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The Race ...

Mayor

Know about something you don't see here? Let us know at campaign05@gothamgazette.com

Election Results ...

General Election Results

Michael Bloomberg

Primary Results

Fernando Ferrer

Candidates...

The Incumbent:
Michael Bloomberg

General Election Challenger(s):
Seth A. Blum
Fernando Ferrer
Anthony Gronowicz
Martin Koppel
Jimmy McMillian
Thomas Ognibene
Audrey Silk

Primary Election Challenger(s):
Christopher X. Brodeur
Fernando Ferrer
C. Virginia Fields
A. Gifford Miller
Arthur Piccolo
Anthony Weiner

(Candidate Biographies below)

Video Voter Guide ...

Video Voter Guides for Mayor

Feature Articles ...

Transcript of Final Mayoral Debate

November 1, 2005

Read a complete transcript of the debate between Michael Bloomberg and Fernando Ferrer held on November 1, 2005. Click here.

Transcript of Oct. 30 Mayoral Debate

October 30, 2005

Read a complete transcript of the debate between Michael Bloomberg and Fernando Ferrer held on October 30, 2005. Click here

Mayoral Debate on Poverty

August 8, 2005

Five candidates for mayor debated issues of poverty, gentrification, education, and the proposed basketball arena in Brooklyn at a recent forum. Read More...

Democratic Mayoral Candidates on Historic Preservation

July 29, 2005
At a series of forums, the four Democratic candidates for mayor talked about issues like preserving the city's historic sites, developing the West Side, and imagining the future of Governors Island.
- Anthony Weiner
- Gifford Miller
-
Fernando Ferrer
-
C. Virginia Fields

The Mayoral Candidates On Housing

June 13, 2005
Five candidates answer questions on housing issues ranging from the unfulfilled promise to use Battery Park Authority funds to build affordable housing to an expansion of the Senior Citizens Rent Increase Exemption.
Read More

The Mayoral Candidates on Budgets, Taxes and Spending

June 13, 2005
Four Democratic mayoral candidates discussed budget and fiscal issues facing New York City.
Read More

The Mayoral Candidates on Education

April 25, 2005
The six other mayoral challengers gave Michael Bloomberg and his schools chancellor low marks on education at a recent forum.
Read More

Mayoral Candidates and Gay Issues

April 11, 2005
Four Democratic mayoral candidates speak out on gay marriage, civil rights, and other citywide issues.

Gifford Miller
C. Virginia Fields
Fernando Ferrer
Anthony Weiner

Will Bloomberg Be Re-Elected?

January 3, 2005
Joseph Mercurio weighs in on how changes since 2001 will have an impact on the mayoral race. More...

What Can Any Mayor Really Do?

January 3, 2005
How much can a mayor really do for New York? More...

Candidate Bios ...

The Incumbent:

Michael Bloomberg | Rep | LIB |
Michael R. Bloomberg was elected as New York City Mayor in 2001. He is the head of Bloomberg LP, an international finance company that he founded and eventually expanded into a news conglomerate. Bloomberg served on the boards of 20 different civic, cultural, educational and medical institutions. Before founding his company, Bloomberg worked at Salomon Brothers on Wall Street for 15 years. He graduated from John Hopkins University and has a Master's of Business Administration from Harvard.

Challenger(s):

Seth A. Blum |
Seth Blum teaches math at The Manhattan International High School.

Christopher X. Brodeur | Dem |
Christopher Brodeur is a filmmaker, cartoonist, writer, composer, political activist and investigative reporter who writes for the New York Press, The Resident, and other publications. He ran for mayor in 2001 as a Green Party candidate.

Fernando Ferrer | Dem |
Raised in the South Bronx, Fernando Ferrer served in the New York City Council from 1982 and until 1987 when he was elected Bronx borough president. He held that post for 14 years. In 2001, Ferrer ran for mayor, narrowly losing a run-off election to Mark Green. Since then, he has served as president of the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy, a non-profit organization that works on economic and social justice issues.

C. Virginia Fields | Dem |
A social worker who has lived in New York City since 1971, C. Virginia Fields served as an administrator of social services for the Children's Aid Society and supervisor of social services for the city's Work Release program. She also was a Democratic district leader and chair of Community Board 10. Fields won election to City Council in 1989 and served two four-year terms. She was elected Manhattan borough president in 1997.

Anthony Gronowicz | Gre |
Anthony Gronowicz is a history professor and author. From 1999 to 2001, he chaired the University Seminar on the City at Columbia University. He also leads seminars at the New York Society Library on topics like ethnic history of New York City, New York City's intellectual history, U.S. third parties, and the U.S. Constitution. In 1996, he ran for State Assembly in the 73rd district,where he is currently the Green Party state committee representative.

Martin Koppel | SOC |
Martin Koppel writes for the socialist newsweekly, The Militant.

Jimmy McMillian |
Jimmy McMillian is is a retired letter carrier and Vietnam veteran. He is running on the “Rent is Too Damn High” party line.

A. Gifford Miller | Dem |
A lifelong resident of the Upper East Side, Gifford Miller began his political career after graduating from college when he went to work on the staff of U.S. Representative Carolyn Maloney. At age 26, he was elected to City Council in 1996. In 2002, other members of the council selected him as speaker.

Thomas Ognibene | Con |
Thomas Ognibene was elected to the New York City Council in the November 1991 and served for 10 years. From 1994 to 2001, he served as the Minority Leader of the Council. Ognibene has served as Executive Vice Chairman and Executive Director of the Queens County Republican Party, and President of the Evergreen Republican Club of Ridgewood.

Arthur Piccolo | Dem |
Arthur Piccolo is the chairman of the Bowling Green Association in Lower Manhattan.

Audrey Silk | LBT |
Audrey Silk is a retired police officer. She is community activist and founder of NYC Citizens Lobbying Against Smoker Harassment.

Anthony Weiner | Dem |
Anthony Weiner went to work for then U.S. Representative Charles Schumer after graduating from college. In 1991, he was elected to the City Council at the age of 27. When Schumer left the House in 1998 to run for Senate, Weiner was one of several Democrats who sought the seat, representing the 9th Congressional District in Brooklyn and Queens. With Schumer's endorsement, he narrowly won the primary and went on to win the general election.

Campaign Trail ...

Below are the latest Campaign Trail items for the Mayor race. For the full Campaign Trail archive, go here

Bonuses for Bloomberg Staff

November 14, 2005
Mayor Michael Bloomberg's top campaign staffers could be treated to six-figure bonuses as a thank-you for the Republican incumbent's record-breaking 20-point re-election victory. After his win in 2001, billionaire Bloomberg gave out $850,000 in bonuses — including $300,000 to senior campaign strategist Bill Cunningham, $100,000 to four other staffers and $25,000 to six advisers. Campaign co-chairman Herman Badillo said he expected the mayor would be just as generous this time around. (New York Post)

White Democrats Voted Republican

November 13, 2005
It has been 20 years since a majority of white city voters pulled the lever for a Democratic mayoral candidate -- even as most remain registered Democrats. According to a Pace University exit poll, Mayor Michael Bloomberg won last Tuesday among whites with 67 percent to 30 percent for Fernando Ferrer. This was the fifth straight mayoral election where the majority of white voters voted Republican.
(Newsday)

Bloomberg’s Courting of Latino Voters

November 13, 2005
According to experts, exit polls and Board of Elections estimates, Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s strategy that targeted Latinos in general, along with individual Hispanic nationalities, had some limited success. While he failed to draw a majority of votes in most of the city's heavily Latino districts, he did skim enough of those votes to keep Fernando Ferrer from getting the support he needed to become the city’s first Latino mayor.
(Newsday)

Mayor Thanks Churchgoers

November 14, 2005
Mayor Michael Bloomberg did a victory lap of sorts Sunday, traveling to houses of worship around the city to thank congregants for their support and lay out his agenda for the months ahead. (Newsday)

Ferrer’s Loss is Carrion’s Gain

November 13, 2005
With Fernando Ferrer having lost the mayoral election. the mantle of lead Latino power player falls to the man who replaced him as Bronx borough president — Adolfo Carrion. Some insiders predict that the Bronx borough president — intelligent, youthful and popular among Latinos, the city's fastest-growing ethnic group — could succeed where his predecessor failed and become New York's first Latino mayor.
(New York Post)

In Politics, Money Isn’t Everything

November 13, 2005
Michael Bloomberg, who is worth an estimated $6 billion and spent about $70 million for his re-election campaign, has become the new gold standard for the growing number of megamillionaire candidates nationwide But wealthy candidates, who bankroll their own campaigns to scare off rivals and avoid fund-raising, lose more often than they win.
(New York Times)

A Republican Lock on City Hall

November 13, 2005
Michael Bloomberg's re-election last week achieved a largely overlooked political milestone in this lopsidedly Democratic city: After his second term, more mayors will have been elected as Republicans or third-party candidates than as Democrats since 1933. (New York Times)

Bloomberg Throws $250G Victory Party

November 10, 2005
Tack on a cool $250,000 to Mayor Bloomberg's re-election campaign tab of $66 million and counting. (New York Post)

I'll Never Run Again, Says Mayor

November 10, 2005
Fresh off his historic landslide reelection, Mayor Bloomberg made it clear yesterday his electoral career begins and ends at City Hall - and that he plans to spend his post-political life giving away his money. (Daily News)

Bloomberg Gets Back to Work as Ferrer Weighs Bowing Out

November 10, 2005
The campaign toys went back into their boxes Wednesday, as Democratic mayoral candidate Fernando Ferrer turned his thoughts to the future, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg returned to City Hall with a new mandate and a host of challenges.
(Newsday)

Ferrer Vote Floors Pollsters

November 10, 2005
New York's top pollsters were scrambling yesterday to explain why they were way off base on the mayor's race — drastically underestimating Fernando Ferrer's support. (New York Post)

After Ferrer, Beaten Party Looks to 2009

November 10, 2005
For New York Democrats, the 2009 race for mayor was all but under way yesterday, as they reckoned with the errors and shortcomings that helped fuel the historic Republican victory of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg on Tuesday. Three prominent Democrats who may run in 2009 - Adolfo Carrión Jr., William C. Thompson Jr. and Anthony D. Weiner - said their party needed to recalibrate its message to rely less on hopes-and-dreams liberalism and champion pragmatic ideas about security, public schools and the high cost of living in the city. (New York Times)

Full Mayor Campaign Trail Archive

Mayor Campaign Trail in RSS format.