NYC Democrats Choose Bloomberg Opponent

By SARA KUGLER

NEW YORK -- Four Democrats squared off in their party's primary Tuesday for the chance to wage an underdog campaign against GOP Mayor Michael Bloomberg, with some voters in this overwhelmingly Democratic city saying that they planned to support the popular and wealthy incumbent in November.

Polls showed Fernando Ferrer, a former Bronx borough president making his third run for mayor, narrowly leading U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner, with City Council Speaker Gifford Miller and Manhattan borough President C. Virginia Fields trailing.

Ferrer, whose Puerto Rican background was expected to help him among Latino voters, needed 40 percent to avoid a runoff, which would be held in two weeks.

Also on the New York ballot, Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau was fighting for the chance to seek a ninth term. Morgenthau, the model for the fictional TV prosecutor Adam Schiff on the program "Law and Order," faced a challenger with the potential to win: Leslie Crocker Snyder, a no-nonsense former judge who raised the 86-year-old incumbent's age and tenure as campaign issues.

In the mayor's race, some Democratic leaders were concerned a runoff would also divide the party and weaken their chances against Bloomberg, who is already well ahead in opinion polls.

At polling stations throughout the city, some Democrats said they were happy with Bloomberg's handling of his first term, which began just months after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The former CEO has been credited with reversing the city's economic downturn, gaining control of the beleaguered board of education and keeping crime low.

"I'm a Democrat, but you need someone who can handle the problems of the city and Bloomberg is it," said Lionel Protain, a construction worker who voted for Ferrer in Brooklyn on Tuesday but says he will support Bloomberg in November. Protain said he has never voted for a Republican.

But not everyone was looking to help Bloomberg win a second term.

Myron Beldock, a lawyer, voted for Ferrer in Manhattan's West Village, because Ferrer has "earned it." Beldock said he would support the Democrat against Bloomberg, no matter who wins the primary. The mayor, whose personal fortune is worth $5 billion, represents "corporate America," Beldock said.

Polls leading up to the primary found that a majority of New Yorkers believe Bloomberg will beat the Democratic challenger. He spent $74 million to get elected in 2001, and has pledged he will spend whatever it takes to win this year.

There are 2.6 million registered Democrats in New York City (and 477,000 Republicans), but observers were predicting low turnout this year. Some Democrats who support Bloomberg may even skip the primary altogether.

Bloomberg himself was a lifelong Democrat until he switched parties in 2001 to avoid a crowded Democratic ticket. He is a moderate who supports abortion rights and has the support of some groups that traditionally back Democrats, such as the city's largest labor union, District Council 37.

Elsewhere around the country, voters in Cincinnati were picking two candidates to compete in November to replace Mayor Charlie Luken, who is not seeking a second term. And two Vietnamese-American women campaigned in a runoff race for a city council seat in San Jose that marked the political awakening of the city's Vietnamese community.

© 2005 The Associated Press