Nothing like having
a man beholden to ACORN and the hard-left Working Families Party in control of an $80 billion piggybank. Yet that's exactly who the people of New York City have as Comptroller. Also elected was Bill De Blasio as Public Advocate, who wen tout of his way to thank ACORN.
Wonderful. The lone silver lining? De Blasio beat the loathsome Mark Green, the ubiquitous candidate for whatever office is open.
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.
Suitably Flip points out Liu was one of the many recipients of Norman Hsu money, much of which has not been returned.
Of the Hsu-tainted cash Liu got his hands on, he appeared to return just 22% (the contributions made explicitly by Hsu himself), which would suggest there's still cash stolen from Liu's fellow New Yorkers rolling around in his campaign coffers available for November's general election.
Among his prospective duties as comptroller, Liu would be responsible for the management of an $85 billion portfolio of public assets. Let's hope his apparent nonchalance about campaign finance law, investor swindling, and money laundering sheds no light on his fiduciary diligence.
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