Republicans clinch New York race

Michael Bloomberg: "New York is alive and well"

Republican millionaire Michael Bloomberg has been elected mayor of New York to replace the hugely popular incumbent, Rudolph Giuliani.

The Democratic candidate, Mark Green, conceded at the end of a cliff-hanger battle.

Mr Giuliani - also a Republican - was not allowed to seek re-election as he has already served two terms as New York mayor.

Mark Green has called for unity

Democrats won in separate, gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey, breaking eight years of Republican control in both states.

"New York is alive and well and open for business," Mr Bloomberg declared in his victory speech.

A month ago Mr Bloomberg was trailing far behind in the polls.

But he received a boost when he was endorsed by Mr Giuliani, whose popularity soared because of his reassuring performance after the 11 September attack on the World Trade Center.

Conciliatory speeches

The two candidates had swapped insults during the campaign, but they were conciliatory once the results were in.

Both candidates promised to rebuild lower Manhattan

Mr Bloomberg described the election as a tough and close race and said Mr Green had been gracious in defeat and deserved the respect of the people of New York.

Mr Green called on the city's people to support the new mayor as he embarks on the hard tasks ahead.

"I ask the city to support him," Mr Green said.

"Over the years [Mr Bloomberg] has given so much philanthropically to so many good causes, and now he has to bring that spirit of generosity to his greatest challenge, helping rebuild and recover our city," Mr Green said.

Expensive campaign

Mr Bloomberg won 711,189 votes and Mr Green got 670,413 in nearly complete unofficial results, according to New York City's board of elections.

Mr Bloomberg, 59, founded the financial news and information services company Bloomberg LP.

Winners elsewhere in the US:

Mayoral elections

Cincinnati - Charlie Luken

Minneapolis - R.T. Rybak

Boston - Thomas Menino

Cleveland - Jane Campbell

Pittsburgh - Thomas Murphy

Gubernatorial elections

Virginia - Democrat Mark Warner

New Jersey - Democrat Jim McGreevey

He had been a long-time Democrat but switched parties last year.

The media mogul spent more than $50m of his personal fortune on the election campaign, whereas his opponent had only about one-fifth of that amount to spend.

The platforms of the two rivals were very similar, our correspondent said.

Both said they intended to rebuild lower Manhattan and bolster New York's economy after the terrorist attacks.

They also agreed on continuing Mr Giuliani's campaign to make New York a safer city.