Burnt Orange Report

Another City Race...

By Andrew Dobbs

So we've talked a lot on this blog about Austin races, and perhaps a little about San Antonio (but not enough, I'll start putting up some posts soon), but there is a big municipal race this year that I am always interested in- the mayoral election in New York City.

The New York Times reports that Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer is well ahead of the pack for the Democratic nomination for mayor, with Manhattan President C. Virginia Fields coming in second and several others- including Council Speaker Gifford Miller- pulling up the rear.

Ferrer also leads mayor Michael Bloomberg by several points, 14 in one poll, 7 in another. He caught some flak recently for claiming that the shooting of Amidou Diallo wasn't a crime and might lose some ground in the Democratic field for that one. Still, with a Texan running his campaign, we know that anything is possible.

Ferrer came in second place in the 2001 Democratic primary and has served in city government for years. He's a progressive thinker, though his website is short on any kind of specifics in terms of policy. The last 12 years have been very good to New York- going from squalor and crime to vibrancy and safety. Rudy Giuliani has a lot to do with that, and Michael Bloomberg has more or less just stayed out of the way of smarter people doing the heavy lifting. Ferrer needs to take the things that they have done right and add to them by putting a progressive spin on things. If he can keep New York prosperous and safe, he'll be a good mayor.

I'll post soon on San Antonio and I'll keep the dispatches on NYC to a bare minimum. Still, I figured everyone would be interested in this one...