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Liu, Yassky in runoff for comptroller bid

Queens City Councilmember John Liu and Brooklyn City Councilmember David Yassky are circling their wagons as they gear up to meet again at the polls in two weeks to determine who will be the Democratic nominee for the city’s top fiscal officer.

Liu and Yassky finished first and second in the race for City Comptroller. However, neither candidate finished with the necessary 40 percent of the vote, forcing the Sept. 29 runoff.

With 100 percent of the votes counted, the unofficial tally had Liu with 133,986 or 38.02 percent of the vote and Yassky with 107,474 or 30.50 percent of the vote.

Queens City Councilmember Melinda Katz finished third with 72,043 or 20.44 percent of the vote while City Councilmember David Weprin, also of Queens, finished with 38,917 or 11.04 percent of the vote.

“John is focusing on the issues, his qualifications and his experience and relaying that to the voters, as well as his vision for the office of comptroller and how it can best serve the people of New York,” said Liu spokesperson Sharon Lee.

When asked, Lee also noted how Liu’s run for the city’s top fiscal officer position also galvanized the city’s Asian-American community as a new major voting bloc.

Liu is the first Asian-American elected to the City Council and now running for citywide office. In last week’s primary, three more Asian-Americans running for City Council won.

Lee said, however, that the comptroller race is not about ethnicity, but about who is most qualified and has the strongest vision and plan for the office.

“If successful, this race will be about the issues and each candidate’s qualifications,” she said.

Yassky spokesperson Danny Kanner said there is a clear contrast between these two candidates and the Yassky campaign plans to take that message to all five boroughs.

“David Yassky is the one candidate running who has a proven record of accomplishment and not just press conferences and press releases,” said Kanner.

“He has the honesty and integrity to protect our money and has a vision for the comptroller’s office to root out waste and get the economy back on track,” he added.

The city comptroller’s main functions include going over city contracts, looking for budget waste and handling city pension money.