2001 New York City mayoral election

Background

The primaries were scheduled for September 11, but the September 11 attacks caused them to be postponed to September 25 (votes cast on September 11 were not counted), and the runoff was on October 11.

Republican primary

Candidates

• Michael Bloomberg, billionaire businessman
• Herman Badillo, former Democratic U.S. Representative from The Bronx (1971–1977)

Results

By borough

72.3% 27.7%

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Fernando Ferrer, Borough President of The Bronx
• Mark Green, New York City Public Advocate
• Alan Hevesi, New York City Comptroller
• George Spitz
• Peter Vallone, Sr., New York City Council Speaker and Councilman

Declined

• Al Sharpton, Baptist minister, activist, founder of National Action Network and candidate in 1997

Campaign

Late in the primary, Green was roundly criticized for actions of supporters that were construed as racist, involving literature with New York Post caricatures of Ferrer and Al Sharpton distributed in white enclaves of Brooklyn and Staten Island. Green said he had nothing to do with the dissemination of the literature. An investigation by the Brooklyn District Attorney concluded that Green "had no knowledge of these events, and that when he learned of them, he repeatedly denounced the distribution of this literature and sought to find out who had engaged in it". Nevertheless, the incident is thought to have diminished minority turnout in the general election and helped Bloomberg win in an overwhelmingly Democratic city. (Village Voice columnist Peter Noel wrote that Green "may have replaced [Giuliani] as the most hated white man in the African American community", an ironic twist for someone who had been so popular in that community for so long.)

Green made a controversial decision during the primary runoff to support Giuliani's unprecedented attempt to extend his own mayoral term in the name of the emergency of 9/11. Ferrer opposed Giuliani's ultimately unsuccessful attempt at term extension, and accused Green of being rolled over by Giuliani.

Debate

Results

Ferrer:
Vallone:
35.5% 30.9% 19.7% 12.0% 1.8% Green clearly led among Manhattan's Democrats, Ferrer among The Bronx's, and Vallone among Staten Island's. Ferrer and Green were evenly matched in Brooklyn, while all three candidates were essentially tied in Queens.

Run-off

General election

Candidates

• Michael Bloomberg (Republican)
• Bernie Goetz (Fusion)
• Kenneth B. Golding (American Dream)
• Mark Green (Democratic, Working Families)
• Terrance M. Gray (Conservative)
• Alan Hevesi (Liberal)
• Thomas K. Leighton (Marijuana Reform)
• Kenny Kramer (Libertarian)
• Julia Willebrand (Green)

Campaign

Rudy Giuliani, who was riding high approval ratings following the 9/11 attacks, endorsed Bloomberg.

Unlike his cash-poor Democratic rival, who had just emerged from an expensive primary and expected to rely on traditionally reliable free media coverage that never materialized, Bloomberg continued to spend $74 million on TV ads and direct mail in the weeks after the attacks, a record amount at the time for a non-presidential election (Bloomberg broke this record in 2005). The Economist wrote: "The billionaire businessman [Bloomberg] is usually seen as one of the post-September 11th winners (if such a word can be so used): He would probably have lost the mayoralty to Mark Green, a leftish Democrat, had the terrorist strike not happened. Yet, it is also worth noting that his election probably spared New York City a turbulent period of score-settling over Rudy Giuliani's legacy."

Green posed on the steps of City Hall with Hasidic Jewish leaders, and issued a statement that "leaders from the Satmar congregations of New York City, the largest of the three major Hasidic groups in the city with some 100,000 followers" supported his campaign. But many of the Satmars at that photo op led an upstate Satmar community ineligible to vote in New York City and were also "at odds with the Satmar establishment" based in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, whose leaders were in Europe at the time and unaware that Green had claimed their endorsement.

The election was also notable for two non-politician semi-celebrities running on third-party tickets: Bernhard Goetz, who had achieved fame in 1984 as the "subway vigilante" for shooting four young men who tried to rob him, on the Fusion Party ticket; and Kenny Kramer, the inspiration for the character Cosmo Kramer on the TV show Seinfeld, on the Libertarian Party ticket.

Debate

Results

Bloomberg won a close election, with 744,757 votes. He lost in three of the five boroughs but received enough votes in Staten Island and Queens to prevail. Under New York's electoral fusion rules, candidates were allowed to run representing multiple parties.

Notes

References

References

1. (September 14, 2001). "AFTER THE ATTACKS: THE ELECTION; Primary Rescheduled for Sept. 25, With Runoff, if Necessary, Set for Oct. 11". The New York Times.
2. "Board of Elections in the City of New York - Elections Results".
3. (October 12, 2001). "Green Defeats Ferrer in N.Y. Mayor Runoff". The New York Times.
4. "WCBS NEWSRADIO 880 - Mark Green Cleared of Wrongdoing".
5. "Village voice > news > Mark Green, You Can't Hide by Peter Noel".
6. Nagourney, Adam. [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9907E6DF1630F93BA15753C1A9679C8B63 "Bloomberg Puts Eggs In a Basket: Giuliani's"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', October 28, 2001. Accessed December 31, 2007. "Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani's decision to endorse Michael R. Bloomberg at City Hall yesterday provides Mr. Bloomberg with perhaps his greatest hope for victory as he moves into the final days of what his supporters describe as a troubled campaign."
7. (November 8, 2005). "Costly Campaigns".
8. (April 21, 2008). "Got Milk? Campaign".
9. [https://www.economist.com/printedition/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=1328844 " New York's difficult year"], ''[[The Economist]]'', September 12, 2002. Accessed December 31, 2007.
10. Barry, Dan. (2001-07-27). "Posing With Satmars, Green Steps Into a Sectarian Thicket". [[The New York Times]].