Brooklyn City Councilman Jumaane Williams is the new Public Advocate for New York City, winning Tuesday’s special election with 33 percent of the vote in one of the more crowded political races in recent memory, according to unofficial tallies provided by the city’s Board of Elections. Queens City Councilman Eric Ulrich finished in second with 19 percent of the vote. Williams ran in the special election for public advocate after falling short in the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor in September, losing to incumbent Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul 53.3 percent to 46.7 percent.

“This campaign has been relatively short, but the journey has been long,” Williams said in a speech at his victory party in Brooklyn on Tuesday night. “I have some big shoes to fill.”

Williams will assume the position immediately, taking over for City Council Speaker Corey Johnson who has served as Acting Public Advocate since Letitia James was inaugurated as New York Attorney General on Jan. 1. But the honeymoon period will be short. There will be a primary and then general election in June and November, respectively, to determine who fulfills the last two years of James’ term. James was re-elected for a second term in 2017.

Congratulations to @JumaaneWilliams, New York City’s new Public Advocate.

This office has the power to make real and lasting change in the lives of New Yorkers and I look forward to working with you to improve our city each and every day.

— Tish James (@TishJames) February 27, 2019

Runners-up included Bronx Assemblyman Michael Blake, who came in fourth place with 8 percent of the vote. Blake received the endorsement of many Bronx officials, including Congressmen Eliot Engel and Jose Serrano, five Assembly members, and three City Council Members. Councilman Ritchie Torres, who represents parts of Bedford Park and Fordham, even endorsed Blake after introducing a bill to eliminate the public advocate position last fall. Blake, a veteran of the Obama administration and both his presidential campaigns, serves as the Vice Chair of the Democratic National committee and received endorsements from national Democrats and celebrities.

“This is just the beginning from us,” Blake said in his concession speech. Blake is speculated to be a contender for a Congressional seat in 2020 or the Borough President’s office in 2021. “This campaign is one where it is obvious that people are looking for something bigger. They want to know if they can have hope and believe again.”

The only other candidate with Bronx ties was Mark-Viverito, who represented parts of the South Bronx when she served on the City Council from 2006 to 2017. Mark-Viverito finished in 3rd place with 11% of the vote. The former City Council Speaker ran on the “Fix the MTA” line and emphasized the need for female leadership in city government.

“We highlighted the shameful lack of diversity in citywide leadership,” Mark-Viverito said in her concession speech. Mark-Viverito did not congratulate Williams and did not rule out running against him in the June primary, something she told reporters would depend on Tuesday’s results.

Ulrich came in second, with 19 percent of the vote. Ulrich, a moderate Republican who opposes President Donald Trump, ran on the argument he would be a better check on Mayor Bill de Blasio than a Democrat. Of the seventeen candidates running for public advocate, Ulrich was one of only two Republicans, the other being lawyer Manny Alicandro from Brooklyn. In the days leading up to the election, Ulrich distributed campaign material with the slogan “Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Worst Nightmare.”

“I just got off the phone with Public Advocate-elect Jumaane Williams and I was the first person to congratulate him on a well-deserved victory,” Ulrich said during his concession speech. “I’m going to work very closely with him to make sure that he does a good job on behalf of the city.”

Bronx Voter Turnout Low, Again

In line with previous elections, the Bronx had the second lowest turnout of any borough, behind Staten Island. With 85 percent of Bronx election precincts reporting at the time of publication, only 40,000 votes had been recorded. Staten Island had half of that, despite only having a third of the population. Queens vote totals were approaching 90,000 votes at press time and both Brooklyn and Manhattan exceeded 100,000 votes.

In the Bronx, according to unofficial vote tallies, Blake lead with 8,886 votes. Williams trailed Blake with 8,113 votes, followed by Manhattan Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez with 7,140 and Mark-Viverito with 6,275 votes.

Special Election for Special Position
The race officially began on Dec. 26, when Mayor de Blasio announced the date for the special election, but the race unofficially began nearly three months earlier when James won the Democratic primary election for New York Attorney General. With the general election all but decided, aspirational politicians began weighing a run to be the first in the line of mayoral succession.

The public advocate is an ombudsman for the city, using the bully pulpit and an annual budget of $3.5 million to bring attention to issues effecting the city and provide oversight to city agencies. A non-voting member of the City Council, the public advocate can propose and co-sponsor legislation. Created in 1993, the positions has been held by four elected occupants and its current acting incumbent, City Council Speaker Corey Johnson. The last two office-holders, Mayor Bill de Blasio and New York Attorney General Letitia James, used the office as a stepping stone for higher office.

Some, like Torres, have called for the position to be eliminated. Others have called for the public advocate’s powers to be expanded and its budget to be increased. Johnson tweeted “Agree on this” in response to a tweet from Gotham Gazette’s Ben Max who wrote the public advocate office should be “better funded, with an independent budget pegged to a % of the overall city budget.”

Community Perspective
Before the final results were in, the Norwood News spoke with members of the community about what they want from the public advocate, regardless of who won.

“Fix the busses,” Michael Cameron, a resident of Norwood, said. “Actually, the busses are fine. They’re just too crowded. Buy more busses.”

Barbara Stronczer, president of the Bedford-Mosholu Community Association, said she hoped the new public advocate would focus on infrastructure.

“All this building is going on in [Bedford Park], we don’t hear anything about improvements in transportation or schools,” Stronczer said. “Some of our roadways are in terrible shape. Our underpasses are in bad shape.”

Bronx activist Raphael Schweizer, who lives in Allerton and briefly ran for public advocate himself, supported Nomiki Konst in the election. Konst, an investigative journalist who proposed New Yorkers be paid a $30 an hour living wage, finished in 11th place with 2.89 percent of the vote. Konst’s proposal to appoint deputy public advocates for each borough appealed to Schweizer. He also believed the position could be used much more effectively than it has in the past, even within the constraints of its current budget.

“The public advocate, to me is a bully pulpit position,” Schweizer said. He pointed to Bronx Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as an example of someone who uses their platform to bring attention to a lot of issues at once. “It’s not hard. We’re in the age of email. You email all these news organizations a picture and a description and they come.”

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.