By Nathan Duke
City Comptroller William Thompson defeated City Councilman Tony Avella (D-Bayside) in the Democratic mayoral primary and will now go on to face Mayor Michael Bloomberg in the Nov. 3 election.
Thompson received 70 percent of the vote, while Avella took 21 percent and nonprofit manager Roland Rogers had 8 percent, according to unofficial numbers from the city’s Board of Elections.
At a news conference Tuesday night, Thompson led supporters with chants of “eight years is enough” and vowed to run the city differently than Bloomberg, who is running as an independent but also on the Republican line.
“It’s time for a change,” Thompson said. “Eight years is enough. Isn’t it time we had a mayor who looks out for all of us? This is a great victory, but we are just getting started.”
Avella, who was first elected to the Council in 2001, said Tuesday that he was hoping Thompson would defeat Bloomberg and that he would “have a discussion” with the comptroller in the near future. But he fell short of throwing his endorsement behind him.
“I told Thompson he has to go out there and beat this guy,” said Avella, who was opposed to extending term limits and ran in the mayoral race rather than seek a third Council term. “We ran our campaign based on talking about the issues. We sent a message to the body politic and to the mayor that he’s got to go. We really stand for something. We want change and won’t stand for politics as usual.”
During an hour-long interview at CNG’s Metrotech headquarters in Brooklyn last month, Thompson emphasized a number of Queens issues in his campaign, such as the Willets Point redevelopment project, mayoral control of schools and campaign funding.
The comptroller had also faulted Bloomberg for the closing of three Queens hospitals: St. John’s, Mary Immaculate and Parkway.
Avella, who ran a grassroots mayoral campaign, called for campaign finance reform during his bid and emphasized economic initiatives, an increase in affordable housing throughout the city and transportation issues. He said overdevelopment and improvements to city education were the two most important issues in his campaign.
Reach reporter Nathan Duke by e-mail at nduke@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 156.
