2013 New York City Public Advocate election

2013 New York City Public Advocate election

←  2009 November 5, 2013 2017  →

Candidate Letitia James Robert Maresca Party Democratic Conservative Alliance Working Families Popular vote 770,764 112,967 Percentage 83.6% 12.2%

Borough results State Assembly results James:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90% Maresca:     50–60%

Public Advocate before election Bill de Blasio Democratic Elected Public Advocate Letitia James Democratic

The 2013 New York City Public Advocate election was held on November 5, 2013, along with elections for the Mayor, Comptroller, Borough Presidents, and members of the New York City Council. Incumbent Democratic Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, serving his first term, ran for Mayor of New York City rather than seek re-election.

The Democratic Party held its primary on September 10, and since no candidate reached 40%, a runoff was held on October 1 between the top two candidates, Councilwoman Letitia James and State Senator Daniel Squadron. James won the runoff to become the Democratic nominee. ^{[1] [2]}

The Republican Party did not nominate a candidate. In the general election, James faced Green Party nominee James Lane and Conservative nominee Robert Maresca as well as various minor party candidates.

James won the general election in a landslide. ^[3]

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

• Cathy Guerriero, adjunct professor at Columbia University and New York University ^[4]
• Letitia James, New York City Councilwoman (also received the Working Families Party nomination)
• Reshma Saujani, former Deputy Public Advocate and candidate for New York's 14th congressional district in 2010
• Daniel Squadron, State Senator
• Sidique Wai, New York University professor ^[4]

Declined

• Bill de Blasio, incumbent Public Advocate (running for mayor)

Tone

The runoff between Letitia James and Daniel Squadron was characterized as bitter by most of the media outlets that covered it. ^{[5] [6] [7]}

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Catherine Guerriero	Letitia James	Reshma Saujani	Daniel Squadron	Sidique Wai	Other	Undecided
Marist [8]	August 12–14, 2013	355	± 5.2%	12%	16%	3%	12%	2%	6%	49%
Marist [9]	June 17–21, 2013	689	± 4%	16%	17%	8%	4%	—	<1%	54%

Debates

2013 New York City public advocate election democratic primary debates

No.	Date	Host	Moderator	Link	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic
Key:  P Participant  A Absent  N Not invited  I Invited  W  Withdrawn
					Catherine Guerriero	Letitia James	Reshma Saujani	Daniel Squadron	Sidique Wai
1	Aug. 15, 2013	Citizens Committee of New York Citizens Union Gothamist Hispanic Federation New York One New York One Noticias New York City Campaign Finance Board Transportation Alternatives WNYC-FM	Errol Louis	YouTube	P	P	P	P	P
2	Aug. 25, 2013	New York City Campaign Finance Board Telemundo Nueva York The Wall Street Journal WNBC	Melissa Russo David Ushery	YouTube	P	P	P	P	N

2013 New York City public advocate election democratic primary run-off debate

No.	Date	Host	Moderator	Link	Democratic	Democratic
Key:  P Participant  A Absent  N Not invited  I Invited  W  Withdrawn
					Letitia James	Daniel Squadron
1	Sep. 24, 2013	Citizens Committee of New York Citizens Union Gothamist Hispanic Federation New York One New York One Noticias New York City Campaign Finance Board Transportation Alternatives WNYC-FM	Brian Lehrer Errol Louis	YouTube	P	P

Results

Primary results by State Assembly district

  James

•   30%–40%
•   40%–50%
•   50%–60%
•   60%–70%
•   70%–80%

  Squadron

•   20%–30%
•   30%–40%
•   40%–50%
•   50%–60%
•   60%–70%

2013 New York City Public Advocate Election Democratic Primary Results ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Letitia James	191,347	36.10
	Democratic	Daniel Squadron	178,151	33.61
	Democratic	Reshma Saujani	76,983	14.52
	Democratic	Cathy Guerriero	69,025	13.02
	Democratic	Sidique Wai	14,409	2.72
	Democratic	Write-in	174	0.03
Total votes			530,089	100.00

Runoff results by State Assembly district

  James

•   50%–60%
•   60%–70%
•   70%–80%
•   80%–90%
•   90%–100%

  Squadron

•   50%–60%
•   60%–70%
•   70%–80%
•   80%–90%

2013 New York City Public Advocate Election Democratic Primary Runoff Results ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Letitia James	119,604	59.02
	Democratic	Daniel Squadron	83,043	40.98
Total votes			202,647	100.00

Republican primary

No Republican candidate filed to run for the office.

Major third parties

Besides the two main parties, the Conservative, Green, Independence and Working Families parties are qualified New York parties. These parties have automatic ballot access.

Conservative

Nominee

• Robert Maresca

Green

Nominee

• James Lane, internet media professional and Green Party activist.

Working Families

Nominee

• Letitia James, New York City Councilwoman from Brooklyn ^[12]

Minor third parties

The following parties without automatic ballot access succeeded in petitioning onto the ballot:

Freedom

Nominee

• Michael K. Lloyd

Libertarian

Nominee

• Alex Merced, author, columnist, and blogger ^[13]

Socialist Worker

Nominee

• Deborah O. Liatos

Students First

Nominee

• Mollena G. Fabricant

War Veterans

Nominee

• Irene Estrada

General Election results

2013 New York City Public Advocate General Election Results ^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Letitia James	761,058	77.87%
	Working Families	Letitia James	53,821	5.51%
	Total	Letitia James	814,879	83.37%
	Conservative	Robert Maresca	119,768	12.25%
	Green	James Lane	16,974	1.74%
	Libertarian	Alex Merced	10,419	1.07%
	Socialist Workers	Deborah O. Liatos	5,114	0.52%
	War Veterans	Irene Estrada	4,216	0.43%
	Students First	Mollina G. Fabricant	2,391	0.24%
	Freedom Party of New York	Michael K. Lloyd	1,799	0.18%
Total votes			975,560	100%

References

1. "Election Dates". Vote.nyc.ny.us. Retrieved November 5, 2013.
2. "James Defeats Squadron In Democratic Public Advocate Runoff". NY1. Archived from the original on October 3, 2013. Retrieved November 5, 2013.
3. CBS New York
4. "Primary Election Day: Primary Rundown". nyunews.com. September 10, 2013.
5. Taylor, Kate (September 25, 2013). "NY/Region: Bitter Tone in Debate Between Public Advocate Rivals". The New York Times.
6. "Letitia James defeats Daniel Squadron in Democratic runoff for public advocate". NY Daily News.
7. "James' Runoff Win Likely To Shape Council Speaker Race". NY1. Archived from the original on October 19, 2013.
8. Marist
9. Marist
10. "Statement and Return Report for Certification, Primary Election 2013 - 09/10/2013, Crossover - Democratic Party, Democratic Public Advocate, Citywide" (PDF). New York City Board of Elections . September 30, 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 18, 2021.
11. "Statement and Return Report for Certification, Run-off Primary 2013 - 10/01/2013, Crossover - Democratic Party, Democratic Public Advocate, Citywide" (PDF). New York City Board of Elections . October 28, 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 16, 2021.
12. "Working Families Party Backs Brooklyn CM Letitia James For NYC Public Advocate | New York Daily News". Nydailynews.com. May 9, 2013. Retrieved November 5, 2013.
13. "About Alex Merced - AlexMerced.Com - Libertarianism, Economics, and Knowledge". Alexmerced.squarespace.com. February 22, 1999. Archived from the original on November 5, 2013. Retrieved November 5, 2013.
14. "Statement and Return Report for Certification" (PDF). Retrieved January 2, 2014.

External links

• Letitia "Tish" James for Public Advocate
• James Lane for Public Advocate
• Alex Merced for Public Advocate