The fact that New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg won a third term on Tuesday by only a five percent margin was shocking to many.
His Democratic opponent, William Thompson, faced a 14-1 financing disadvantage, as Bloomberg spent nearly $100 million of his own personal fortune, the most ever spent by any politician to win a political office.
Compare the five percent margin this time to the 20 percent margin that Bloomberg won by in 2005. It comes down to resentment over his personal fortune being used so aggressively, but also his pushing of the City Council to change the term limits law to allow him to run for a third term, something that alienated many voters as much as the personal financing.
The voter refusal to vote for him overwhelmingly is a good lesson in the need to limit personal fortune investments in political campaigns, and to have the guts to insist on term limits for mayors, as well as governors–that is, to follow the spirit of the 22nd Amendment for the Presidency of the United States. No one is indispensable, and good government requires that executives be replaced after a maximum of eight years in office.