Left, Nathaniel Brooks for The New York Times; right, Chester Higgins Jr./The New York Times The candidates in the runoff for public advocate, Daniel L. Squadron and Letitia James. Some people wonder why we have runoff elections at all.There might not be a runoff in the mayoral primary. But if you can’t wait until November to vote again, your chance may come in just 12 days, in the Democratic runoff for public advocate.
It is between City Councilwoman Letitia James and State Senator Daniel L. Squadron, who received 36 and 33 percent of the vote on primary day.
There’s no Republican candidate, so the winner of the runoff effectively wins the election.
But some people wonder why we have runoffs at all. They are a hassle for candidates. Turnout tends to be depressingly light.
And they are expensive. The Oct. 1 runoff will cost $13 million, the city’s Board of Elections said.
The office of the public advocate, who is second in line to the mayor, has an annual budget of only $2.3 million â€" for $13 million you could operate the office for five years.
(Runoffs can also be pointless. In the mayoral race, if Bill de Blasio falls below 40 percent when all the votes are counted, the law requires a runoff, even though William C. Thompson Jr. has already conceded.)
One councilman, Brad Lander of Brooklyn, has introduced a bill to do away with runoffs.
Instead, on primary day, voters would rank the candidates to pick a winner should no candidate get more than 50 percent.
“It gives you the benefit of a more majoritiarian election without the time and expense,†Mr. Lander said.
The current electronic voting machines have the technology to do it.
Here’s what else you need to know for Thursday.
WEATHER
Still sunny, and warmer, with a high of 77.
TRANSIT & TRAFFIC
- Mass Transit: Click for latest M.T.A. status.
- Roads: Click for traffic map or radio report on the 1s.
Alternate-side parking is suspended today and Friday for Sukkot.
COMING UP TODAY
- The Food Tank, a food research organization, hosts a sold-out conference bringing together some of the leading thinkers in the fun-sounding food-waste movement leading up to food waste awareness week across the city.
- John Ashbery, Timothy Donnelly and Adam Fitzgerald, three accomplished poets, come together to discuss the arc of modern poetry at the New York Public Library. [$25, 7 p.m.]
- Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg speaks at the opening of the New York Genome Center in Manhattan.
- Nicholas Sparks, author of “The Notebook,†discusses his most recent novel, “The Longest Ride,†at Barnes & Noble in Union Square. [Free, 7 p.m.]
- The Bronx Music Heritage Center kicks off a weekend of the arts with a musical performance by Jaqueline Flowers. [Free, 8 p.m.]
- For more events, see The New York Times’s Arts & Entertainment guide.
IN THE NEWS
- Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton formally endorsed Bill de Blasio for mayor. [New York Times]
- Mayor Bloomberg is hoping to restrict large-scale food producers from sending their leftovers to landfills and incinerators. [Crain's New York]
- Times Square’s insult-me-Elmo, Dan Sandler, admitted he tried to extort $2 million from the Girl Scouts. [Daily News]
- A Staten Island man is accused of trying to frame a rival by planting a series of bomb-like devices in the borough this month. [Staten Island Advance]
- John Catsimatidis pulled a John Keats and wrote an epic poem about his loss in the Republican mayoral primary. [Daily Intelligencer]
- Four of America’s tallest towers are under construction or expected to be along or adjacent to 57th Street in the coming years. [Gizmodo]
Joseph Burgess contributed reporting.
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