Message from Bill de Blasio, after winning the nomination for Public Advocate.

For video of Bill's election night victory speech, click here.

It is with tremendous pride and humility that I write to you as the Democratic nominee for Public Advocate! I could never have made it to this point without your continued dedication and support. Every hour of time volunteered and each dollar contributed led to our victories in the primary and in yesterday's runoff. Thank you for always believing in my campaign and in my vision for the Public Advocate's office.

Pundits kept saying we couldn't do the impossible - that this race was too hard, the City too big, the odds too long. But each and every day for nearly the past year, I heard from you and from New Yorkers across the City that this campaign and my vision to bring the people's voice to City Hall is just what our City needs.

Yesterday, after a hard fought primary and runoff election, New Yorkers across the five boroughs came out and declared their will to bring new leadership and a bright future to the Public Advocate's office. Thank you for  being a part of our amazing grassroots coalition every step of the way. Without your continued support and  encouragement, none of this would have ever been possible.

Today, I look forward to working with you as New York City's next Public Advocate to stand up for the rights and needs of all of our City's neighborhoods and families. Our City is facing real challenges. From giving public school parents like myself a voice in our public education system, to creating more affordable housing, to supporting neighborhood businesses and ensuring all New Yorkers have access to living-wage jobs, there is much work to be done. Yet I am confident that by bringing broad and diverse coalitions of New Yorkers together,just as we have done in this camp aign, we can affect real, positive change to better the lives of all who call our great City home.

I hope that you will join me as we work in the coming days and weeks toward victory the general election on Tuesday, November 3rd. Thank you again for your continued support. Today would not be possible without you.

Ever since the job of public advocate was created 15 years ago in New York City, there have been questions about whether the position should exist.

The job is something of a hodgepodge established after a streamlining of city government. It is commonly known as the city's ombudsman, the official who can criticize other elected officials, including the mayor. And that may be one reason why the last two mayors have argued strenuously to get rid of the office altogether.

But the public advocate also serves as a kind of vice mayor, casting tie votes at the City Council and, if the mayor cannot serve, taking his place until a special election. One of the most important jobs for the next public advocate will be demonstrating whether this position truly serves New Yorkers or whether someone else, like the comptroller, should be next in line to succeed the mayor.

The four Democrats running in the Sept. 15 primary have argued that they would prove their worth by creating a more powerful counterbalance to the city's powerful mayor than the outgoing public advocate, Betsy Gotbaum.

Two of those candidates, Mark Green, who was the city's first public advocate from 1994 to 2001, and Norman Siegel, a former executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, were particularly strong voices in opposition to former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who left office at the end of 2001. But the city and its politics have changed considerably under Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

It is no longer enough for a public advocate to be the anti-mayor, to hold press conferences and file lawsuits - the specialties of Mr. Green and Mr. Siegel. The office must be more than just a place for politicians to prepare a run for the mayoralty at the taxpayers' expense.

A third candidate, City Councilman Eric Gioia of Queens, also has learned to use press conferences effectively to highlight city issues. But the next occupant needs a broader set of skills.

Because he has shown that he can work well with Mayor Bloomberg when it makes sense to do so while vehemently and eloquently opposing him when justified, City Councilman Bill de Blasio best fits today's requirements for the job.

Mr. de Blasio has an impressive political résumé, starting with his time working for David Dinkins and later running Hillary Rodham Clinton's United States Senate campaign. A City Council member from Brooklyn since 2001 and chairman of the Council's General Welfare Committee, he has focused on helping many less-fortunate New Yorkers with food stamps, housing and children's health. He has labored successfully for better schools and an improved quality of life for New Yorkers.

We have not always agreed with Mr. de Blasio, and we worry about his coziness with the state's powerful unions. But, over all, he has the best temperament and best record of the four candidates. We endorse Bill de Blasio for public advocate.

After he won the Democratic nomination for comptroller, Flushing
Councilman John Liu made not one, but two stops in Chinatown
yesterday.

Liu's win puts him on track to be the first Asian-American elected to
citywide office. In a Democratic runoff that attracted a paltry amount
of voters to the polls, Liu handily beat Councilman David Yassky for
comptroller, 56 to 44 percent.

Councilman Bill de Blasio defeated Mark Green for public advocate with
a whopping 63 to 37 percent of the vote. The two Democratic nominees
are widely expected to win the seats in the general election on Nov.
3.

Both the comptroller, who analyzes the city budget, and public
advocate are offices considered grooming grounds for a mayoral run.

City Councilman Bill de Blasio is poised to become the next public
advocate following his big win Tuesday night versus the man who
formerly held the post. NY1's Michael Scotto filed the following
report.

As one political career takes off, another one comes to end.

Brooklyn City Councilman Bill de Blasio beat Mark Green in the runoff
race to become public advocate.

"As your public advocate, I will be your voice, and whenever your
government is not there for you, I will stand up for you," de Blasio
said.

Running the government is going to be a lot less fun for Mayor
Bloomberg as a result of Tuesday's Democratic runoff elections,
officials said yesterday.

"I think if Mayor Bloomberg is re-elected he certainly will have very
aggressive watchdogs in Bill de Blasio and John Liu that are going to
be ready to challenge him when they feel it's appropriate," said City
Councilman David Yassky (D-Brooklyn).

Democrat Bill de Blasio is in a place he might not have expected to be
in a year ago: One step away from becoming the city's next public
advocate.

"It's extraordinary. Of course, I'm surprised. I'm pretty humbled by
the whole thing," de Blasio, the newly-minted Democratic advocate
nominee, said in an exclusive interview with the Daily News on
Wednesday.

"When I started out, relatively few people outside of Brooklyn knew
who I was," de Blasio said.

"I was never sure that I'd make it, [but] I thought very fundamentally
that people wanted change."

De Blasio crushed former Public Advocate Mark Green, 62.5% to 37.5%
Tuesday, capping a bruising Sept. 15 primary with a dismally
low-turnout runoff.