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Photo by: Momos
When the voting is done, the mayor-elect will have a little under two months to prepare to take charge at City Hall.
After months of campaigning, dozens of forums, $109 million in campaign spending and one incredible New York Post cover, Election Day has arrived.
City Limits will cover the final act from Brownsville and Mott Haven, the two neighborhoods we’ve reported on as part of our Five-Borough Ballot partnership with City & State.
Kate Pastor will be tweeting through Election Day from the Bronx; follow her stream at Bronx Bureau or here. Jarrett Murphy will be in Brownsville, tweeting to our Brooklyn Bureau.
Polls suggest the outcome of most races is only theoretically in doubt. So what are the stories we’re following?
1. Turnout: What impact will that air of inevitability will have on participation? After two citywide elections that saw very low voter numbers, will 2013 continue the trend?
2. Machinery: After the brief comeback of the lever machines for the primary, electronic voting returns. This is the first citywide election in which these machines will be used. There’s already been a dustup over the font used on the voting sheets. Will there be other problems?
3. Margin: Should Bill de Blasio prevail, as is expected, pundits will focus on his margin of victory as an indicator of whether the Democrat has a mandate to pursue bold change. Keep in mind that in both 2005 and 2009, the final margin of victory in the mayoral race was much closer than polls predicted.
4. Brooklyn DA: The only high-profile race that seems like a contest. The policy reach of the Kings County DA is substantial, and the Hynes saga is a great political story. One to watch.
5. Next speaker: One of the most important elections is one that’ll happen after Election Day with no direct input from the voters: the selection of the next Council Speaker. We’ll be looking at how the hopefuls do in their districts and who gets a good role on stage at de Blasio’s election night party.
6. The ballot questions: The casino proposal is particularly important, but the one on retirement age of judges is also interesting.