NYC Public Advocate Race: Voting Ends in Run-off Between Letitia James and Daniel Squadron

NYC Public Advocate Race: Voting Ends in Run-off Between Letitia James and Daniel Squadron
New York State Senator Daniel Squadron attends a panel on hydraulic fracturing in this November 2011 file photo. Squadron and Letitia James are in a run-off in the public advocate race's Democratic primary after neither got over 40 percent of the votes. (Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images)
Zachary Stieber
9/10/2013
Updated:
7/18/2015

NEW YORK--The public advocate Democratic Primary ended in a run-off between Letitia James and Daniel Squadron.

Squadron is a current state senator for the 26th district, which covers lower Manhattan and part of Brooklyn. James is currently a Brooklyn council member representing district 35, which includes the area north and northwest of Prospect Park, including parts of Clinton Hill and Prospect Heights.

With 97 percent of precincts reporting as of 1:28 a.m., James had 35.95 percent of the votes (172,990) and Squadron had 33.28 percent (160,134).

In New York City primaries, the winner must get over 40 percent of the vote or there is a run-off.

Whoever wins the run-off will still face Green Party candidate James Lane, but is expected to win over him.

Public advocate is a city-wide office that was created in 1994 to “be a voice for all the residents of New York City, sometimes known as an ‘ombudsman’ or watchdog, ensuring that all city residents receive the services they are entitled to, have their rights protected and their interests looked out for,” according to DecideNYC

Two of the three public advocates--Mark Green and Bill de Blasio--have run for mayor.

This race was known as crowded and also featured tech entrepreneur Reshma Saujani, who got in third with 15 percent of the votes. Columbia University professor Cathy Guerriero got 12.8 percent, while NYPD community relations specialist Sidique Wai got 2.8 perecnt.