Those lucky registered Democrats. They get to pick their choice of four candidates running for mayor in today’s primary. Of course, many of them do not realize how lucky they are and probably will not show up to vote today, which is a pity.

Republicans, as usual, have no choice, because GOP leaders in New York City tend to be pragmatic rather than principled. Save for the rebels in Queens County, all of the county organizations have endorsed Mayor Bloomberg, because he is likely to be reelected, not because he represents Republican ideals. The mayor’s one challenger, Thomas Ognibene, was kept off the primary ballot when his petitions were challenged successfully by a man who is on the Bloomberg campaign staff, John Haggerty Jr. On the Web site of the former City Council member from Queens, www.ognibeneforny.com, Mr. Ognibene says the mayor spent a fortune to keep him off tomorrow’s ballot, “But I’ve got a message for Mayor Bloomberg … this election is not for sale.”

Thus far, the mayor’s ad campaigns have been expensive and, according to the Libertarian candidate for mayor, Audrey Silk, misleading as well. Ms. Silk was just one of several individuals who contacted me after my column “Republicans Against Bloomberg.” The founder of CLASH (Citizens Lobbying Against Smoker Harassment), she disputes the mayor’s reports of the effectiveness of the smoking ban and the increase in tourism measured by hotel occupancy rates. Ms. Silk, who is a former city police officer, cites the lost revenue caused by closed bars and other restaurants due to the ban. She also has received correspondence from tourists who feel they were tricked because they were unaware of New York’s draconian anti-smoking law. One tourist, Matt Montano, came with his wife with $3,000 to spend here but ended up sitting in his hotel room drinking cheap beer instead of dining at the Campbell Apartment, which he said was once a smoker-friendly bar. “The city and its mayor has destroyed the magic that NYC was,” he wrote.

Ms. Silk – whose Web site is www.audreysilkfornycmayor.com – has also pledged to put a stop to the harassing summonses by the Police Department. The Police Department, however, is not the only city agency infuriating residents, particularly those on Staten Island. Just last month, the city’s Health Department issued fines and threatened to put a lien on the home of a nearly blind 79-year-old man because of his unkempt garden. Anthony Melnick’s increasing impairment prevented him from maintaining his property, and the front-page story of his plight in the Staten Island Advance resulted in a surge of Good Samaritans, including Borough President James Molinaro, who came to his aid to clean up the untidy, but not unhealthy, yard.

One writer to the Advance complained about getting a $100 fine for putting her trash out in the afternoon, instead of the evening, before a scheduled pickup. Residents on my block have been given warning notices about open trash cans, which the sanitation inspectors claim will attract rodents. The lids are usually taken off by bottle- and-can scavengers who pick through unwitting homeowners’ garbage, but guess who will get the ticket?

Last year, my son and his girlfriend were given bench summonses for entering Silver Lake Park after dusk. It had rained steadily for almost two weeks, and these two exercise enthusiasts were anxious to get in a run around the reservoir on the first clear evening. The policeman chided them for not carrying enough ID and told them they were in violation of the city’s vagrancy law. They both lost a day’s pay to appear in court, but their cases were immediately dismissed by the judge, who seemed annoyed by yet another frivolous waste of her time.

It was that latest assault on law-abiding citizens that made my husband comment: “The biggest difference between Rudy Giuliani and Bloomberg is that Rudy went after the quality-of-life criminals. Bloomberg is going after our quality of life. He’s making sure that the fines and tickets are being given to people who can pay the tickets.”

If New York City is starting to enforce its vagrancy law, then that should do away with those homeless men who take up residence outside that Fifth Avenue church every winter, right? That’s not likely to happen, is it?

If those hapless Democratic candidates had quit picking each other to pieces and concentrated on issues that actually resonate with the ordinary citizen, they might have noticed another big difference between the Republican mayors: Mr. Giuliani went after the squeegee men, while Mr. Bloomberg’s going after the citizen inside the car.