NEW YORK (AP) Republican Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire media mogul, defeated Democrat Mark Green in a tight race yesterday for mayor of embattled New York City.
Bloomberg will succeed Rudolph Giuliani, a Republican barred from seeking a third term, and take charge of the daunting efforts to rebuild New York after the Sept. 11 terror attack on the World Trade Center.
“New York is alive and well and open for business,” Bloomberg declared in his victory speech.
The city”s Board of Elections said Bloomberg had 711,189 votes to Green”s 670,413 in nearly complete unofficial returns.
Green, the city”s elected public advocate, spent about $12 million on his campaign, while Bloomberg, owner of the Bloomberg financial information company, was expected to spend more than $50 million of his own money. That made it the most expensive mayoral campaign in U.S. history, according to Common Cause, a citizen lobbying group.
Green”s once-large lead in the polls faded after the popular Giuliani endorsed Bloomberg as the man to guide New York. “We gave it our all and it wasn”t enough,” Green said. “I ask the city to support him.”