New York City Comptroller Bill Thompson faces an uphill battle in his race against two-term mayor Michael Bloomberg.

By: Sarah Greenberg

New York City is in the thick of one of the most interesting mayoral elections in recent history. The present mayor, Michael R. Bloomberg, was expected to complete his second term on December 31, 2009. However, careful manipulation of New York City election law has allowed Bloomberg and other eligible city officials to run for unprecedented third terms. Come Election Day, Democrat William C. Thompson, Jr., New York City Comptroller, will challenge the mayor in what many New Yorkers fear will be one of the most pathetic races in recent memory. Name recognition, unending funds, and a seemingly perfect political track record all favor Bloomberg, while Thompson relies solely on the fact that he is a Democrat running for office in one of the largest concentrations of liberals in the country.

In 2001, Bloomberg, then a Republican (now an Independent), was elected with the idea that a post-9/11 New York would need a business-minded leader to rebuild commerce and improve public education, social welfare, and the situation of New Yorkers living in poverty. Eight years later, perceptions of the mayor’s success depends on social class. Fed Up New York, a newspaper run by local Working Families Party leaders, holds that the mayor’s policies have seriously undercut the lower classes. Only parents of public school students in the middle class are affected by the new school reform and funding, which is a questionable improvement at best. Otherwise, the direct influence of the mayor is rather unnoticed by the upper and middle classes. If Bloomberg remains in office, there is great fear that the lower class will struggle even more under the heel of “King Mike.”

Instead of running for a third term as comptroller, the easier choice, Thompson decided to face the mayor in his quest for another four years in office. Thompson has a long record of service in the city, duly noted by other officials. He has received local endorsements from expected public advocate-elect Bill de Blasio and comptroller-elect John Liu, but recently President Obama spoke out in favor of Thompson for mayor. Despite support from powerful figures, Bloomberg leads Thompson in the polls 52.7% to 40.5% according to Pollster.com.

With the endorsement of such a beloved president, it would be expected that Thompson would be a shoo-in for mayor in the 2009 election. This is not the case, for it seems that money will outweigh political positions or importance. By refusing public funds, Bloomberg is free to spend millions of his private funds to “buy” the election. According to the most recent tally of America’s 400 richest people by Forbes magazine, Bloomberg is ranked at number eight overall. Though impressive, it means that Bloomberg can spend endless amounts of money on literature, publicity, and advertisements. Worth noting are the anti-Thompson commercials, claiming the Democratic challenger is only “Politics as usual.” Ironic, considering Bloomberg is running on a strict no-change policy, as he expects to win his third term.

Despite the varying success people attribute to Bloomberg, many object to his second re-election on principle. He’s been successful at manipulating the law once, and a significant number of New Yorkers fear nothing will be able to stop him once safe in a third term. The Lo-Down, a popular Lower Manhattan blog, suggests that when de Blasio and Liu take office, they will openly challenge Bloomberg as outspoken opponents. Bloomberg may also be deceived in thinking he has a mandate from the electorate to continue with his current policies, while complaints from community leaders indicate that he is more detrimental than beneficial to the people he claims to help. Thompson may not be hopeless, but with few days remaining before Election Day, his team has to make the candidate even more visible than Bloomberg and widen their get-out-the-vote scheme. The Thompson campaign has struggled with playing hardball in the past, and it's now left to New Yorkers, who can only hope that their fellow neighbors will help to vote out a stagnant mayor and elect a voice for change in New York City.