De Blasio Wins NYC Mayoral Race
Bill de Blasio is the first Democrat to serve as the 109th mayor of New York City in 20 years. He won by a landslide with 73 percent of the votes on Tuesday, Nov. 5, which has been the most sweeping victory since the mayor’s race in 1985 when Edward I. Koch won by 68 points.
“My fellow New Yorkers, today, you spoke out loudly and clearly for a new direction for our city,” said Mr. de Blasio in his victory speech. “For generations, New York has meant opportunity. That is what it has been to so many, and that’s what it must be again” added de Blasio as he promised to focus on the needs of the working class.
De Blasio was an afterthought for much of the crowded Democratic primary, spending most of the year in a distant fourth, trailing City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, former Rep. Anthony Weiner and the Democrats’ 2009 nominee, Bill Thompson. However, it wasn’t until August when de Blasio changed the playing field by inserting his bi-racial family to be the face of his campaign. Mr. de Blasio overshadowed his opponent by channeling New Yorkers’ rising frustrations with income inequality, aggressive policing tactics and lack of affordable housing as he declared that the ever-improving city need not leave so many behind.
In an ad that featured his teenage son, Dante, the 15-year-old boy sported his large afro as he praised his father’s positions on affordable housing and New York’s controversial stop-and-frisk policy.
“Make no mistake: The people of this city have chosen a progressive path, and tonight we set forth on it, together, as one city” – de Blasio.
Watch de Blasio’s campaign ad below:
(Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images)
