Metro

De Blasio says he’ll win primary outright without runoff

The presumptive Democratic nominee for mayor said tonight he expects to win the primary outright — without a runoff — after the Board of Elections concludes its recount of the votes.

It was the first time Public Advocate Bill de Blasio addressed the issue of a potential runoff with second-place finisher Bill Thompson since unofficially winning the primary Tuesday with 40.3 percent of the votes in the unofficial tally..

De Blasio needs at least 40 percent of the votes to avoid a runoff.

“I think the numbers will be consistent throughout the count and we will break that 40 percent number,” de Blasio told the Rev. Al Sharpton on his MSNBC show. “A lot of folks in the Democratic party are calling for unity, which I appreciate.”

De Blasio also said for the first time that he had spoken to Thompson, a former City Comptroller, on primary night — but not in the days since.

“On Tuesday night we talked. He’s someone I’ve known for many years and have a lot of respect for. He made clear that he wanted to look at his options and I respect that,” said de Blasio.

His comments came just before a pow-wow between Thompson and Democratic heavy-hitters at the downtown headquarters of the United Federation of Teachers aimed at determining Thompson’s next step..

The UFT was one of Thompson’s biggest backers, but has expressed tepid support for his staying in the race.

A host of prominent party leaders are applying pressure on Thompson to concede in order to unify the party and begin focusing on the general election battle against Republican Joe Lhota.

Thompson’s campaign has insisted it would wait out a recount by the BOE.

On Sharpton’s show, de Blasio also said he had received congratulatory phone calls from Democratic icons Bill and Hillary Clinton, but he wouldn’t say whether they’d go to bat for him in the upcoming race.

“I’ve talked to each of the Clintons and had very cordial conversations,” de Blasio said. “They kindly both called to congratulate and I asked their advice and we’ll see what happens going forward.”