De Blasio a Go: Thompson Ending NYC Mayoral Bid

The primary everyone is sick of reading about appears to be coming to an end. With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Bill Thompson is conceding the Democratic nomination for New York City mayor to Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, according Monday reports from the New York Post and New York Daily News reports.

Although the former city comptroller previously said he would wait to concede until all the votes were counted, sources close to Thompson say he will will drop out and endorse front-runner de Blasio. De Blasio, who is the city's elected public advocate, currently has 40.3 percent of the vote — just 0.3 percent more than he needs to secure the primary and avoid a runoff election with Thompson.

Thompson's decision to quit the elections comes amid some pressure from influential Democrats who want to avoid further party division.

"The sooner we find a Democratic candidate the better, as far as I’m concerned," said Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, who won the primary race for city comptroller.

"You know, we’ve got to think about November. We’ve got to unite the Democratic Party, so I hope that continues to play out in the coming days," he added.

Thompson's campaign has run out of money, and the Campaign Finance board refused to provide him with $463,000 in matching public funds that he requested for the runoff election, saying it wasn't clear a runoff was necessary.

The sources say Thompson will announce his departure from the race Monday morning at a "unity" press conference on the steps of City Hall with de Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo (D). Cuomo has thus far not taken a stance in the race, but earlier reports suggested he planned to work with the candidates to help bring an end to the primary race.

De Blasio will face Republican Joe Lhota, a former chairman of the city's Metropolitan Transportation Authority, in the general election.