In a recent interview with City & State, Frank Barry, director of public affairs for New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and author of the book, "The Scandal of Reform: The Grand Failures of New York’s Political Crusaders and the Death of Nonpartisanship,” discussed the need for nonpartisan elections in the city. He responded to questions regarding an op-ed he wrote in the Daily News on Monday.
Elaborating on the current state of elections in New York, Barry said the city suffers from a lack of competitive elections. He further added that the majority of citywide races on Tuesday will not have much meaning because the races were decided by a small group of partisan voters while keeping independent voters out of the process -- a voting bloc that now makes up over 20 percent of the electorate.
"In most cases in New York, as people have said, if you win the primary you can coast to the general election and win without even campaigning. Most candidates who won the primary in September have not campaigned and have not spent money because they are facing token opponents."