Bill Thompson lost a surprisingly close mayoral race to Michael Bloomberg in 2009. Now Thompson is back for another run against Gracie Mansion, hoping to emerge from the wide-open field as the Democratic nominee once again. With the support of the Teachers’ Union and years of private sector experience in addition to his long record as a public official, Thompson is tougher than ever.
As Comptroller of New York City from 2002 through 2009, Bill Thompson was responsible for managing the finances of the nation’s largest municipality and supervised a staff of 700 professionals. Thompson was given the opportunity to run for a third term in 2009, but he chose to run for mayor instead. As the Democratic nominee, Bill came within just a few percentage points of beating Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
As the head of the Board of Education for five terms, he oversaw a school system with 1.1 million students and 130,000 employees. Thompson is also Chair of Governor Cuomo’s Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprise Team. In 2012, he stepped down as Chairman of the Hugh L. Carey Battery Park City Authority to focus on his campaign for mayor.
