Bill deBlasio says that he will continue the fight to ban Sugary Sodas

  As for the failed ban on selling sugary sodas over 16 ounces by Mayor Bloomberg that was struck down in a lawsuit, Mayoral candidate Bill deBlasio has said that he will continue the fight in the courts to have that decision overturned.

  "I think the mayor is right and I would continue the legal process" deBlasio said in an interview. He added "the ban would help combat childhood obesity in particular". As a parent he called the fight against childhood obesity a losing battle against an enemy that is the growing with the availability of bigger and bigger sugary drinks. On the issues of health deBlasio often agrees with current Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his effort to make people eat healthier.

  Deblasio's opponent Joe Lhota is opposed to continuing the fight against sugary sodas, and the big question is how can Lhota capitalize on the issue to get votes away from deBlasio.

Mayoral Debate Tonight 7 PM

   Tonight will be the first of three scheduled Mayoral Debates between Democrat Bill deBlasio and Republican Joe Lhota. Tonight's debate is being presented by WABC TV, Univision 41, NY Daily News, and NYC League of Women Voters at 7 PM. Tonight will only be between Bill deBlasio and Joe Lhota with no other candidate for mayor on stage with them. Independence Party candidate Adolfo Carrion is crying foul, but tonight's debate is not an official New York City Campaign Finance Board debate. Carrion is polling at 2 percent in the latest polls, and rolled over just over $1 million from an existing account into this mayoral run. He has reported net contributions for the cycle of about $164,000. He's spent about $1.1 million and had $96,046 left as of Sept. 30, according to CFB fillings.   

    There will be two more official Campaign Finance Board debates between the candidates for mayor and it is unclear if Independence Party candidate Adolfo Carrion will be a part of those debates. In the governors race with seven candidates on stage there was no real reaction between the two top candidates, and it is hoped that it does not happen in the mayoral debates with candidates like Carrion who have no chance of winning. Carrion has called tonight's debate B.S. In an attempted show of strength an online petition was started by Carrion's supporters to have him be a part of the debate, but it was reported that only 500 people had committed to the petition. 

   The two CFB mayoral debates are Tuesday October 22nd on Channel 2, and Tuesday October 29th on channel 4. Tonight's debate is being carried on channel 7.

Bill deBlasio now leads by 50 points over Joe Lhota

   Normally the early polls will show candidates who wind up winning not the front runner. Such was the case for Democratic candidate Bill deBlasio who was running second or third in the early polls. As the campaign wore on second place poll choice Anthony Weiner dropped down and Bill deBlasio became the number two choice for Democrats. As primary day came closer there seemed to be a backlash against current Mayor Michael Bloomberg that at the time front runner Christine Quinn could not separate herself from, and Quinn wound up coming in third to deBlasio when the votes were counted. Bill Thompson ran a good race, but while at times he was almost even in the polls with deBlasio he could not pass deBlasio winding up second in a decisive election that did not need a run off to determine a winner.

  Coming back to the November Mayors race, with the results of the first poll showing Joe Lhota trailing by 40%, the second poll now shows that Lhota is trailing by 50%. In breaking down the areas of voters the closest Lhota comes to deBlasio is with white voters where deBlasio leads by only 15%. The only area where Lhota leads is with Republican voters who are outnumbered now almost 8 to 1 by Democrats. Better than 75% of those polled said that they would not switch candidates either. One interesting breakdown is that under both deBlasio and Lhota those polled thought that taxes would rise the same under either candidate. 

  So why is Lhota so far behind? Lhota's comments are what gets him in trouble. Such as the kittens that were stranded on train tracks tying up service for hours in Queens, Lhota's comment was that he would have had the trains running "Cats or no Cats". Lhota is not liked on Republican strong hold Staten Island since he raised the fare on the Verrazano Narrows Bridge. Lhota also raised the subway fare and some say due to his mismanagement as head of the MTA. Lhota is also seen as a bully in this election with his rants of deBlasio's past, and lack of past leadership. DeBlasio on the other hand is coming off as the darling of the people trying to help improve what Mayor Bloomberg would or did not do. 

  Can Joe Lhota make up 50% in the upcoming four weeks, I don't think so. Look for this to be a Democratic landslide for mayor. Forget about Adolpho Carrion stealing votes from deBlasio as the margin will be twenty times or more than any votes Carrion will get.

 

First Mayoral Poll Has Bill deBlasio with a Big Lead

In the photo is 87th A.D. Assemblyman Luis Sepulveda  put everything on the line to endorse Bill deBlasio for Mayor while the Bronx Democratic County organization backed Bill Thompson for Mayor in the primary.

  In the first poll of the post primary election Democrat Bill deBlasio leads Republican Joe Lhota by 42 points. the numbers are 65% for deBlasio, 22% for Lhota, 3% for Independence Party candidate Adolfo Carrion, and between 9 and 10 % undecided. This was a Wall Street Journal-NBC 4 New York-Marist poll that was released Tuesday. 

  Among voting segments: 

  deBlasio leads among Black voters 86% to Lhota at 3% with 11% undecided. 

  deBlasio leads among Latino voters 74% to Lhota at 11% with 15% undecided.

  deBlasio leads among White voters 50% to Lhota at 37% with 13% undecided. 

  Both men and women have deblasio ahead big with 68% of women and 61% of men for deblasio to 18% of women and 26% of men favoring Lhota. The only sub group that Lhota leads is White Catholics where Lhota has a slim lead of 45% to 40% for deblasio. 

 It looks like New York City will have its first Democratic Mayor in 20 years. 8 years of Rudy Giuliani and then 12 years of Michael Bloomberg, both Republican candidates. The big question is how large will the margin of victory be for Bill deBlasio, but then again this is only the first poll and deBlasio trailed in the first Democratic primary poll.

 

Thompson Concedes Mayors race to deBlasio

  Mayoral candidate Bill Thompson pictured above with Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., when Diaz Jr. endorsed Thompson for Mayor has conceded the mayor's race to current Public Advocate Bill deBlasio. With deBlasio hovering just over the 40% mark needed to avoid a run off election Thompson was hesitant to concede until today as more and more of his supporters including Bronx BP Ruben Diaz Jr. decided it was best for the Democratic Party that Thompson concedes as some have already pledged their support to the deBlasio campaign in the race against Joe Lhota. 

  Thompson was also endorsed by the Bronx Democratic County organization actually did not win the Bronx, and in some areas came in third behind deBlasio and Quinn. It had been expected that of the close to 70,000 votes to be counted for mayor, that deBlasio would maintain if not increase his margin of victory.

Latest Quinnipiac Poll has DeBlasio at 43%

   It may sound like Bill DeBlasio has won the Democratic Primary without a run off election by getting 43 percent of the Democratic vote in the latest Quinnipiac poll, but lets look at the numbers.
   From August 28 - September 1, Quinnipiac University surveyed 750 likely Democratic primary voters with a margin of error of +/- 3.6 percentage points and 101 likely Republican primary voters with a margin of error of +/- 9.8 percentage points.

With seven days until the primary, 24 percent of likely Democratic primary voters say there is a good chance they will change their mind, but 61 percent of Thompson voters, 59 percent of De Blasio backers and 56 percent of Quinn supporters say they definitely will vote for their candidate.

That means by having about 300 people say they would vote for Bill DeBlasio in the Democratic Primary It looks like this race is over. However when the above statement is factored in along with the margin of error of the poll that number drops down to about 175 enthusiastic, but not definite votes for Bill DeBlasio.

When you look into the numbers of the Quinnipiac College poll this is still a horse race, or should I say a race for Mayor or the Run Off election. This is like calling the Presidential race when that tiny town in New Hampshire comes in first with about a dozen votes. _____________________________________________________________

Here is a statement from the Joe Lhota Campaign about the poll   STATEMENT FROM THE LHOTA CAMPAIGN ON TODAY’S QUINNIPIAC POLL   September 3, 2013     “Today’s Quinnipiac poll showing Joe winning by a 2-1  margin is further proof that voters are looking for a serious  candidate with ideas about how to move the city forward,  while outright rejecting the negative personal and untruthful attacks being waged by Mr. Catsimatidis.   We are heading into the final week of the campaign showing strong momentum, having garnered the endorsements of every newspaper that has weighed in on the Republican primary. We  look forward to a decisive victory on   September 10th and beginning a vigorous debate in the general election.”  --Jessica Proud, Lhota campaign spokeswoman

Editors Note:  Only 101 Likely Republicans were polled with Mr. Lhota receiving 48 %. That means only 26 probable Republican votes have determined this poll.