NYC Primaries: DiBlasio Leads Dem Mayoral Pack, Lhota Wins GOP Slot

Update, 8:45amEST: It may be a day or two until we know whether the winner of the Democratic mayoral primary, Bill DiBlasio, received over 40% of the vote, which would avoid a runoff with runner-up Bill Thompson.

Update, 9/10/13 11:27pmEST: NY Times calls Dem Comptroller race for Scott Stringer, who edged out former NY State Governor Eliot Spitzer.

Update, 11:17pmEST: Wire services call GOP Mayoral Primary for Joe Lhota.

Update, 10:30pmEST: It may be until the wee hours until media outlets declare winners in the three hottest primaries (Dem Mayor, GOP Mayor, Dem Comptroller). Long night awaits…

Update, 9:18pmEST: Blast mail from Bill DeBlasio campaign: “The polls closed about 10 minutes ago, and it may be a while before we know anything for sure.”

And here’s the NY Times exit poll for mayor. DiBlasio leads in almost all demographic categories.

Update, 9:09pmEST: NY Times’ @davidwchen tweets – Exit poll also shows @stringer2013 with small lead over @Spitzer2013, and PA race too close to call between Squadron and James

Update, 9:07pmEST: @carolynryan tweets – JUST IN: More exit polls just came in from afternoon: Trend holds: de Blasio still 43, Thompson 25, and Quinn 18. #nyc2013

Update, 9:06pmEST: DeBlasio Party Silent As President Speaks

Update, 9pmEST: Projections from the NY Daily News–

Bill de Blasio has a large lead over Bill Thompson and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, according to an exit poll by Edison Research.

The pollster, who did an exit poll for the Daily News and other outlets said, “It is possible, but not certain that de Blasio could hit the 40% threshold and avoid a runoff.”

Controller John Liu and former Rep. Anthony Weiner are “trailing in single digits.”

State Sen. Daniel Squadron and Brooklyn Councilwoman Letitia James are the top two candidates for Public Advocate.

It is too early to determine whether either will hit the 40% needed to avoid a runoff.

The race for City Controller between candidates Eliot Spitzer and Scott Stringer is too close to call.

via @joelmsiegel on Twitter — Exit Poll: (not final) de Blasio 43% Thomp 23% & Quinn 18%

Update, 8:45pmEST: Funny, but they were never a problem in the two-plus decades I used them…

Adding to the potential for election night delays are widespread reports of problems with the city’s 1960s-era lever-operated voting machines, rushed back into use after the Board of Elections warned they couldn’t certify results from the city’s new electronic machines in time for a runoff.

All over the city, voters reported encountering jammed or broken machines, causing longer lines at the working machines, and forcing many people to have to fill out paper ballots. The reliance on paper ballots has heightened concerns that every vote gets counted, which could lead to a long wait for results.

UPDATE, 8:30pmEST: Porn-star-wannabe Sydney Leathers has been sighted outside the venue where Anthony Weiner’s party will be taking place. Whether her presence in New York has anything to do with the smut production moratorium has not been determined.

Polls closed at 9PM in the wildest mayoral primary race in a very long time, livened up by a certain “Carlos Danger” sexting brouhaha.

The top Democratic candidates for mayor: Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, former Comptroller Bill Thompson, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Comptroller John Liu, and former Congressman Anthony Weiner.

The two leading Republican mayoral candidates are former MTA Chairman Joseph Lhota and billionaire businessman John Catsimatidis.

By: dave-dr-gonzo

David Hirsch, a.k.a. Dave "Doctor" Gonzo*, is a renegade record producer, video producer, writer, reformed corporate shill, and still-registered lobbyist for non-one-percenter performing artists and musicians. He lives in a heavily fortified compound in one of Manhattan's less trendy neighborhoods.

* Hirsch is the third person to use the pseudonym, a not-so-veiled tribute to journalist and author Hunter S. Thompson, with the permission of his predecessors Gene Gaudette of American Politics Journal (currently webmaster and chief bottlewasher at Liberaland) and Stephen Meese at Smashmouth Politics.