Mayor Bloomberg Gets Unprecedented 3rd Term

New York, NY (AHN) - New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg won a third term in a close race that ended late Tuesday night after a concession from City Comptroller Bill Thompson, the Democratic candidate.

Bloomberg won with 51 percent, or 556,946 votes, while Thompson trailed with 46 percent, or 506,059 votes. The margin of victory was a far cry from what polls had predicted, with the incumbent ahead by double-digits in the surveys conducted just before Election Day by Marist, Quinnipiac University, and SurveyUSA.

The 67-year-old mayor, who ran as an Independent but had also secured the Republican ballot line, celebrated with supporters at the Sheraton, declaring victory after a last-minute burst of votes allowed him to pull away.

One of the world's wealthiest men, Bloomberg had used $85.8 million of his vast personal fortune for his campaign, according to latest disclosures with the Campaign Finance Board, and received the backing of the New York Times, the New York Daily News and the New York Post over the course of three successive days last week.

Thompson spent a total of $6.6 million for his bid, which focused on hammering Bloomberg about term limits, with the support of key unions such as the Correction Officers Benevolent Association (COBA) and District Council 37.

But pundits had said in the last weeks of the race that his campaign failed to replace his elusive image among voters with a personal story or more compelling case on issues such as jobs. The 56-year-old's efforts also seemed to have suffered more of a set back from an endorsement from President Barack Obama that Bloomberg had criticized, having been a two-sentence reply made by the White House spokesman during a routine press briefing.

Bloomberg had successfully campaigned last year to have the city's term limits law amended through a vote of the city council, and not a referendum. He is a lifelong member of the Democratic Party who won as a Republican in 2001 but became an independent in 2007.