Bloomberg Wins 3rd NYC Term

NYC mayor shatters record for spending own cash on campaign

(NEWSER) - New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg spent a whopping $102 million—$174 per vote—to narrowly win a third term in office this month, according to figures released last night. The billionaire broke his own record for the most expensive self-financed campaign in American history, the New York Times reports. More»

Many bemoan tepid support of Thompson

(NEWSER) - No one thought Bill Thompson had a prayer against Michael Bloomberg—no one, that is, except voters. Bloomberg did indeed win yesterday, but it was a moral defeat for the mayor, who spent $90 million and won by just 5%. And it’s an even bigger embarrassment for Democrats, who are kicking themselves for writing Thompson off, reports Ben Smith. Obama, for example, offered an exceedingly tepid endorsement through a spokesman, who didn’t even mention Thompson’s name. More»

Polling guru gives a post-mortem on last night's elections

(NEWSER) - The numbers are in, now it's time to make sense of them. Nate Silver breaks down last night's election results:

• Don’t blame Obama; Creigh Deeds and Jon Corzine were probably just weak candidates. In New Jersey, 57% of voters approved of Obama, but 27% of those supporters voted Republican anyway. In Virginia 20% of those who approved of Obama voted GOP.
• Democrats had turnout problems in Virginia; the voters who came out last night supported McCain 51-43 in 2008, a mirror image of that year's margin.

(NEWSER) - Even supporters of the Rev. Billy Tallen don’t think he’s got much of a shot at beating Michael Bloomberg in this year’s election. But like any crusader, the “theater refugee” will tell you it’s not about winning, reports Good. “The reason we said yes to a quixotic campaign against a $100 million candidate was to introduce new ideas into a political system that’s become conservative,” says Tallen, who founded the Church of Life After Shopping in the wake of 9/11 to rail against America's over-consuming ways. More»

(NEWSER) - New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has already spent $18.7 million in his bid for a third term, outpacing his own 2005 campaign by 55%, the New York Daily News reports. The billionaire's three main competitors have spent a combined total of about $2.5 million, with controller William Thompson leading the way at $1.4 million. The election is 6 months away. More»