No Fun!

If you subscribe to the idea that Anthony Weiner ran for mayor in order to raise his profile for a future run, then his ostensibly noble decision to concede defeat to Fernando Ferrer and avoid a runoff (which is unclear will happen under state law) may seem smart. If you buy the notion that Bloomberg is unbeatable, then it is doubly smart. If you even think that it’s a brilliant move to say you want to avoid a runoff and then just have to participate in a runoff, then it’s triply smart. But at least for now, it appears that Ferrer is the Democratic candidate who will face Michael Bloomberg in the general election:

Representative Anthony D. Weiner conceded the 2005 Democratic mayoral nomination yesterday to Fernando Ferrer, the top vote-getter in the race, in hopes of averting a potentially destructive runoff election and strengthening Mr. Ferrer’s hand as he begins the final eight-week campaign against Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.

Mr. Weiner’s decision, made after a long night of strategizing with aides and his mentor, Senator Charles E. Schumer, came as a surprise to New York Democrats, not least Mr. Ferrer, who was said to be ecstatic. Mr. Ferrer lost a bruising mayoral runoff to Mark Green in 2001, and faced an uncertain bout against the scrappy Mr. Weiner; yesterday, he embraced a nomination that had eluded him in two previous runs for mayor.

In a surprising development, however, city elections officials announced that they were required under state law to hold a runoff despite Mr. Weiner’s withdrawal – at a cost to taxpayers of at least $10 million to pay for sending 6,030 voting machines to 1,409 polling stations and running the special election on Sept. 27. Mr. Ferrer will also stand to collect more than $421,000 in public campaign funds if a runoff is held.

Campaign lawyers for Mr. Ferrer and Mr. Weiner began looking for loopholes yesterday to avert a runoff, which is required when no mayoral primary candidate wins 40 percent of the vote. According to unofficial results, Mr. Ferrer won 39.949 percent of the vote, about 250 shy of 40 percent, in an election that drew just 15 percent of registered Democrats. Some 8,000 absentee ballots remain to be counted, but it is unclear if those votes will help or hurt him.

Mr. Weiner said he would not participate in a runoff even if one were held, calling it “a waste,” and Mr. Ferrer’s camp said they hoped to have the problem solved quickly so he could turn his sights on Mr. Bloomberg, beginning with a unity rally with Mr. Weiner and dozens of other Democrats on the steps of City Hall this afternoon.

. . .

Mr. Weiner explained his decision yesterday by saying that, his competitive spirit aside, Democrats needed to unite quickly if they were to overcome the unlimited campaign spending of “billionaire Republican Mike Bloomberg.”

“It was a difficult decision – it’s in my DNA to keep fighting,” said Mr. Weiner, standing on the bottom step of his childhood home in Park Slope, where he was known as a sports fanatic. “But I believe it is the right thing to do.”