Bill De Blasio On The Issues You Care About

Bill de Blasio currently leads the Democratic primary in New York's mayoral race. Last night's results indicate that de Blasio has gained 40.2% of votes, but the question is not whether he'll keep the projected lead. More people wonder whether he'll face his second-place opponent, Thompson, in a runoff election next month. But, since it's quite likely that de Blasio will be taking over for Michael Bloomberg as mayor, here's some things you should know about the man who went from zero to hero.

Before running for mayor, de Blasio was the city's public advocate, and did all sorts of wonderful things like halting teacher layoffs, and fighting for compensation for the First Responders to 9/11. He also created a "Worst Landlords Watch List," which identified landlords throughout New York who were taking advantage of their tenants and pressured them to improve building maintenance.

His mayoral campaign has had a sharper focus, however, as he discussed in his almost-victory speech last night: a phenomenon he calls a "Tale of Two Cities." According to de Blasio, the middle class in NYC is disappearing. It's a valid point that was similarly raised by Scott Stringer, who won the Democratic for comptroller last night.

De Blasio's goals for his term in office also include improving public transit, income and food security for low-income New Yorkers, affordable health care, protecting the women's right to choose, and progressing the laws and attitudes for LGBT equality. For a full list of where de Blasio stands on key issues, check out his web site. After all, once de Blasio takes office, we'll all be expected to hold him accountable for what he's promised.

In case you missed it, check out our interview with mayoral candidate Christine Quinn.