NYC mayor primary pauses for 9/11 remembrance as de Blasio waits to learn if he'll face runoff

NEW YORK – Campaigning in the New York City mayoral primary is being put on hold for remembrances of the Sept. 11 attacks.

And it was still not clear Wednesday whether Public Advocate Bill de Blasio won enough votes in the Democratic primary to avoid a runoff against second-place finisher Bill Thompson.

The Board of Elections says that with all precincts reporting, de Blasio had 40.13 percent of the vote. Thompson had 26.2 percent. But election officials will recount the votes cast Tuesday and add more than 19,000 absentee and affidavit ballots.

If de Blasio dips below 40 percent, that automatically triggers an Oct. 1 runoff. It may take more than a week before that is known.

Former MTA chairman Joe Lhota has won the Republican nomination. The general election is Nov. 5.