Public Advocate Bill de Blasio. (Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Public Advocate Bill de Blasio's campaign for mayor got a significant boost Friday, with the endorsement of the city's largest union: 1199 SEIU.

It is the first major labor endorsement for Mr. de Blasio, who has been aggressively courting unions as he tries position himself as the "progressive alternative" to the race's early  front-runner, Council Speaker Christine Quinn.

Mr. de Blasio's campaign manager, Bill Hyers, heralded the endorsement as proof the campaign is gaining momentum, despite concerns from many supporters about the entree of former Congressman Anthony Weiner, who is expected to appeal to the same outer-borough, ethnic voters, and is expected to formally join the race in the coming day.

"Game-changing is a cliché in politics, but not when it comes to the mayoral endorsement of 1199 SEIU. Representing more than 250,000 members over five boroughs, no endorsement means more than this," Mr. Hyers said in a statement.

"Their support validates our belief that Bill de Blasio is THE PROGRESSIVE CHOICE for New York City Democrats -- and it confirms the strength of our effort," he continued. "Moreover, their members are some of the most politically active residents of New York City, deeply connected to and active in our communities, and they have pledged to dedicate thousands of volunteer hours for door-to-door canvassing, phone banking and rallies for our campaign.  We are honored to have their support."

The endorsement is a partial loss for Ms. Quinn, who many believed could have a shot with the group because some of staffing overlaps--although others have long expected them to go with Mr. de Blasio.

Here's a statement from 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East president George Gresham:

“The nurses and caregivers of 1199SEIU – New York City’s largest union with over 200,000 members throughout the five boroughs – have enthusiastically endorsed Bill de Blasio for mayor, because he is a principled champion of working people, and has the strongest vision for the future of our city, including good jobs, affordable housing, and quality education and healthcare for all. Our members are some of the most politically active residents of the city, we are deeply connected to our communities, and we intend to devote thousands of volunteer hours to door knocking, phone banking and building support. The elected leaders of our union voted unanimously to endorse Bill de Blasio because he has consistently stood side-by-side with caregivers for quality healthcare and issues that matter most to working families, and we will work passionately to ensure he is our next mayor of New York City," he said.

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn. (Photo: Ben Gabbe/Getty Images)

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn is throwing her weight--and campaign resources--behind City Council candidate Antonio Reynoso in an effort to keep disgraced Assemblyman Vito Lopez from wining a seat on the council.

Ms. Quinn's campaign announced the launch of a "Women for Reynoso" campaign Friday, which will "rally women throughout New York in support of Antonio Reynoso and to make sure that Vito Lopez's career in government comes to an end."

"We must ensure that Vito Lopez never sets foot in City Hall," she said via a campaign spokesman. "I call on every elected official and every candidate running to rally behind Antonio to stop Vito Lopez."

According the spokesman, the campaign will focus on gathering volunteers to make calls and knock on doors as well as holding low-dollar events to raise money. It also plans to hold large rallies with prominent women in the district and city-wide.

It wasn't immediately clear who would foot the bill for the efforts. But the decision follows through on a threat Ms. Quinn made months ago to do everything in her power to make sure Mr. Lopez doesn't win.

On Thursday, Ms. Quinn told reporters she was "nauseated" by the allegations in the damning report released earlier this week that describes Mr. Lopez's repeated alleged inappropriate conduct with young female staffers, including frequent demands for massages, requests to wear revealing clothing, and invitations to spend the night in hotel rooms.

Mr. Quinn--and scores of others--called on Mr. Lopez to resign immediately and drop his council bid. Instead, on Friday morning, he announced that he plans to resign from the Assembly at the end of the current legislative session to launch his council bid.

"I expect to run a vigorous campaign on the issues facing the citizens of my community and hope to continue to serve them as a member of the City Council," he said in a statement. "I believe that the voters of the community should decide who should represent them."

Ms. Quinn's campaign is not the first launched to block Mr. Lopez. Only hours after the news broke that he had registered a campaign account, the New Kings Democrats launched a campaign, complete with urgent fliers urging residents to keep the City Council a "MOLESTER-FREE ZONE."

Mr. Reynoso did not immediately respond to Ms. Quinn's effort, but released a statement earlier urging Mr. Lopez to drop his bid.

"By virtue of his repeated sexual misconduct and criminal activity, Vito Lopez clearly does not deserve to hold public office," he said in the statement. "The bottom line is this: a publicly condemned criminal does not deserve the public trust, nor the privilege of representing Brooklyn and Queens in the City Council or the State Assembly. He must drop his campaign immediately, and begin looking for ways to right the wrongs he has inflicted on the people of this city."

Vito Lopez. (Photo: NYS Assembly)

Describing his conduct as "nauseating," City Council Speaker Christine Quinn again called on disgraced Assemblyman Vito Lopez to resign from office, but held her fire when it came to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.

A day after the release of a scathing report detailing Mr. Lopez's alleged sexual harassment of numerous young female staffers, Ms. Quinn said Mr. Lopez had no business serving in elected office--much less running for the City Council--and urged New Yorkers to do anything they can to keep him out of City Hall.

“I think what we are finding out now in very specific--and quite frankly nauseating detail--is shocking and Assemblymember Lopez should resign from his position as an Assemblymember immediately. He should drop his run for the City Council. And if he doesn’t do that, everyone in New York City needs to get behind his opponent, Antonio Reynoso, get together and make sure that Antonio gets elected,” she told reporters at an unrelated press conference at City Hall.

“To allow Vito Lopez, after what he did in the State Capitol, to be allowed into this building, to potentially, in the name of representing New Yorkers, conduct himself in such a horrible way would be an outrage,” she added. “It is incumbent upon all of us in New York to join together behind Antonio and make sure Vito does not get into this building."

Ms. Quinn had vowed to do anything in her power to keep Mr. Lopez out of office even before the report. Mr. Lopez has rejected the "salacious and sensational" claims as "fallacious"

Still, Mr. Quinn declined to call for action against Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who, the report alleged, had tried to shield Mr. Lopez by dragging his feet in first reporting the harassment and keeping the claims secret from the press.

Clearly, she said, Mr. Silver had "made mistakes” in his handling the complaints. But she said he had already promised swift reforms.

“He has made a commitment to move forward and reform the process in Albany,” she said. “He needs to move quickly to address those and to take real steps to put reforms in place so those kind of mistakes can never happen again.”

She also declined to weigh in on specific reforms--or calls for the Assembly to expel Mr. Lopez from his seat.

“I don’t know what the powers are that they have,” she said, but added that, had the same allegations been made against a City Councilman, he would be gone.

As for City Councilman Daniel Halloran, who was arrested as part of an alleged bribery scheme, she said the case is still under investigation, tying the council’s hands.

Senator D'Amato in 1996. (Photo: Getty)

In what may be the most direct and harsh attack to emerge from her campaign so far, Council Speaker Christine Quinn took her Democratic rival Bill Thompson to task today for his cross-partisan support from former Senator Al D'Amato.

"Al D’Amato isn’t just anti-woman," an email from Ms. Quinn's campaign declared to supporters, "he is anti-choice, anti-Medicare, and anti-civil rights. He also had the dubious honor of being known as the most investigated Senator in New York history."

Earlier this morning, the New York Times profiled Mr. D'Amato's extensive fund-raising efforts for Mr. Thompson. In the piece, Mr. D'Amato slammed Ms. Quinn as “a political boss in the worst sense.” Earlier this week, Mr. D'Amato also mocked  Ms. Quinn for revealing she had suffered from bulimia and alcoholism.

Reacting to this, the Quinn campaign declared that Mr. D'Amato, a Republican who lost to now-Senator Chuck Schumer in 1998, would gain a "toehold in City Hall" if his candidate won.

"Now, as the chief fundraiser for one of the Democrats running for mayor, Al D’Amato is attacking Christine Quinn," the email continued. "But fortunately, it's going to backfire. The last thing Democrats are looking for in a Mayor of New York is someone who is “proud” to have Al D’Amato’s support. Al D’Amato opposes everything Democrats stand for. Thankfully, Al D’Amato was thrown out of the U.S. Senate in 1998, but what we don’t need is Al D’Amato getting a toehold in City Hall."

For a campaign that has largely limited its attacks to barbed responses to her rivals' aggressions--usually from Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, not Mr. Thompson--Ms. Quinn's criticisms today stand out. However it was not an all-out attack. The email did not mention Mr. Thompson by name or refer directly to Mr. D'Amato's comments on her revelations. Instead, her campaign, the nominal front-runner in public polls, simply sought to position itself as one opposed to the former senator's more conservative political brand.

"Help us send a message to anti-choice, anti-Medicare, anti-gun control Al D’Amato that, as Democrats, we’re not interested in the kind of right-wing attack-style politics that are synonymous with his name," they concluded, urging volunteers to sign up to work on Ms. Quinn's behalf.

The Thompson campaign did not immediately return a request for comment.

Update (2:55 p.m.):

Mr. Thompson's campaign fired back with its own sharply-worded email to supporters titled "Character Counts" penned by two of his most prominent female supporters: Betsy Gotbaum, the former public advocate, and Merryl Tisch. In it, they described Mr. Thompson as "the only candidate with the experience and temperament to get things things done"--a not-so-veiled attack against Ms. Quinn.

Here's the full letter:

This election is about real leadership on the issues women - and all New Yorkers - care about.  For us, the choice is simple. Bill Thompson is the only candidate with the experience and temperament to get things done. He'll lead on issues like expanding equality, creating better schools, ensuring safer streets, and growing our middle class. 

That's why we're asking you to click here and join "Women for Thompson!"

Character counts. Bill is only candidate in this race who has provided the real leadership every New Yorker in every borough deserves.

Thanks again,

Merryl and Betsy

P.S. - We're with Bill - and women across New York should be too. Join Bill today by signing up for "Women for Thompson."

Christine Quinn being interviewed by Barnard President Debora Spar. (Photo: Jill Colvin)

After disclosing in the New York Time today that she had suffered with bulimia and alcoholism, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn continued to discuss her personal struggles earlier this afternoon, but insisted to a room full of college students that the revelations were intended to help other people—not her mayoral campaign.

Ms. Quinn’s event with a select group of students at the all-women's Barnard College coincided with the printing of the story, in which Ms. Quinn talked about developing bulimia as a teenager struggling with her mother’s death, and her overuse of alcohol in the years after.

She will go into further detail in her upcoming memoir, “With Patience and Fortitude,” which will be released early next month.

During a long and occasionally emotional interview with Barnard President Debora Spar, followed by question-and-answer sessions with students and then reporters, Ms. Quinn said that she made the decision to come clean after the media obsession surrounding her wedding last year. It was then, she said, when she realized the impact that sharing her story could have on others.

“For better or worse, when you’re running for mayor, there’s a little bit of a spotlight on you," she explained. "I really felt like I had the opportunity to use this spotlight to share more of myself and hopefully help other people in ways that I didn’t realize," she said.

In addition, Ms. Quinn said she hoped to relieve some of the burden of carrying around a secret for so long. “I really believe when you come out of hiding, in whatever way you’re hiding, you get to go out into the sunlight," she said.

Still, Ms. Quinn faced pointed questions from reporters about her motivation for making the revelations public  just as the campaign season shifts into high gear, despite years of serving as the city's second-most powerful elected official. Some have interpreted the move as part of a larger effort to soften a brash image and broaden her appeal to women voters--but Ms. Quinn insisted there was no political calculus behind her move.

“This discussion, this book, it’s not about softening my image,” she insisting, questioning whether admitting she was bulimic or an alcoholic would really be the best solution anyway. Instead, she said she is proud of her reputation as loud and pushy and has no intentions of changing her ways.

"There’s not a lot of conversation going on in my world about softening my image," she said. "I’m pretty much who I am.”

Regardless of its motivation, the discussion provided an arguably unprecedented look into a mayor candidate’s private life, with audience members encouraged to ask deeply personal questions about Ms. Quinn's struggles with her weight, the pressures of perfection, and her relationships with her mom and dad.

Still, after what some said felt like a talk show confession, many questions remained unanswered.

Had she ever relapsed?

“It’s been a journey,” she said when asked the question. “It’s something I feel very good about where I am at right now. But like any journey, you’re not going to do it perfectly.”

Does she attend a program like Alcoholics Anonymous, or has she handled her alcoholism on her own?

“The second 'A' in Alcoholics Anonymous is 'anonymous,' and so I’m going to honor the tradition of that program and I’m not going to answer one way or another about membership in that program," said Ms. Quinn. "But I want to be clear, with both of those challenges, I’ve been able to overcome them because I’ve asked for help.”

Ms. Quinn clarified that she does, indeed, consider herself an alcoholic, which runs in her family--but said that limiting her intake was a gradual process. When she  left a stint in rehab for her eating disorder, she said, she was warned to watch out for her drinking. After years of enjoying the occasional glass of wine, she said she decided a little over three years ago to cut out alcohol entirely, as part of a larger effort to be healthier.

Ms. Quinn also revealed that she is “terrified” about the book and its reception, but said that, after “coming out” as a lesbian, a bulimic and an alcoholic, she’s done with revelations.

"That’s all you’re getting’! That’s all there is,” she bellowed with a laugh. “That’s a full lid, as they say!”

Joe Lhota. (Photo: Getty)

The foundations of any successful high-profile campaign usually include strong fund-raising operations, and the race to replace term-limited Mayor Michael Bloomberg is no exception. As tomorrow's deadline approaches for candidates to release their quarterly fund-raising totals, most of the campaigns are claiming success.

Former MTA chair Joe Lhota for example, raised a healthy $558,000 for his bid.

"We're still doing some last minute tallying so this might fluctuate slightly," Lhota spokeswoman Jessica Proud told Politicker in an email. "We're very pleased with our fundraising. We set out specific objectives for this filing period and are happy to report that we exceeded our goal to double our donor base."

Mr. Lhota's main opponent, billionaire businessman John Catsimatidis, has yet to announce if he's raised anything at all this quarter--not that he'll need to--but on the Democratic side of the aisle, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio's campaign triumphantly declared that they've raised the maximum threshold for the primary.

"This period, New Yorkers for de Blasio raised $240,000, including more than $75,000 in matchable contributions," his campaign manager, Bill Hyers, said in a statement. "With expected matching funds, the campaign has raised more than the maximum allowable expenditure for the Democratic primary. We intend to build on this momentum as we raise resources for the Runoff and general election."

Council Speaker Christine Quinn, the race's front-runner who maxed out for the primary a long time ago, added a further $510,000 to her campaign chest while spending $230,000, her campaign said. Former Comptroller Bill Thompson announced earlier today that his own fund-raising had picked up, pulling in over $600,000 over the latest period.

Not everyone was pleased with their quarterly filings, however. Former Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrión, who's running on the Independence Party's line, raised less than $20,000. His campaign complained that too many donors operated within the two-party structure.

Update (5:40 p.m.): City Comptroller John Liu, another Democratic candidate, reports that he raised just over $104,000 over the latest period, which ended days after his campaign treasurer and a donor were convicted for setting up a straw donor scheme. He also spent more than $225,o00 over that period, leaving him with just $1,912,517 cash on-hand, the campaign said.

Nonetheless,  Mr. Liu's campaign has now maxed out for the primary--assuming the city's Campaign Finance Board lets him keep his publicly-matched funds. He's also now eligible for the public maximum, with $605,500 in total matchable contributions, they said.

"We have all of our documentation in place supporting our matching funds claims and are confident that we are fully-qualified to receive the maximum amount of public matching funds, allowed under the law, of $3,534,300," Mr. Liu's lawyer,  Martin Connor, said in a statement.

Update (12:22 p.m. Wednesday): Former City Councilman Sal Albanese's campaign reported Wednesday that he raised just over $40,500 during the latest period--slightly more than than the last quarter, but still not enough to make him a top-tier candidate. He now has $105,155 cash on-hand, they said.

"Unlike his opponents, Sal refuses contributions from developers, registered lobbyists, and people doing business with the city," his campaign spokesman said in a statement. He added that over the past month, Mr. Albanese has made significant investments in the campaign, hiring a field director, volunteer coordinator, fund-raiser and a community liaison.

Additional reporting by Jill Colvin.

Bill Thomspon. (Photo: Facebook/Bill Thompson)

Bill Thompson raised more than $600,000 over the past two months for his mayoral bid--a haul his campaign touted as a "dramatic" uptick in their fund-raising pace.

The money, raised from March 12 through May 11, is nearly double what Mr. Thompson raised during the previous period--a sign, staffers said, that his campaign is gaining steam.

“I think this campaign is starting to kick into high gear," Mr. Thompson’s chief strategist, Jonathan Prince, told reporters during a conference call announcing the results.

"We have moved on a lot of fronts to improve the way we were doing business, quite frankly," he said, pointing to a slew of recently announced endorsements and greater visibility in recent weeks.

Mr. Thompson has been criticized in the past for failing to energize voters and running a lackluster campaign.

Mr. Prince said the campaign spent roughly $300,000 during the recent period, leaving them with upwards of $2.3 million cash-on-hand.

The campaign also reported that more than half of the contributions were small donations of $250 or less; and about $50,000 will be eligible to be matched by the city's generous public matching funds program.

Mr. Prince argued the campaign's relatively modest spending early out of gate will give it an advantage in the long run, as the major campaigns, which are all expected to raise the maximum among, struggle to keep their spending under the required cap. The campaign, he said, already has  a $400,000 spending advantage over City Council Speaker and front-runner Christine Quinn and an almost half-million dollar advantage over Public Advocate Bill de Blasio.

“The campaign is kicking into high-gear at the appropriate time," he said.

Campaigns have until Wednesday to file their latest fund-raising and spending reports with the city's campaign finance board.

The Broadway Democrats. (Photo: broadwaydemocrats.org)

Members of the Broadway Democrats, one of the Upper West Side's most influential political clubs, are at odds over their endorsement of John Liu for mayor.

The club's endorsements process spun into minor chaos late last night when members were forced to complete their counting in the club's president's home. Then, early this morning, a member realized the club had miscounted the ballots because of a misinterpretation of the club's run-off procedures--forcing a re-count that gave the city's comptroller a victory.

"Some people are not accepting that and will be challenging that," said Curtis Arluck, the local assembly seat's male district leader, describing the fallout from the vote, which comes just over a week after Mr. Liu's former campaign treasurer and a top fundraiser were found guilty of campaign finance fraud.

The problems began around 10 p.m. when a longer-than-expected meeting forced club leadership to change locations and count the remaining ballots at club president Gretchen Borges' home.

During the club's first round of tallies, Mr. Liu received 31 votes, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn received 22, Mr. de Blasio 13 and former Comptroller Bill Thompson 4. Because no candidate received a majority, the club began an automatic run-off count, tallying voters' second and third-place choices to determine a victor.

But when the club was left with two finalists, City Council Speaker Christine and Mr. Liu, they stopped. Mr. Liu had the most, with 35 votes, but not the majority of the 71 cast he needed to win. The club determined it would make no endorsement for mayor in the race and members went to sleep.

But early in the morning, the clubs' Female District Leader, Liu supporter Paula Diamond Román, said she discovered they'd actually made a mistake. Per "Article VIII" of the club's constitution, the counters were supposed to have finished tallying up votes until they were left with a single candidate.

Members who were available--both Liu and non-Liu supporters--returned to Ms. Borges' house to continue counting. In the end, Mr. Liu came out with 42--or 59.2 percent. Of the 71 ballots, 29 offered no endorsement instead of choosing Ms. Quinn.

But the confusion left some members fuming and questioning whether the ballots could have been tampered with, leaders said.

"The process of having the votes here without anyone but me and the votes have left some people distraught that there’s an opportunity for mischief," said Ms. Borges, who said the district's assemblyman, Daniel O'Donnell, was especially upset.

But she and Ms. Diamond Román blamed the mix-up on innocent confusion over a new, complicated voting system that no one really understood.

"This is not our first choice of how this would have gone," she said.

Ms. Borges said she understood the concern from members and apologized for the snafu.

“It's not the deal way to do things. Yes, we should have known what we were doing before that night .... So there’s some culpability, no doubt about that."

Mr. Liu's campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

John Liu thanking the Three Parks Dems for their endorsement. (Photo: Jill Colvin)

City Comptroller John Liu's mayoral bid secured its first major endorsement last night following the convictions of his former campaign treasurer and a fund-raiser on fraud charges, giving him a symbolic victory as he seeks to soldier on in his electoral quest.

The Three Parks Independent Democrats, one of the Upper West Side's major political clubs, delivered its support to Mr. Liu, who has defiantly campaigned since verdicts while insisting he can still win.

The first round of voting at a youth hostel on 103rd Street produced a a near-tie, with 40 votes for Mr. Liu and 38 for Public Advocate Bill de Blasio. Of the remaining 94 votes, six went to former Comptroller Bill Thompson and only one went to City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, the race's early front-runner. Long-shot comedian Randy Credico got three.

The close tallies prompted a second round of voting, where Mr. Liu edged out Mr. de Blasio 45-29.

As the news spread, a beaming Mr. Liu embraced supporters and staffers, with hugs and congratulations. "Wow!" said one supporter. "We pulled it off!" another exclaimed.

"I'm speechless," Mr. Liu told the group in brief remarks after the voting. "Thank you from the bottom of my heart ... You placed your confidence in me ... Let me say that I apologize for the fact that being friends with me is not for the faint of heart."

Mr. Liu later told Politicker he thought the vote boded well for the campaign. "The members of this club are not only active, they're knowledgeable and they care about what's really important, which are the issues," he said.

Daniel Marks Cohen, a New York State Democratic committeeman and one of the club's leaders, said that Mr. Liu's supporters seemed unfazed by his legal woes less than a week after former treasurer Jia "Jenny" Hou and fund-raiser Xing Wu "Oliver" Pan were found guilty for their roles in a straw donor scheme on Mr. Liu's behalf. The comptroller himself has not been charged with any wrongdoing, and both plan to appeal.

"I guess in the end, maybe the Liu people had more passion," Mr. Cohen said of the results. "Surprisingly it didn't dampen the enthusiasm. I think the Liu supporters are true believers and they don't care."

Others pointed to Mr. Liu's a long-standing relationship with the club, which also endorsed him for comptroller four years ago. "They know him," said Bob Botfeld, a Democratic district leader who supports Mr. de Blasio.

Mr. Liu, who got a nod from the Democratic Organization of Richmond County Club in Staten Island last month, is also expected to do well tonight with the Broadway Democrats. District Leader Paula Diamond Román penned a letter with other members encouraging them to vote for him, describing Mr. Liu as the most progressive candidate in the race. “To me, he's a very brave, ethical, humble person who acts in a very progressive way, rather than just speaking in a progressive way," she said.

The Three Parks club also endorsed Upper West Side City Councilwoman Gale Brewer for Manhattan borough president, Brooklyn Councilwoman Letitia James for public advocate and an unopposed Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer for comptroller.

Advocates want the city to ban horse-drawn carriages. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)

A group of outspoken animal rights advocates said they're now considering supporting Republican Joe Lhota for mayor, after the candidate vowed to get rid of horse-drawn carriages because of their smell.

New Yorkers for Clean, Livable and Safe Streets (NYCLASS), the anti-horse-drawn carriage that is one of the groups behind the anti-Christine Quinn political committee New York City Is Not for Sale, told Politicker Wednesday that the group is looking at endorsing Mr. Lhota in November if Ms. Quinn wins the Democratic nomination.

"If Quinn becomes the Democratic Nominee NYCLASS ... would have to support Lhota," the group's Executive Director, Allie Feldman, said in a statement.

Public Advocate Bill de Blasio is the only candidate so far to support an outright ban on the carriages, earning him loud applause at NYCLASS's recent debate. Ms. Quinn, the Democratic front-runner, has long defended the industry, while pushing to make sure the animals are treated humanely. Bill Thompson and John Liu have been more critical, but have not voiced support for an outright ban.

Mr. Lhota made news Tuesday evening when he came out against the industry, which has become an unexpectedly hot-button issue in this year's mayoral race.

“Quite honestly, there are ways to do this without horses. You can have carriages with motors in it if you want," Mr. Lhota said on AM 970 yesterday when asked about the carriages, which critics are rife with abuse and safety hazards. But unlike advocates, Mr. Lhota's biggest beef with the tourist traps is not their treatment, but their stench.

"The smell that they drop there, is unfortunate. The smell on Central Park South is also unfortunate," he said. "I will get rid of the horses." he vowed.

The news was welcomed by anti-carriage advocates looking for a candidate to support in the general election if Ms. Quinn wins the Democratic nomination in the highly-contested field. Ms. Feldman, who described herself as a life-long Democrat, said she had never voted for a Republican in her life, but said she would now consider doing so for Mr. Lhota.