With less than six weeks remaining before the November 3 mayoral election, Democrat Bill Thompson is still trailing incumbent Mayor Michael Bloomberg by double digits in many polls, but Thompson remains upbeat.
“This is a race I can win,” Thompson, the current City Comptroller, told The Queens Courier on Thursday, September 24, as he took a break from greeting morning subway riders at the 74th Street/Roosevelt Avenue subway stop in Jackson Heights.
Thompson was joined by campaign staffers and volunteers including members of the Uniformed Firefighters Association (UFA), which recently endorsed Thompson, as they handed out campaign material and greeted voters during the rush-hour commute. From there, Thompson headed up three stops on the No. 7 line and talked to residents and small business owners near the Junction Boulevard subway stop.
Last week, Thompson handily won the Democratic primary, receiving 70 percent of the vote. His challengers Queens City Councilmember Tony Avella and Roland Rogers received 21 and 8 percent, respectively.
During his morning campaign stop, Thompson said he was going to continue to speak to voters across the city every day bringing the message that during the last eight years under Bloomberg water rates have skyrocketed, property taxes have increased and MTA fares have continued to climb – all creating additional problems for middle class New Yorkers.
A Marist College poll released on September 21 showed that 50 percent of registered voters are backing Bloomberg with 39 percent backing Thompson and 10 percent still undecided. Today, a Quinnipiac poll showed Bloomberg ahead by a 52 to 36 percent margin among city voters.
However, Thompson said the race was far from over.
“I think a lot of it is to continue what we are doing,” said Thompson, referring to getting more and more volunteers out on the streets and taking his message directly to New Yorkers.
Thompson vowed to continue talking about a different future for New York including addressing the needs for more affordable housing and creating more jobs that are desperately needed.
