A former president of New York City’s Bronx borough won the primary last week to become the Democratic challenger to Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, whose term has seen a big expansion of the mayor’s authority over schools.
By the morning of Sept. 14, the day after the primary election, Fernando Ferrer had garnered 39.9 percent of the vote. He needed 40 percent to clinch the party nomination. But even with thousands of ballots still uncounted, the next biggest vote-getter, U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner, conceded the race. The two top Democrats still could face a runoff if Mr. Ferrer falls short of the 40 percent after all votes are counted.
Mr. Ferrer now faces Mr. Bloomberg, a Republican, in the Nov. 8 election. The New York mayor, who received broad powers over the city’s 1.1 million-student school system from the state legislature shortly after his 2001 election, has invited voters to judge him on how the schools have fared.
