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The 2009 election for New York City Comptroller was held on November 3, 2009, to coincide with the 2009 mayoral election to determine who would serve as New York City Comptroller. The Democratic and Republican primaries were held on September 15, 2009.[1] There was a run-off election for the Democratic Party nomination on September 29, 2009.
Joe Mendola was nominated as the Republican candidate. John Liu was nominated as the candidate of the Democratic Party; he was also on the Working Families Party line in November. Liu won the race and was elected Comptroller, becoming the first Asian American to be elected to a citywide office.[2]
Four candidates sought the Democratic Party nomination.[1][3]
They were:
In March 2009, Liu announced that he was running for the post of New York City Comptroller.[4] As part of this bid, Liu donated $10,000 to the Working Families Party; they endorsed him less than 6 months later.[5] Liu raised $3 million for his political run, more than his competitors.[6]
Beginning in May, Liu picked up several endorsements. The Village Independent Democrats,[7] The Queens County Democratic organization,[8] the local Americans for Democratic Action chapter[9] and the Working Families Party,[10] 1199 SEIU union local and the Uniformed Firefighters Association endorsed him.[11] On September 1, the United Federation of Teachers endorsed Liu.[citation needed]
In the September 15 Democratic primary, Liu was the front-runner, ending up with 133,986 votes, or 38 percent of the vote.[12]
Because he did not manage to reach 40 percent of the vote, a run-off election was required between Liu and runner-up Yassky, who received 30 percent of the vote in the primary.[12] The Daily News wrote that Yassky and Liu slung mud in a spirited debate on September 24, 2009.[13] On September 29, Liu won the run-off by taking 55.6% of the vote against Yassky.[14][15]
One candidate sought the Republican Party nomination.
| Source | Sample size | Date | Katz | Liu | Weprin | Yassky | Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SurveyUSA | 2,200 | August 14–18, 2009 | 22% | 23% | 12% | 15% | 28% |
First round, Tuesday, September 15, 2009[16]
| 2009 Democratic Primary | Manhattan | The Bronx | Brooklyn | Queens | Staten Island |
Total | % |
| John C. Liu | 36,625 | 18,888 | 42,727 | 37,658 | 4,458 | 140,356 | 37.8% |
| 32.9% | 42.5% | 36.8% | 43.2% | 37.0% | |||
| David Yassky | 44,272 | 9,882 | 40,775 | 16,671 | 3,162 | 114,762 | 30.9% |
| 39.8% | 22.2% | 35.1% | 19.1% | 26.3% | |||
| Melinda Katz | 21,143 | 11,400 | 20,115 | 20,211 | 3,342 | 76,211 | 20.5% |
| 19.0% | 25.6% | 17.3% | 23.2% | 27.8% | |||
| David I. Weprin | 9,223 | 4,285 | 12,366 | 12,630 | 1,077 | 39,581 | 10.7% |
| 8.3% | 9.6% | 10.7% | 14.5% | 8.9% | |||
| all Write-Ins | 14 | 5 | 75 | 10 | 4 | 108 | 0.03% |
| T O T A L | 111,277 | 44,460 | 116,058 | 87,180 | 12,043 | 371,018 |
Most (about 65) of the 108 write-in votes were for Salim Ejaz, over 40 of which were cast in Brooklyn.
As no candidate had received 40% of the Democratic vote for this office in the September 15 primary, a run-off election between the two most-popular candidates was held on Tuesday, September 29, 2009.[17]
| 2009 Democratic Run-off Primary | Manhattan | The Bronx | Brooklyn | Queens | Staten Island |
Total | % |
| John C. Liu | 36,906 | 18,019 | 43,120 | 33,237 | 3,818 | 135,100 | 56.0% |
| 47.6% | 65.2% | 57.1% | 62.0% | 55.6% | |||
| David Yassky | 40,644 | 9,633 | 32,391 | 20,391 | 3,047 | 106,106 | 44.0% |
| 52.4% | 34.8% | 42.9% | 38.0% | 44.4% | |||
| T O T A L | 77,550 | 27,652 | 75,511 | 53,628 | 6,865 | 241,206 |
John Liu won the general election held on Tuesday, November 3, 2009.
| 2009 general election | party | Manhattan | The Bronx | Brooklyn | Queens | Staten Island | Total | % |
| John C. Liu | Democratic | 191,748 | 95,795 | 203,499 | 180,249 | 33,242 | 704,533 | 72.2% |
| Working Families Party | 12,635 | 3,404 | 18,641 | 8,811 | 2,310 | 45,801 | 4.7% | |
| Total | 204,383 | 99,199 | 222,140 | 189,060 | 35,552 | 750,334 | 76.9% | |
| 81.0% | 83.7% | 80.0% | 73.5% | 50.5% | ||||
| Joseph A. Mendola | Republican | 39,103 | 15,166 | 43,718 | 57,266 | 29,803 | 185,056 | 19.0% |
| 15.5% | 12.8% | 15.7% | 22.3% | 42.3% | ||||
| Stuart Avrick | Conservative | 3,325 | 2,119 | 6,439 | 6,818 | 3,930 | 22,631 | 2.3% |
| 1.3% | 1.8% | 2.3% | 2.7% | 5.6% | ||||
| Salim Ejaz | Rent Is Too High | 3,614 | 1,569 | 3,422 | 2,607 | 691 | 11,903 | 1.2% |
| John Clifton | Libertarian | 2,022 | 525 | 1,946 | 1,488 | 389 | 6,370 | 0.7% |
| Total Write-ins | 15 | 7 | 20 | 14 | 10 | 66 | 0.01% | |
| Total Votes | 252,462 | 118,585 | 277,685 | 257,253 | 70,375 | 976,360 | ||
Source: Board of Elections in the City of New York [1] Archived January 6, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
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