: NO CONTEST: Queens Voter Turnout Low On Election Day That Lacked Challenges For Incumbents

There were few surprises in Tuesday’s elections: Mayor Mike Bloomberg handily beat Freddy Ferrer, and incumbents ruled the day in the rest of the races. The lack of intrigue may have been responsible for lulling residents into ignoring the polls on Election Day.

In the largest landside for a New York City Republican mayor, Bloomberg captured nearly 20 percent more votes than Ferrer, according to unofficial results. For months, polls had predicted a lopsided win for the popular incumbent, and the final results actually represented a drop from some surveys that had the challenger down by as much as 38 percent heading into election day.

Queens voters sent every incumbent in the election back into office by substantial margins, a pattern seen around the city. They also returned former Councilman Thomas White Jr. to the Jamaica seat he had to give up due to term limits. He beat incumbent Allan Jennings in the September Democratic primary.

While no official statistics are available for total voter turnout in Queens, records indicate that the fewest number of people visited the polls since the mid-80s, when Ed Koch and most of the City Council had locked up their positions. This year the Queens Borough President Race had tens of thousands fewer voters than in 2001, for example.

In interviews, several election coordinators reported fairly good turnouts in some areas, whereas others said it was lackluster. “It’s been pretty good, but I thought we would have more,” said Harriett Rappaport, who worked at PS 185.

A poll worker at IS 73 in Maspeth, where turnout was high, said he didn’t think voters were coming out to vote for either the mayor or the unopposed Councilman, but rather they had the ballot questions on their mind.

In Full Bloom(berg)
With a strong track record in his first term and an unlimited war chest, Bloomberg’s re-election seemed all but assured – the election itself appeared to function more as a coronation than a contest. Even as a Republican in a predominantly Democratic city, the billionaire businessman managed to secure endorsements from both sides of the aisle and win over a broad coalition of New Yorkers.
“I think he’s done a pretty good job as mayor, and I don’t see any reason for that to change,” said Jean Savramsky, an Astoria resident, outside a polling station.

In the last days leading up to the election, the mayor even feared that a low voter turnout could hurt his chances as people assumed the election was a forgone conclusion. Bloomberg’s ads and speeches in his final push seemed as much geared toward getting people to the polls as asking them to pull the lever for his candidacy.

“There is this election tomorrow and you can’t take it for granted,” Bloomberg said at a campaign stop in Jamaica Monday. “The vote you make tomorrow determines if our children and grandchildren will have a good education, a better future, jobs and housing.”

Ferrer’s campaign, which focused on appealing to minorities and less fortunate New Yorkers, appeared unable to develop a foothold in either the media or in a public that could help support his underdog role. The former Bronx Borough President was also plagued with several campaign missteps that caused voters to view him warily.

“The reason I voted for Bloomberg is, if Ferrer wins, then Al Sharpton will be mayor, and I don’t want Al Sharpton to be mayor,” said James Arena, another Astoria resident, referring to the controversial figure’s relationship to the challenger.

Ferrer needed an impressive turnout to capitalize on his appeal with black and Hispanic residents, now an important voting block, but the crowds didn’t appear.

In his concession speech, Ferrer affirmed that he was proud of his performance and happy he had given a voice to lower and middle class city residents.

“We will be the city we deserve to be when hope and opportunity are the birthright of every New Yorker – every New Yorker,” Ferrer said.

All The Queens Councilmen (And Women)
The Queens races once again proved the power of incumbency.

Every incumbent in Queens will return to the their seat except for Allan Jennings of Jamaica, who lost to eventual winner Tom White in the Democratic primary. The average margin of victory in contested council races was about 60 percent.

The closest race came in the 19th Council District, where Democrat Tony Avella (D-Bayside) beat out Republican Peter Boudouvas by only 25 percent. Avella, the first Democrat to represent the district since it was created, said the relatively large conservative base in the region guarantees that Council races will likely be more competitive than others.

“Republicans have a high level of registration, and even though Democrats still have more registrations, even they tend to vote Conservative,” Avella said shortly after casting his own vote in Whitestone. “I just do what I have to do: get out there and do the best thing I can for the community.”

At his post-election party on Steinway Street, Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Astoria) celebrated the largest victory in the borough with a group of family and campaign volunteers. He increased his lead over Green Party candidate Jerry Kann, who he ran against in 2003, by an additional 10 percentage points.

Vallone ruffled some feathers among members of his own party when he endorsed Bloomberg early in the mayoral race. Near PS 84 in Astoria on Election Day, one woman berated a Vallone campaign worker over the endorsement, arguing the councilman had struck a blow against party unity.

“I knew that would upset some people, but my job is to do what I believe to be in the best interests of my district and the city,” Vallone said. “Mayor Bloomberg and (Police Commissioner) Ray Kelly have made this the safest city in America, and as Public Safety chair I wanted to continue to work with them to make the city even safer.”

A Few Modest Proposals
According to early election results, New Yorkers are in favor of letting the state government borrow money, but they still want the governor to have a say in how it gets spent. In many instances, voters were more enthusiastic about voting on these issues than the flesh and blood candidates.

With 10 percent of precincts still left to report statewide, it appears that ballot Proposition 1, which gave more power to legislators to determine the state budget, would fail. Proposition 2, allowing the city to issue $2.9 billion in bonds for a series of transportation construction projects, likely will pass.

Many voters worried that Proposition 1 would give legislators more leeway to deliver pork barrel promises to special interest groups. Others thought it simply muddied an already dirty process.

“Now that New Yorkers have spoken, I look forward to working together with the Senate and Assembly on an on-time, fiscally responsible State budget for 2006, and to enacting measures that will truly open up and improve New York’s budget process,” said Gov. George Pataki, who opposed the measure.

A bond act similar to Proposition 2 failed in 2001, mostly as a result of upstate skepticism that city dwellers were receiving a disproportionate share of the funds. City and State officials launched an ambitious advertising campaign this time around to convince voters otherwise.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority will receive $1 billion of the funds for projects including a Second Avenue subway and a new train line that will connect Grand Central Station to western Queens.

“New York City voters, by necessity, have taken a great leap of faith in approving these borrowed funds for the MTA,” said Councilman John Liu (D-Flushing), chairman of the Council Transportation Committee. “Now it is incumbent upon the MTA to deliver as promised.”