Turning now to the "news that may not directly affect you" category, the Democratic primary for the New York City Mayor’s race was today. It was a four-way race, winnable outright only if the first-place finisher receives 40% of the vote; anything less means a runoff between the top two candidates. Frontrunner Fernando Ferrer, who had always been expected to take first place and had been expected to win outright for a long time, garnered – wait for it – 39.95% of the vote, according to tonight’s results.
That’s gotta hurt. Having missed the magic number by 0.05% – about 233 votes out of over 456,000 cast – Ferrer now has to face a runoff with the second-place finisher, Congressman Anthony Weiner.
And now for the local angle: incumbent NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg, formerly a Democrat, nominally a Republican, and fabulously wealthy, was born and raised in Medford!
UPDATE: As one of our alert readers notes below, Weiner has conceded the race and will not participate in a runoff.
A Huge part of Bloomberg’s platform is “NO Green Line Extension To West Medford Square!”
The Globe (among other media, natch) is reporting that Weiner has dropped out of the primary and has appealed to Dems w/a call for “unity” against Bloomberg.