page_title: Bill Thompson (New York politician)
section_title: 2009 mayoral election
hierarchical_section_title: Bill Thompson (New York politician) / 2009 mayoral election
caption_attribution_description: IMG_1744
context_page_description: William Colridge Thompson Jr. is an American politician who served as the 42nd Comptroller of New York City; sworn into office on January 1, 2002, he was reelected to serve a second term that began on January 1, 2006. He did not seek re-election in 2009. Instead he ran for mayor, and he was succeeded as comptroller by John Liu. On June 15, 2016, Thompson was appointed by New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo as chairman of the board of trustees of The City University of New York; his term ends in June 2022.
  Thompson ran unsuccessfully in the 2009 election for Mayor of New York as the nominee of the Democratic and Working Families parties, and he unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination in the 2013 election for mayor.
context_section_description: Thompson was opposed by Tony Avella, a New York City Councilman from Queens, for the Democratic nomination to run in November 2009 against incumbent mayor Michael Bloomberg. On September 15, 2009, Thompson overwhelmingly won the Democratic nomination, defeating Avella by 70 points.
  On July 9, 2009, Thompson was endorsed by the Working Families Party.
  On July 21, 2009, the Comptroller's office released a report suggesting the Bloomberg administration had falsely inflated graduation rates in city schools. Thompson's report did not demonstrate any conclusive evidence of manipulation, "saying only that a lack of oversight, coupled with intense pressure to push up the graduation rate, created the potential for abuse." Thompson also criticized Bloomberg's managerial style as creating incentives for schools to graduate unqualified students. The New York City Department of Education released a 38-page rebuttal to Thompson's allegations.  In addition on July 21, 2009, Thompson said on NY1 that School's Chancellor Joel Klein should be fired, referring to his Department of Education as "The Enron of American education. Showing the gains and hiding the losses.". It was reported that on October 29, 2009, the principal of Lehman High School was being investigated for granting students credits inappropriately and graduating students without them having completed the required course work. Thompson reiterated once again that the mayoral control of schools breeds abuse.
  Thompson's 2009 mayoral candidacy received endorsements from President Barack Obama, both of New York's U.S. Senators (Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand), Governor David Paterson, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, U.S. Congressmen Anthony Weiner and Charlie Rangel, John Liu, Bill de Blasio, David Yassky, Rev. Al Sharpton, Fernando Ferrer, Ruben Diaz Jr. and former mayor David Dinkins, among others.
  District Council 37, the city's largest union, endorsed Thompson on August 13, 2009, giving Thompson "crucial labor support" according to the New York Times. The union, representing 125,000 workers and 50,000 retirees, endorsed Bloomberg in 2005.  On June 19, 2013, the United Federation of Teachers delegates voted to support Thompson. Other unions that endorsed Thompson include the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local Union #3, FDNY-EMS Emergency Medical Technicians, Paramedics and Fire Inspectors Union Local 2507, the FDNY-EMS Officers Union Local 3621, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU, UFCW), Allied International Union, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1056/1181, Local 891, International Union of Operating Engineers, Civil Service Employees Association Local 1000, Communications Workers of America (CWA) District 1, International Association of Machinists District 15, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 808, Local 94 of the International Union of Operating Engineers, The Associated Musicians of Greater New York, Local 802 AFM, and Transport Workers Union (TWU) Local 100.
  As of October 6, 2009, Mayor Bloomberg's lead over Thompson had shrunk to 8%.
  Thompson's mayoral campaign against Bloomberg in 2009 was close, but on November 3, 2009, Bloomberg won a third term by edging out Thompson by 4.6 percent.
caption: Thompson delivers his concession speech after losing the mayoral election.
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