NYC Mayoral Exit Polls 2013: Bill de Blasio, Joe Lhota Square Off Amid Low Turnout
The long journey has finally reached its climax for NYC mayoral candidates Bill de Blasio and Joe Lhota.
On the day before Election Day in New York City, de Blasio and Lhota rushed to make their final campaign stops by nightfall. De Blasio had three pit stops and finally wrapped it up with a late afternoon event to complete his campaign. In a city that is eager for change -- most notably the racist stop-and-frisk system that has targeted minorities -- de Blasio pushed his message of change by saying that Lhota would just perpetuate the current issues in the city.
"Joe Lhota has offered no vision of change, and that's part of why I think the voters have been so cool to him," he said.
The mayoral race sounded fierce and competitive when the candidates talked on the campaign trail, but the numbers indicate otherwise with de Blasio's massive lead. This year's Democratic primary had all of the media attention and publicity of an actual election because it just may have been the deciding factor in this year's race. An overwhelmingly high amount of New Yorkers have grown tired of current mayor Michael Bloomberg's policies and would rather see a Democrat than risk having the same problems all over again. Considering that New Yorkers have not seen a new mayor in 12 years, it comes as no surprise that 65 percent of likely voters are favoring de Blasio, according to reports.
"Together we will make this a city for everyone again," de Blasio said at a senior center in the Bronx. "The way that Mayor Bloomberg did things is not the only way to do things, I assure you."
According to the NY Daily News, Lhota made stops in Harlem and other areas of the city to say his final words of the campaign. The Republican stressed that his balanced views are much more tolerable than de Blasio's.
"A lot of people come up to me and (say), 'I'm a Democrat, but I'm voting for you Joe,'" Lhota said. "It's generally because they think (de Blasio's) too far left in most of his opinions. They don't like it."
Subscribe to Latin Post!
Sign up for our free newsletter for the Latest coverage!