Dear Friend,
I am deeply grateful and appreciative to you for all we have done together throughout our campaign. I am thankful for every dollar you donated, for every hour you volunteered and for every idea you put forth to help me become mayor of New York City.
This was a journey we took together in a shared effort to make New York City a place of greater equality, to level the playing field and ensure not just economic recovery, but shared prosperity.
The final results were not what we hoped for. In the end we could not overcome the one-two punch of the Campaign Finance Board's unjust and politically-motivated denial of $3.5 million owed to our campaign and our donors, and of the severely flawed polls published so incessantly as to become a self-fulfilled prophecy. Indeed, we sustained many attacks in recent years to derail my candidacy.
Our campaign was successful, however, in raising the issues and the ideas – of jobs, education, housing, and community policing. Our rivals gravitated towards and eventually adopted our views. Hey, they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery!
I have no regrets; I am proud of what we accomplished during our campaign. Let us not look backwards, but forward. I will finish out my term as Comptroller with the same energy and integrity as I always have since first being elected to public office. I'll also discuss my options and future plans with my family and my team. If you have thoughts here, don't hesitate to share!
We may not have won this battle, but the mission is far from over. We will still fight to restore the promise of New York – that if you work hard, dream big, and then you work even harder, you can achieve success and the opportunity to make good.
Once again, thank you.
John Liu
NY1 VIDEO: "Liu Concedes After Fourth-Place Democratic Mayoral Primary Finish [Full Speech]" - 9/11/2013
EXCERPT - "We showed what character is about, we showed what fortitude is about, because we never strayed from our ideals and principles ... Though we did not win this election tonight, that doesn't mean we are going away."
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS: "Party moods turn into funeral marches for NYC's losing mayor wannabes" - 9/10/2013
EXCERPT - The mood was a bit more upbeat at Liu’s event ... "We didn’t win this election, but there are no losers. We will continue to fight the good fight."