challenger who stoked voter resentment over the way Bloomberg changed term-limits law so he could stay in office.
With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Bloomberg, the richest man in New York and founder of the financial-information company Bloomberg L.P., defeated William Thompson Jr., 51 percent to 46 percent.
In the days leading up to the election, polls showed Bloomberg with as much as an 18-point lead, an edge so big that critics accused the mayor of overkill in his strategy of bombarding the city with campaign ads.
His margin of victory was far smaller than the nearly 20-point blowout he pulled off in 2005.
When all the bills are paid, Bloomberg will probably have spent more than $100 million on his campaign, the most expensive self-financed campaign in U.S. history. Thompson, the city's comptroller, relied on donations and matching funds for his mayoral bid, and was on track to have spent about a tenth of Bloomberg's total.
"This campaign was about defying conventional wisdom," Thompson said after conceding defeat. "... This campaign was about standing strong, standing tall, and never backing down in the face of a formidable challenge."
Thompson ran up huge margins in black and Hispanic neighborhoods, winning by a 3-1 ratio in some districts.
In other key mayoral races:
Boston Mayor Thomas Menino won an unprecedented fifth consecutive four-year term. He has been in office for 161/2 years, longer than any mayor in the city's history.
In Atlanta, six candidates were seeking to succeed term-limited Mayor Shirley Franklin, the city's first female mayor. The election was expected to lead to a December runoff. The top contenders include City Council President Lisa Borders, State Sen. Kasim Reed, and City Councilwoman Mary Norwood, who was trying to become the city's first white mayor in a generation.
Former NBA star Dave Bing won reelection as mayor of Detroit, where voters were trying to put the turmoil of the last year - the fall of ex-Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and the federal conviction of a City Council member - behind them.
In Houston, four candidates were competing to succeed three-term Mayor Bill White. The candidates included City Controller Annise Parker, who would be the city's first openly gay mayor.
In Miami, Tomas Regalado, a Havana-born commissioner and former television reporter, replaces Mayor Manny Diaz, who is barred from seeking a third term. Regalado defeated Joe Sanchez in a landslide.
