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NEW YORK, NY November 05, 2003 — Mayor Bloomberg's attempt to eliminate party primaries went down in defeat. By a margin of more than 2 to 1, city voters rejected his plan for non partisan elections. WNYC's Beth Fertig has more.

After a flurry of campaign literature, press conferences, and recorded phone calls from elected officials - the voters finally had THEIR say on Question Three. But as Kate Hines went to the polls on the Upper West Side yesterday, she was still struggling to remember how to vote on all five ballot questions.

HINES: I was divided about it, I ultimately went with the advice of my family and the New York Times. None of the choices were well researched by me. I went in there with the cha cha in my mind, yes, yes, no no no. yes, yes, no no no.

While Hines was dancing to the rhythm of the ballot question's opponents, other voters weren't so sure even after they left the polls.

VOTER: I'm a psychotherapist and an author and I'm the idiot who voted no on three and wish I'd voted yes on three.

This woman in Greenwich Village was too embarrassed to give her name.

VOTER: I would have liked to vote yes, because in my heart of heart I would have liked to see a free for all with everybody: working class parties, and bizarre parties and new wave and new age parties I'd like to see everyone get an equal shot.

But in the end, the thought of letting candidates from all political parties run in one big primary, was a risk most voters did NOT want to take. Bruce Booker was casting his ballot at the Brooklyn Museum.

BOOKER: I don't believe that we should have allegiance to the Democratic party but I'm not in favor of breaking up the system until there's a better alternative, I don't want to end up like California with 135 candidates for one race.

Democrats had joined forces with labor leaders and civic groups to oppose the ballot question. At a gathering in Manhattan, State Party chairman Denny Farrell said this teamwork was obviously successful.

FARRELL: It says to people that money isn't everything that issues can work.

Democrats claim to have spent about half a million dollars - while Mayor Bloomberg spent at least 2 million dollars of his own money. Farrell talked with confidence about taking on Bloomberg in 2005.

FARRELL: This gives us a beginning. He's now got to run on a record. He can no longer do like he did when he won in 2001 he had no record. The only record he had was that he was a billionaire.

Of course, it's hard to read all that much into a ballot question during an off-year election with low voter turnout. Mayor Bloomberg offered little insight. He refused to take any questions from reporters on Staten Island, where he was supporting the Republican candidate for district attorney. The mayor ducked out through the banquet hall's kitchen. Later, he released a statement on the ballot question saying while he's disappointed, the people have spoken.

In the city council, Democrats held on to two seats where their incumbents faced stiff Republican challengers. But in the hotly contested Brooklyn race, Democrat Geoffrey Davis was soundly defeated by Leticia James of the Working Families Party. Davis was seeking to fill the seat of his murdered brother, James Davis. But he was dogged by questions about his criminal record and his often erratic behavior. Last night, Davis never even appeared at the social club in Fort Green where his campaign workers waited for hours. One identified only as Tom couldn't say where the candidate was.

TOM: I mean please do you understand the position I'm in? I mean please, just don't shoot the messenger. That's all I can say.

Later, Brooklyn Democratic leader Clarence Norman went to greet the woman who defeated Davis. Norman is being investigated in the scandal over the Brooklyn party's role in picking judges. A scandal that fueled Republicans and the Working Families Party in their quest to win the council seat and the Brooklyn judicial races. But Norman offered this assessment of the Democrats' loss in the council race.

NORMAN: It wasn't so much a matter of party labels, it was a matter of who the community felt would best represent them in the city council and the people have spoken, and have spoken overwhelmingly.

So even as voters overwhelmingly rejected Mayor Bloomberg's drive for Non Partisan elections, they somehow managed to give a third party it's first seat in the City Council.