Quantcast
Joe Lhota wins Republican primary in NYC mayoral race – Metro US

Joe Lhota wins Republican primary in NYC mayoral race

NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 10:  Republican mayoral candidate Joe Lhota, former CEO of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, waves to the media after voting in the New York City mayoral primary on September 10, 2013 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. Lhota is running against businessman John Catsimatidis on the Republican side.  (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) Joe Lhota, former CEO of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, waves to the media after voting in the New York City mayoral primary on Tuesday. Credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Former MTA head Joe Lhota is the projected winner of the Republican primary in New York City with 79 percent of the precincts reporting.

He was ahead of his main competitor John Catisimatidis, the head of the Gristedes grocery store chain, by about 50 percent of the vote.

Lhota is a New York native who grew up in the Bronx and has spent the last 25 years in Brooklyn. He was deputy mayor under Mayor Rudy Giuliani and has been a staunch defender of NYPD Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and the city’s stop-and-frisk program.