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some stats and an analysis of the struggle against the filthy rich in NYC in this past mayoral election

Dear friends,

Just wanted to share some personal reflections on the Nov 3 mayoral election....

Bloomberg thought he was going to win by a landlslide, but he squeaked by with the white and high-income vote. But the working people of Lower East Side and the Chinatowns throughout NYC were out on the streets tirelessly in the months and days leading up to this rigged election, up against $$$tens of millions worth of ads, robocalls, mailings and propaganda, speaking truth to power; and residents, small business owners, other workers heard. See results from press below!

Total: 1,100,649 votes (very low turnout, lowest in modern NYC history)
Bloomberg only won by 50,342 votes, lost BX and BK by wide margins.


Bloomberg’s votes mostly came from rich white voters:

According to NYT:

•Sunset Park voted to DUMP Bloomberg: 4645 for Thompson, 4497 for Bloomberg (we were out at the polls all day talking to folks in the neighborhood)

•Harlem, Jamaica (QNS), Washington Hts all voted to dump Bloomberg by a substantial margin
•2/3 of white voters voted for Bloomberg (mostly Jews, white Catholics)
•72% of Bloomberg voters make over $200,000/yr
•Black voters, making up 23% of the total, overwhelmingly voted against Bloomberg (73% of all black voters voted against him on Tues)


Bloomberg tried to buy the election:

•According to NY1 and Washington Post, Bloomberg spent $100 million on his campaign, ie: $200 per vote!
•CBS called it the most expensive self-financed campaign in US history
•Bloomberg is the city’s richest individual. Even his political advisor Joe Mercurio said he could not have won without spending his own money like he did. (Metro NY)
•Bloomberg spent 14 times more than Thompson (Washington Post), but only won by 4.6 points.
•Bloomberg bought the most expensive electioneers, and his Campaign Manager Bradley Tusk forced staff to work until 8pm every night over the summer, until they complained. He refused to listen to them. (NYT)

We had a big impact, but he's still in office. Just means more battles to come!
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