This outcome was not a surprise. According to many early reports, Bill De Blasio will become the next mayor of New York City. Bill De Blasio campaigned on a populist platform, and took a strong stand on Stop and Frisk. Much stronger than any of his Democratic counterparts in the primaries. Lhota, who was defeated by a landslide, was far too tied to Guiliani for people to see him as his own person. Voters knew little of him, and that they did know, was cause for rejection. It is worth noting his support for Stop and Frisk definitely played a role in his electoral failure. Compound it with failed attacks at fear-mongering over a potential crime ridden city should his opponent triumph, and you have clear reasons as to why he lost. When Lhota evoked 1980’s New York, and took cheap shots at David Dinkins, many saw those moves as the acts of desperation that they were.
After 8 years of Guiliani and 12 years of Bloomberg, New Yorkers wanted a change. That change was represented in the campaign of Bill De Blasio. Whether DeBlasio will follow through on his message of economic parity through action remains to be seen.
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