2009 New York City comptroller election

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Candidate John Liu Joe Mendola Party Democratic Republican Alliance Working Families Popular vote 750,334 185,056 Percentage 76.9% 19.0%

Borough results State Assembly results Liu:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90% Mendola:     40–50%     50–60%

Comptroller before election Bill Thompson Democratic Elected Comptroller John C. Liu Democratic

The2009 election for New York City Comptroller was held on November 3, 2009, to coincide with the2009 mayoral election to determine who would serve asNew York City Comptroller. TheDemocratic andRepublican primaries were held on September 15, 2009.^[1] There was arun-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 theWorking Families Party line in November. Liu won the race and was elected Comptroller, becoming the firstAsian American to be elected to a citywide office.^[2]

Four candidates sought the Democratic Party nomination.^[1][3]

They were:

• Melinda Katz,City Council member and formerState Assemblywoman
• John Liu, City Council member
• David Weprin, City Council member and former Deputy Superintendent of the New York State Banking Commission
• David Yassky, City Council member

In March 2009, Liu announced that he was running for the post ofNew York City Comptroller.^[4] As part of this bid, Liu donated $10,000 to theWorking 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 localAmericans for Democratic Action chapter^[9] and theWorking Families Party,^[10] 1199 SEIU union local and the Uniformed Firefighters Association endorsed him.^[11] On September 1, theUnited 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] TheDaily News wrote that Yassky and Liuslung 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.

• Joe Mendola^[3]

First round,Tuesday, September 15, 2009^[17]

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 onTuesday, September 29, 2009.^[18]

John Liu won the general election held onTuesday, November 3, 2009.

Source: Board of Elections in the City of New York[1]Archived January 6, 2010, at theWayback Machine

• New York City Comptroller
• Government of New York City
• New York City mayoral election, 2009
• New York City Public Advocate election, 2009

• 2009 in New York City
• 2009 New York (state) elections
• 2009 United States local elections
• November 2009 in the United States
• New York City Comptroller elections

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