John Liu easily won last night’s runoff election for city comptroller and Bill de Blasio routed rival Mark Green in the public advocate contest — victories that handed a major boost to the Working Families Party in its first foray into citywide races.
Both races produced clear winners within 30 minutes of the polls closing at 9 p.m. A mere 228,000 ballots were cast, a record low.
Liu, who will oversee the city’s $80 billion pension system, cruised into history as the first Asian-American to win a citywide election, beating Brooklyn Councilman David Yassky, by 56 percent to 44 percent, with 100 percent of precincts reporting.
De Blasio trounced perennial candidate Green, who was trying to reclaim his old job, 63 percent to 37 percent.
“I will be your voice, and whenever your government is not there for you, I will stand up for you,” said de Blasio, who thanked members of the WFP and ACORN.
“Thank you so much for this incredible ride . . . We won this election in the streets,” said Liu, who held his runoff party at teachers union headquarters and credited the WFP in his victory speech.
The victories give organized labor major toeholds in two of the three citywide offices.
And with both Liu and de Blasio now instant front-line City Hall hopefuls in 2013, Mayor Bloomberg will face two aggressive rivals taking swings at him through a likely third term.
Both Liu and de Blasio face nominal GOP challengers in the general election. Alex Zablocki is running for public advocate and Joseph Mendola for comptroller on the Republican line, but even Bloomberg declared they “have no chance whatsoever” in November, thanks to the city’s 6 to 1 Democratic voting edge.
While the WFP Party had faced questions about its campaign activities, its organizational strength was magnified by the remarkably low-turnout.
“More than anything else, this is the new generation, the complete shift,” said political strategist Hank Sheinkopf.
“The Democratic Party can’t elect the mayor and now can’t elect a comptroller or public advocate. It was the power of the paid operation of the WFP.”