Bill de Blasio will be the first Democrat mayor of New York City in 20 years after a landslide victory last night over Republican rival Joe Lhota.
De Blasio won with 74 percent of the vote to Lhota’s 24 percent, with 97 percent of precincts reporting. According to the New York Daily News, it’s the largest margin of victory for a non-incumbent in the city’s history. He and his supporters gathered at the Park Slope Armory YMCA in Brooklyn for a victory party, where he discussed his liberal agenda after two decades of Republicans.
“Today you spoke loudly and clearly for a new direction for our city,” de Blasio said. “We are united in the belief that our city should leave no New Yorker behind. The people of this city have chosen a progressive path, and tonight we set forth on it together as one city.”
As the Associated Press notes, de Blasio courted voters as the biggest way to break from Michael Bloomberg’s 12-year run as mayor. He will be inaugurated on Jan. 1 and wil lbe New york’s 109th mayor.
“Progressive changes won't happen overnight, but they will happen,” de Blasio told supporters. “There will be many obstacles that stand in our way, but we will overcome them.”
Tuesday was a big election day for other areas of the county. Chris Christie was reelected Governor of New Jersey, while Martin J. Walsh was elected mayor of Boston.
As CNN notes, in a key Republican runoff in Alabama, established candidate Bradley Byrne beat Tea Party favorite Dean Young for the GOP nomination for the state’s 1st district congressional seat. The race was seen as a preview of interparty battles that could come to a head in 2014.
image: Wikimedia Commons
