New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, who aggressively courted LGBT voters in his reelection bid, won a third term on Tuesday, but the contest was hardly the blowout predicted in light of nearly $100 million spent by his campaign.
The narrow margin of victory over Democratic candidate William C. Thompson Jr. shocked the city’s political establishment, according to The New York Times.
“Unofficial returns showed Mr. Bloomberg with 51 percent and Mr. Thompson with 46 percent,” reported the Times. “The result will make Mr. Bloomberg only the fourth three-term mayor in the last century.”
The outcome immediately suggested that more voters than expected were turned off by Bloomberg’s push to overturn a voter-approved term limits law so that he could run again.
“Published polls in the days leading up to the election suggested that the mayor would win by as many as 18 percentage points; four years ago, he cruised to re-election with a 20 percent margin,” the Times reported.
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