2013 New York City mayoral election

The 2013 New York City mayoral election occurred on November 5, 2013, along with elections for Comptroller, Public Advocate, Borough President, and members of the New York City Council. The incumbent mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg, a Republican-turned-Independent, was term-limited and thus unable to seek re-election to a fourth term in office.

Primary elections were held on September 10, 2013. The Republican nominee was former Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman Joe Lhota. New York City Public Advocate Bill de Blasio was the Democratic nominee. De Blasio was elected mayor with 73.15% of the vote, becoming the first Democrat to win a mayoral election in the city since 1989. This election ended the Republicans five-election winning streak. This election had the lowest turnout in a New York mayoral election since the participation of women in 1917, with a turnout of 13.4% of registered voters.

Background
Republican and Republican-endorsed candidates had won five successive mayoral elections in New York City. Republican Rudy Giuliani was elected in 1993 and re-elected in 1997. Republican Michael Bloomberg was then elected in 2001 and re-elected in 2005. He left the Republican Party in 2007, and successfully persuaded the city council to extend the city's term limits law so that he could run for a third term. He was re-elected as an Independent on the Republican and Independence/Jobs & Education ballot lines in 2009. The term limits law was subsequently changed by a referendum in 2010, reverting the limit to two terms.

Democratic primary
As the campaign started, early polling showed city council speaker Christine Quinn as the frontrunner. However, she was hampered by running what was widely viewed as a poor campaign, and by her connections to incumbent mayor Bloomberg. As Quinn declined in the polls, former U.S. Representative Anthony Weiner became the new frontrunner, helped by his popularity with women voters. However, Weiner's campaign collapsed after it was revealed that he had continued to engage in sexting after he had resigned from Congress due to a previous sexting scandal. After this development, New York City Public Advocate Bill de Blasio surged in the polls, helped by several ads featuring de Blasio's interracial family, especially his son Dante, and by a campaign focusing on inequality, with de Blasio frequently referencing the novel A Tale of Two Cities. A week prior to the election, de Blasio was considered the frontrunner, and his campaign was given a boost when Mayor Bloomberg described it as "racist," outraging Democratic voters and causing them to rally around de Blasio's campaign.

Declared

 * Sal Albanese, former New York City Councilman
 * Ceceilia Berkowitz, social media journalist
 * Randy Credico, comedian and former director of the William Moses Kunstler Fund for Racial Justice
 * Bill de Blasio, New York City Public Advocate
 * John Liu, New York City Comptroller
 * Christine Quinn, speaker of the New York City Council
 * Erick Salgado, Pastor of the Church of Iglesia Jovenes Cristianos
 * Bill Thompson, former New York City Comptroller and nominee for Mayor in 2009
 * Anthony Weiner, former U.S. Representative for NY's 9th congressional district

Withdrew

 * Tom Allon, CEO of Manhattan Media and former New York City public school teacher (initially declared as a Democrat; then withdrew and declared as a Republican; also received the nomination of the Liberal Party, before dropping out entirely)

Declined

 * Alec Baldwin, actor
 * William J. Bratton, former Commissioner of the New York City Police Department
 * Hillary Clinton, former United States Secretary of State and former U.S. Senator
 * Rubén Díaz Jr., Bronx Borough President
 * Gregory Floyd, president of the New York City Teamsters union
 * Leo Hindery, businessman
 * Eva Moskowitz, CEO of the Success Academy Charter Schools and former New York City Councilwoman
 * Ed Rendell, former Governor of Pennsylvania
 * Scott Stringer, borough president of Manhattan (ran for Comptroller)
 * Merryl Tisch, chancellor of the New York State Board of Regents
 * Christopher O. Ward, former director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
 * Mortimer Zuckerman, businessman

Declared

 * John Catsimatidis, businessman, owner of companies including the Red Apple Group, the Gristedes supermarket chain and the United Refining Company (received the Liberal Party nomination; then withdrew after losing the Republican primary)
 * Joe Lhota, former chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (also received the Conservative Party nomination)
 * George T. McDonald, founder of The Doe Fund

Withdrew

 * Tom Allon, CEO of Manhattan Media and former New York City public school teacher (initially declared as a Democrat; then withdrew and declared as a Republican; also received the nomination of the Liberal Party, before dropping out entirely)
 * Adolfo Carrión Jr., former director of the White House Office of Urban Affairs and former Borough President of The Bronx (a Democrat-turned-Independent, Carrión tried unsuccessfully to receive a Wilson Pakula in order to run as a Republican; received the nomination of the Independence Party)
 * Malcolm Smith, state senator, former lieutenant governor of New York and former Majority Leader of the New York State Senate (a Democrat, Smith would have had to change his party affiliation or receive a Wilson Pakula in order to run as a Republican. He and several others were arrested for trying to bribe Republican leaders to give him a Wilson Pakula)

Declined

 * A. R. Bernard, pastor
 * Dan Donovan, Staten Island District Attorney
 * Rudy Giuliani, former mayor of New York City
 * Kelsey Grammer, actor
 * Richard Grasso, former chairman of the New York Stock Exchange
 * Raymond Kelly, Commissioner of the New York City Police Department
 * Richard Parsons, chairman of Citigroup
 * Edward Skyler, executive at Citigroup and former deputy mayor for operations
 * Diana Taylor, former New York State Banking Department superintendent and partner of Mayor Bloomberg

Bribery scandal
On April 2, 2013, federal law enforcement officers arrested numerous New York City-area politicians. These included Democratic state senator Malcolm Smith and Republican city councilman Dan Halloran, who were charged with trying to bribe various Republican political leaders so as to get Smith onto the ballot as a Republican. The Mayor of Spring Valley and local Republican party leaders were also arrested.

Major third parties
Besides the Democratic and Republican parties, the Conservative, Green, Independence and Working Families parties are qualified New York parties. These parties have automatic ballot access.

Nominee

 * Joe Lhota, former chairman of the MTA

Unsuccessful

 * George McDonald, founder of The Doe Fund
 * Erick Salgado, Pastor of the Church of Iglesia Jovenes Cristianos

Nominee

 * Anthony Gronowicz, activist, professor and nominee for Mayor in 2005

Nominee

 * Adolfo Carrión Jr., former director of the White House Office of Urban Affairs and former Borough President of The Bronx

Nominee

 * Bill de Blasio, New York City Public Advocate

Unsuccessful

 * John Liu, New York City Comptroller
 * Christine Quinn, Speaker of the New York City Council

Minor third parties
Any candidate not among the six qualified New York parties must petition their way onto the ballot; they do not face primary elections.

Nominee

 * Joseph Melaragno

Nominee

 * Jack Hidary

Nominee

 * Michael K. Greys

Nominee

 * Michael J. Dilger

Nominee

 * Jack Hidary

Liberal
After the party twice endorsed a candidate for mayor, only to see them withdraw from the race, the party declined to endorse a third candidate, although they did consider endorsing Jack Hidary.

Unsuccessful

 * Jack Hidary

Withdrew

 * Tom Allon, CEO of Manhattan Media and former New York City public school teacher (had initially declared as a Democrat; then withdrew and declared as a Republican, also receiving the nomination of the Liberal Party, before dropping out entirely)
 * John Catsimatidis, businessman, owner of companies including the Red Apple Group, the Gristedes supermarket chain and the United Refining Company (received the nomination after Allon withdrew, dropped out entirely after he lost the Republican primary to Joe Lhota)
 * Adolfo Carrión Jr., former director of the White House Office of Urban Affairs and former Borough President of The Bronx
 * Joe Lhota, former chairman of the MTA

Libertarian
Joe Lhota was originally nominated as the Libertarian candidate during the Party Convention held on April 6, 2013, a nomination he declined. It was soon after ruled by the Libertarian Executive Committee that this nomination was invalid and void due to the attending voters of this first Convention not being properly credentialed. A second nominating convention was held on June 11, 2013, which nominated Michael Sanchez.

Nominee

 * Michael Sanchez, activist

Unsuccessful

 * Randy Credico, comedian and former director of the William Moses Kunstler Fund for Racial Justice

Withdrew

 * Kristin M. Davis, former madam and Anti-Prohibition Party nominee for Governor of New York in 2010 (running for Comptroller)
 * Joe Lhota, former chairman of the MTA

Nominee

 * Carl Person, attorney and Libertarian nominee for New York Attorney General in 2010

Nominee

 * Jimmy McMillan, party founder and perennial candidate

Nominee

 * Erick Salgado

Nominee

 * Dan Fein, nominee for governor in 2010, Mayor in 2009 and for Comptroller in 2005

Nominee

 * Joe Lhota

Nominee

 * Randy Credico

Nominee

 * Joe Lhota

Nominee

 * Sam Sloan, chess player, publisher and Libertarian candidate for governor in 2010

Unsuccessful

 * Michael Post, sewage treatment worker

Declined

 * Tony Danza, actor
 * Raymond Kelly, Commissioner of the New York City Police Department

Polling

 * With Kelly


 * With Lhota


 * Three-way race


 * Four-way race


 * Open primary