Democrats Face Runoff in N.Y. Mayor Vote

In a stunning surprise in the New York City Democratic primary, the Rev. Al Sharpton apparently forced the front-runner, Manhattan Borough President Ruth W. Messinger, into a runoff for the right to oppose Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani in November.

Messinger finished first in the primary but failed by a single point to gain the necessary 40% of the vote to gain the nomination.

With all precincts reporting, Messinger had 39%, Sharpton 32% and Brooklyn City Councilman Sal F. Albanese 21%. Two minor candidates totaled 8%.

Officials of the Board of Elections said it appeared that there would be a runoff Sept. 23, but first absentee ballots would have to be counted--a process expected to be completed next week.

“We carried votes from every community,” Sharpton told his jubilant supporters.

“Tonight, New York has proven that money is not all that counts. We never did get a TV commercial, but we had a message,” the fiery and sometimes controversial clergyman said. “. . . You can run, Rudy, but you can’t hide.”

“When I decided to run for mayor, I knew we would have a tough fight,” Messinger said, trying not to show her disappointment at the prospect of a runoff with Sharpton. “. . . I never said this would be easy. We will just have to win this the hard way.”

Sharpton showed unexpected strength with a very low turnout. He tied Messinger among voters in the Bronx and carried Democrats in Brooklyn. Sharpton held the borough president to only a 3-point margin in Queens.

Messinger carried Manhattan with 53% of the vote, far less than expected.

Messinger, who made overcrowding in city schools the centerpiece of her effort to unseat Giuliani, waged what many politicians considered a tepid campaign.

At the last minute, she received the endorsement of former Mayor Edward I. Koch, who said he would vote for her in the primary because she was “far and away the most capable candidate in the Democratic field.”

Koch, a frequent critic of the mayor, nevertheless said he would vote for Giuliani in November.

“We haven’t been able to come up with a candidate to galvanize the Democratic Party and move it toward the center,” the former mayor said.

Messinger’s supporters had feared a very low turnout. As a measure of her weakness in the race, she raised $3.26 million to Sharpton’s $185,000 but was unable to clinch victory.

And while she enters a runoff with a much larger war chest than her opponent, Sharpton over the years has shown great ability to gain media attention.

Critics such as Koch condemn Sharpton’s role as an advisor to Tawana Brawley, a black teenager who said she was raped in 1987 by a gang of white men. After a long investigation, a state grand jury ruled her story a hoax.

Sharpton, who has worked over the last decade to move more toward the center, drew in the primary on a solid core of support from minority neighborhoods and anger over the case of Abner Louima, a Haitian immigrant who prosecutors charge was beaten while in police custody.

He charged the beating was symptomatic of wider police excesses under Giuliani, which the mayor has vigorously denied.

Many politicians lamented the quality of Messinger’s campaign.

“Messinger was one of the smartest people on the City Council, but her campaign has never taken off,” said Mitchell Moss, director of the Taub Urban Research Center at New York University. “She had a very difficult time finding an issue that resonates with New Yorkers.”