Nation's largest city holds primary as Mayor Michael Bloomberg's tenure nears an end. 
 
 New York City Democratic Mayoral hopeful Bill De Blasio embraces his son Dante, left, daughter Chiara, second from left, and wife Chirlane, right, after addressing supporters at his election headquarters after polls closed in the city's primary election. (Photo: Kathy Willens, AP) Story Highlights Public advocate had double-digit lead over William Thompson for Democratic nomination 
 
 40% was needed to advance to Nov. 5 election vs. Republican Joe Lhota 
 
 Voters reject Weiner, Spitzer bids for redemption 
 
 Bill de Blasio was the clear leader in the Democratic race for New York City mayor early Wednesday, teetering near the 40% mark he needed to advance to the general election against Republican Joe Lhota without a runoff. 
 
 William Thompson, de Blasio's closest rival and the 2009 Democratic nominee for mayor, refused to concede until the last vote is counted. 
 
 The Associated Press reported that it may take a week or more before de Blasio emerges as his party's nominee. 
 
 STORY: 'Tabloid Twins' Weiner, Spitzer lose comeback bids 
 
 The only sure thing about the first round of balloting in New York City was that voters rejected Anthony Weiner and Eliot Spitzer, who were seeking redemption after sex scandals derailed their once-promising careers. 
 
 Voters also turned back City Council Speaker Christine Quinn's historic bid to be the city's first female and first openly gay mayor, and relegated the one-time front-runner to third place behind de Blasio and Thompson. 
 
 As he thanked his supporters in Brooklyn, de Blasio sounded confident and outlined his vision for the nation's most populous city. Standing beside him were his wife, Chirlane McCray, daughter Chiara and son Dante, who became a mini-celebrity after his starring role in a much-talked about campaign ad for his dad. 
 
 "Our mission is to change our city in the name of progress," de Blasio said, as his supporters chanted, "Mayor Bill." 
 
 He promised to end the striking economic imbalance that has widened the gap between rich and poor in New York City. "The tale of two cities will be in our past," de Blasio vowed. 
 
 Christine Quinn and Anthony Weiner at one time led polls for the Democratic nomination for New York City mayor. (Photo: James Keivom, AP) 
 
 STORY: NYC moves past raucous primary 
 
 In one of the main subplots of the primary election, former congressman Weiner and ex-governor Spitzer have had their comeback bids shot down by voters. Weiner finished a distant fifth among the major Democratic mayoral hopefuls. Spitzer was defeated by Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer in a close race to be the Democratic nominee for city comptroller. 
 
 Weiner briefly led public opinion polls in the mayor's race. His support dwindled after he admitted he continued to send salacious messages to women through the Internet — even after his sexting habit forced him to resign from Congress in 2011. Spitzer, who resigned as governor in 2008 after admitting he paid for sex with prostitutes, also briefly led the comptroller's race. 
 
 "We had the best ideas," Weiner told his supporters. "Sadly, I was an imperfect messenger." 
 
 Democrats have a 6-to-1 voter registration advantage over Republicans, meaning the Democratic nominee will be heavily favored to succeed Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Despite the city's political tilt, a Democrat hasn't been elected mayor since David Dinkins defeated Ed Koch in 1989. 
 
 Tuesday's primary was the first since 1997 without Bloomberg, an independent, on the ballot but he still loomed large in the race. 
 
 Quinn took shots for supporting Bloomberg on overturning the city's term limits law, which allowed him to seek and win a third term. De Blasio, meanwhile, said he was the candidate who could "offer an unapologetic progressive alternative to the Bloomberg era." 
 
 De Blasio "peaked at the right time," said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion. 
 
 In the comptroller's race, Stringer will face Republican John Burnett in the fall. Burnett is a longtime wealth manager at Wall Street firms. 
 
 Turnout was light among the city's 3.2 million registered Democrats and 510,000 Republicans. Some voters reported problems with the city's old voting machines, including jams and breakdowns of levers, causing some people to have to write down their election choices on a piece of paper. 
 
 Contributing: Martha T. Moore; the Associated Press 
 
 Follow @ccamia on Twitter. 
 
 Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1fSkGzd ||||| The winner of the unusually spirited Republican contest was Joseph J. Lhota, a no-nonsense former chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. He defeated John A. Catsimatidis, a voluble billionaire who ran an often whimsical campaign. 
 
 Mr. Lhota, who served as deputy mayor to Rudolph W. Giuliani, will carry his tough-minded approach to crime-fighting and city spending into the general election on Nov. 5. A vocal supporter of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s policies, Mr. Lhota called his victory “the first step in continuing a strong future for our city.” 
 
 By contrast, Mr. de Blasio’s vow to make a clean break from the Bloomberg era struck a chord with Democratic voters worried about jobs and schools. Roughly three in four wanted to move the city in a different direction after 12 years with Mr. Bloomberg, an exit poll found. 
 
 In the unexpectedly heated race for the unglamorous office of city comptroller, Scott M. Stringer, the Manhattan borough president, repelled a last-minute comeback attempt by Eliot Spitzer, who resigned as governor over his use of prostitutes. And in the Democratic primary for public advocate, Letitia James, a City Council member from Brooklyn, will face Senator Daniel L. Squadron of Brooklyn in a runoff election. 
 
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 In the race for mayor, Mr. de Blasio had until a few months ago been a distant fourth in a crowded Democratic field, well behind Christine C. Quinn, the longtime front-runner, who rose to prominence as the speaker of the City Council and a close ally of Mr. Bloomberg. Mr. de Blasio, propelled by an unrelenting critique of the mayor, frustrated Ms. Quinn’s painstakingly cultivated effort to become the first woman and the first openly gay person to lead the city. 
 
 Mr. Thompson, who nearly unseated Mr. Bloomberg in 2009, struggled this time to win over nonwhite voters who were crucial to his campaign strategy as the only black candidate in the race. 
 
 Mr. de Blasio, a white Brooklynite who frequently showcased his biracial family, built a broad coalition of support among nearly every category of Democratic primary voters on Tuesday, according to the exit poll by Edison Research. His critique of a city divided between rich and poor — tried in the past by other candidates in New York and nationally with little success — resonated. 
 
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 “I love his message about the tale of two cities, the big inequality gap,” said Jelani Wheeler, 19, a politics student at St. John’s University in Queens. 
 
 “We can start correcting many important issues the city is facing, issues often ignored by the Bloomberg administration,” he added. 
 
 Though Democrats outnumber Republicans in New York by six to one, the city has not elected a Democratic mayor since David N. Dinkins in 1989. But the white voters who helped elect Mr. Giuliani and Mr. Bloomberg are a less potent political force in a city where ethnic and racial minorities now make up a majority of the population. 
 
 Mr. de Blasio, who worked for Mr. Dinkins, this year inspired Democrats angry about how the economy and police practices affected them personally, as well as those who felt uncomfortable on their behalf. 
 
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 He promised to end racial profiling, overhaul the stop-and-frisk practice and replace Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly. His critique of the police went further than that of either Ms. Quinn or Mr. Thompson — and he memorably deployed his teenage son, Dante, to make his case in a compelling television advertisement. 
 
 Addressing widespread concerns about the gap between the city’s rich and poor, Mr. de Blasio also proposed a tax on the wealthy to pay for universal prekindergarten — though his rhetoric made it sometimes seem unclear which was the end and which the means. 
 
 His tax-the-rich proposal was dismissed by his rivals, who said it would never be approved in Albany. But at times Ms. Quinn and Mr. Thompson were left in the unwelcome position of sounding like proponents of the status quo, at a moment when voters made clear they were impatient to be led in a different direction. 
 
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 Mr. de Blasio gained support from black voters like Jennifer Ward, 59, of Brownsville, Brooklyn, who on Tuesday helped her 85-year-old mother, in a flowing white dress with black polka-dots, up the steps of the Brownsville Beacon Community Center and into the big gymnasium. 
 
 “He’s strong and he fights,” said Ms. Ward, a nurse, who was impressed by Mr. de Blasio’s efforts to prevent the closing of local hospitals. “Even if he has to stand alone, he fights for us.” 
 
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 The Democrats had been jockeying for position ever since Mr. Bloomberg squeezed out a narrower-than-expected victory over Mr. Thompson four years ago. 
 
 The presumptive favorite a year ago was Ms. Quinn, given her close ties to Mr. Bloomberg and the business community; in the spring, the race shifted with the entry of Anthony D. Weiner, a former congressman, who briefly led the field before sinking over revelations that he had continued sending sexually explicit online messages even after resigning. 
 
 Ms. Quinn’s defeat was crushing for a politician whose career as speaker was built on a belief that helping Mr. Bloomberg carry out his agenda would give her a record of accomplishments to run on. Her crucial role in making Mr. Bloomberg’s third term possible antagonized a huge swath of Democratic voters who showed they were unwilling to forgive and forget. 
 
 Mr. Thompson relied on a campaign strategy built on old-fashioned New York City identity politics and electoral arithmetic. He worked hard to enlist support from establishment political players, while obtaining important municipal union endorsements. 
 
 The police, the firefighters, the transit workers and, most important, the teachers all lined up behind Mr. Thompson; the teachers’ union alone spent about $2.6 million on his behalf. 
 
 Pointing to his record as a behind-the-scenes power broker as school board president and as a fiscal steward while city comptroller, Mr. Thompson positioned himself as the adult in the Democratic field, running well to the right of Mr. de Blasio — and even campaigning with former Senator Alfonse M. D’Amato, once the state Republican kingpin. 
 
 In the event of a runoff, Mr. de Blasio would begin with an fund-raising advantage of about $400,000 over Mr. Thompson. Each would be able to spend a maximum of $3.123 million, under a spending limit imposed by the city’s campaign finance program. 
 
 But on Tuesday night, Mr. de Blasio was celebrating. As guests ate schnitzel with shallots and ginger served on soft pretzel heros, the crowd focused on the now-familiar sight of Dante’s outsized Afro, which Mr. de Blasio’s daughter, Chiara, affectionately caressed. A moment later, when Mr. de Blasio took the stage, he paid his own form of tribute to his son’s hair, telling supporters that Dante had to fend off strangers trying to touch it. 
 
 “Security was ready to intervene,” he said.
– As expected, Bill de Blasio will easily finish first in New York City's Democratic primary for mayor, reports the AP. What's unclear is whether he will get the necessary 40% to avoid a runoff with the second-place finisher. With 97% of returns in, de Blasio had 40.02%, Bill Thompson 26%, and Christine Quinn 15%. Trailing those three were city comptroller John Liu (7%) and, yes, Anthony Weiner (5%). The eventual Democratic winner will face former MTA chief (and Rudy Giuliani deputy) Joe Lhota in the general election in November. He won the GOP race over billionaire John Catsimatidis. There will be a recount of yesterday's ballots, and some 30,000 votes, including absentee ballots, still need to be counted a first time. A final result may not be known for 10 days and Thompson has made it clear that he won't drop out in the name of party unity: He chanted "Three more weeks!" at his election night event, referring to a time before a potential runoff, which polls show he would lose. Exit polls showed that de Blasio, the city's public advocate, did well with a wide swath of voters from different ethnic groups and locales, reports the New York Times. More so than the other candidates, he advocated a clean break from Michael Bloomberg, making a particular issue of Bloomberg's stop-and-frisk policy. The mayor interjected himself into the campaign when he accused de Blasio of running a "racist" campaign—in part because the candidate featured his Afro-sporting teen son in a TV ad. De Blasio is white, his wife is black, and he would be first city mayor with an interracial family, notes the Times.