The
mayor of New York City
The mayor of New York City, officially Mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property ...
is elected in early November every four years, in the year immediately following a
United States presidential election
The election of the president and the vice president of the United States is an indirect election in which citizens of the United States who are registered to vote in one of the fifty U.S. states or in Washington, D.C., cast ballots not dir ...
year, and takes office at the beginning of the following year.
The city, which elects the mayor as its chief executive, consists of
the five boroughs (
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
,
The Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New ...
,
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
,
Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
and
Staten Island
Staten Island ( ) is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey b ...
), which consolidated to form
"Greater" New York on January 1, 1898.
The consolidated city's first mayor,
Robert A. Van Wyck, was elected with other municipal officers in
November 1897. Mayoral elections previously had been held since 1834 by the
City of Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, beh ...
and the smaller, unconsolidated
City of New York
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
(Manhattan, later expanded into the Bronx).
Eric Adams
Eric Leroy Adams (born September 1, 1960) is an American politician and retired police captain serving as the 110th mayor of New York City since January 1, 2022.
Adams was an officer in the New York City Transit Police and then the New York ...
took office 12:01 AM on January 1, 2022 at a private swearing-in, followed by a public ceremony later in the day. He is the second Black mayor in the history of the city. He follows
Bill de Blasio
Bill de Blasio (; born Warren Wilhelm Jr., May 8, 1961; later Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm) is an American politician who served as the 109th mayor of New York City from 2014 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he held the office of New Y ...
, who served two consecutive terms after being elected in 2013 and for a second term in 2017.
Overview
Scope of this article
The vast bulk of this page's contents is statistical: the main results, citywide and by borough, of each of the 32 elections to the
Mayoralty of the City of New York since
Greater New York was
consolidated from the five boroughs in 1897-1898.
For many years, but not all, there are also results for minor candidates and for the different parties nominating the same major candidate. (Because minor parties' votes are not uniformly available, totals and thus percentages can be slightly inconsistent, either between different elections or between individual boroughs and the entire city in the same election.)
There are brief comments about some of the elections, and separate articles have been written for those of
1917
Events
Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix.
January
* January 9 – WWI – Battle of Rafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured by the Egyptian Expeditionary Fo ...
,
1977
Events January
* January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group.
* January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...
,
1997
File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...
,
2001
The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanist ...
,
2005
File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; " Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discover ...
, and
2009
File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; Protests ...
. Different elections are compared in many of the individual notes, in two
summary tables
may refer to:
* Abstract (summary), shortening a passage or a write-up without changing its meaning but by using different words and sentences
* Epitome, a summary or miniature form
* Abridgement, the act of reducing a written work into a sho ...
and in one
specialized table.
New York City's mayoral elections have been marked by an interplay of factors that are magnified by the size of the population. There was a history of a large socialist vote, there is a history of tension between 'regular' and 'reform' politicians, and there has been
electoral fusion
Electoral fusion is an arrangement where two or more political parties on a ballot list the same candidate, pooling the votes for that candidate. It is distinct from the process of electoral alliances in that the political parties remain separa ...
, a factor not seen in most of the rest of the United States, with a resulting plethora of smaller, yet influential, third parties.
Terms and term limits (since 1834)
Direct elections to the mayoralty of the unconsolidated City of New York began in 1834 for a term of one year, extended to two years after 1849. The 1897 Charter of the consolidated City stipulated that the mayor was to be elected for a single four-year term. In 1901, the term halved to two years, with no restrictions on reelection. In 1905, the term was extended to four years once again. (Mayors
Fiorello La Guardia
Fiorello Henry LaGuardia (; born Fiorello Enrico LaGuardia, ; December 11, 1882September 20, 1947) was an American attorney and politician who represented New York in the House of Representatives and served as the 99th Mayor of New York City fr ...
,
Robert F. Wagner Jr. and
Ed Koch
Edward Irving Koch ( ; December 12, 1924February 1, 2013) was an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, film critic, and television personality. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and was ma ...
were later able to serve for twelve years each.) In 1993, the voters approved a two-term (eight-year) limit, and reconfirmed this limit when the issue was submitted to referendum in 1996. In 2008, the
New York City Council
The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs.
The council serves as a check against the mayor in a mayor-council government model, the performance of ...
voted to change the two-term limit to three terms (without submitting the issue to the voters).
Legal challenges to the Council's action were rejected by Federal courts in January and April, 2009. However, in 2010, yet another referendum, reverting the limit to two terms, passed overwhelmingly.
''Principal source:'' ''
The Encyclopedia of New York City
''The Encyclopedia of New York City'' is a reference book on New York City, New York. Edited by Columbia University history professor Kenneth T. Jackson, the book was first published in 1995 by the New-York Historical Society and Yale Univers ...
'' (see
Sources
Source may refer to:
Research
* Historical document
* Historical source
* Source (intelligence) or sub source, typically a confidential provider of non open-source intelligence
* Source (journalism), a person, publication, publishing institute o ...
below), entries for "charter" and "mayoralty".
# See
List of mayors of New York City
The mayor of New York City is the chief executive of the Government of New York City, as stipulated by New York City's charter. The current officeholder, the 110th in the sequence of regular mayors, is Eric Adams, a member of the Democratic Pa ...
.
# Mayor Strong, elected in 1894, served an extra year because no municipal election was held in 1896, in anticipation of the consolidated City's switch to odd-year elections.
# George B. McClellan Jr. was elected to one two-year term (1904–1905) and one four-year term (1906–1909)
# David Dinkins was not affected by the term limit enacted in 1993 because he had served only one term by 1993 and failed to win re-election.
# The
September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...
on the
World Trade Center in Manhattan coincided with the primary elections for a successor to Mayor Giuliani, who was completing his second and final term of office. Many were so impressed by both the urgency of the situation and Giuliani's response that they wanted to keep him in office beyond December 31, 2001, either by removing the term limit or by extending his service for a few months. However, neither happened, the primary elections (with the same candidates) were re-run on September 25, the general election was held as scheduled on November 6, and
Michael Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a c ...
took office on the regularly appointed date of January 1, 2002.
# On October 2, 2008, Michael Bloomberg announced that he would ask the city council to extend the limit for mayor, council and other officers from two terms to three, and that, should such an extended limit prevail, he himself would seek re-election as mayor. On October 23, the
New York City Council
The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs.
The council serves as a check against the mayor in a mayor-council government model, the performance of ...
voted 29-22 to extend the two-term limit to three terms. (A proposed amendment to submit the vote to a public referendum had failed earlier the same day by a vote of 22–28 with one abstention.)
[Sewell Chan and Jonathan P. Hicks]
Council Votes, 29 to 22, to Extend Term Limits
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', published on-line and retrieved on October 23, 2008.
#In November 2010, yet another popular referendum, limiting mayoral terms to two, passed overwhelmingly.
Interrupted terms
Mayors
John T. Hoffman
John Thompson Hoffman (January 10, 1828March 24, 1888) was the 23rd governor of New York (1869–72). He was also recorder of New York City (1861–65) and the 78th mayor of New York City (1866–68). Connections to the Tweed Ring r ...
(1866–68, elected Governor 1868),
William Havemeyer
William Frederick Havemeyer (February 12, 1804 – November 30, 1874) was a German American businessman and politician who served three times as Mayor of New York City during the 19th century.
Early years
Havemeyer was born in Staten Island, ...
(1845–46, 1848–49, and 1873–74),
William Jay Gaynor
William Jay Gaynor (February 2, 1849 – September 10, 1913) was an American politician from New York City, associated with the Tammany Hall political machine. He served as the 94th mayor of the City of New York from 1910 to 1913, and previously ...
(1910–13),
Jimmy Walker
James John Walker (June 19, 1881November 18, 1946), known colloquially as Beau James, was mayor of New York City from 1926 to 1932. A flamboyant politician, he was a liberal Democrat and part of the powerful Tammany Hall machine. He was forced t ...
(1926–32), and
William O'Dwyer
William O'Dwyer (July 11, 1890November 24, 1964) was an Irish-American politician and diplomat who served as the 100th Mayor of New York City, holding that office from 1946 to 1950.
Life and career
O'Dwyer was born in Bohola, County Mayo, Ir ...
(1946–50) failed to complete the final terms to which they were elected. The uncompleted mayoral terms of Hoffman, Walker, and O'Dwyer were added to the other offices elected in (respectively) 1868,
1932
Events January
* January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel.
* January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort to assassinate Emperor Hir ...
, and
1950
Events January
* January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed.
* January 5 – Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 crashes in a snowstorm. All 19 ...
[those three elections are listed as "special" in the table below because they occurred before the next regularly scheduled ''mayoral'' election; the "regular" mayoral elections of 1874 and 1913, on the other hand, were held on the same day that they would have happened had the mayoralty not become vacant.]
† Became acting mayor as the president of the board of aldermen or (in 1950) city council.
(D) = (Democratic)
(R) = (Republican)
# Mayor Havemeyer was a Democrat who ran as a Republican against the Democratic
Tweed Ring
William Magear Tweed (April 3, 1823 – April 12, 1878), often erroneously referred to as William "Marcy" Tweed (see below), and widely known as "Boss" Tweed, was an American politician most notable for being the political boss of Tammany H ...
in 1872.
# Acting Mayors Coman, Vance and Kline did not seek election as mayor.
# Acting Mayors McKee and Impellitteri were Democrats who lost the Democratic primary to succeed themselves, but still ran in the general election as independents.
# Elected Mayor Oakey Hall won re-election, while Mayor Wickham did not seek it. Mayors Mitchel and O'Brien lost attempts at re-election, while Mayor Impellitteri did not run for a full term in the 1953 regular general election after losing the Democratic primary.
Summary tables
Principal candidates' city-wide vote since 1897
This chart has several purposes. One is to provide ordinary readers with simple, basic information from a very detailed page. Another is to provide a handy index for those looking for a particular candidate or campaign. (Just click on the year, the candidate's name, or the party name or abbreviation for more details.)
A slightly more sophisticated purpose is to sketch out on one screen the flow of votes across parties and candidates, as affected by fusion, splitting, cross-endorsement and the emergence of new movements or personalities.
Votes in thousands for principal candidates only, generally those winning more than 4.0% (1/25) of the total vote. (Therefore, low votes may not be shown in a particular year for an otherwise significant party, such as Socialist or Conservative. For some of the lesser left-wing candidates before 1945, see below.) Total vote includes that for all candidates and parties, major and minor.
Winner in bold-face in a colored box. Sitting mayor (elected or acting) at the time of the election ''in italics''.
To determine the meaning of abbreviations, click the link or check the list below this table. (Different first names, initials and nicknames may be used for the same person purely to fit the available space.)
Abbreviations used in this table: Fu. or Fus =
Fusion
Fusion, or synthesis, is the process of combining two or more distinct entities into a new whole.
Fusion may also refer to:
Science and technology Physics
*Nuclear fusion, multiple atomic nuclei combining to form one or more different atomic nucl ...
, Ind. = Independent, Ind Fu. = Independent Fusion (1989), Independence or Indep'ce =
Independence Party of New York
The Independence Party is a political party in the U.S. state of New York. The party was founded in 1991 by Dr. Gordon Black, Tom Golisano, and Laureen Oliver from Rochester, New York, and acquired ballot status in 1994. They lost their ballot ...
, L or Lib. =
Liberal Party of New York
The Liberal Party of New York is a political party in New York. Its platform supports a standard set of socially liberal policies, including abortion rights, increased spending on education, and universal health care.
History
The Liberal Part ...
, Cons. =
Conservative Party of New York
The Conservative Party of New York State is an American political party founded in 1962 following conservative dissatisfaction with the Republican Party in New York. Running on the Conservative Party line, James L. Buckley won election to the U ...
, ALP =
American Labor Party
The American Labor Party (ALP) was a political party in the United States established in 1936 that was active almost exclusively in the state of New York. The organization was founded by labor leaders and former members of the Socialist Party of A ...
, Soc. =
Socialist Party of America
The Socialist Party of America (SPA) was a socialist political party in the United States formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party of Ameri ...
, Jeff'n D =
The Democracy of Thomas Jefferson (
Henry George
Henry George (September 2, 1839 – October 29, 1897) was an American political economist and journalist. His writing was immensely popular in 19th-century America and sparked several reform movements of the Progressive Era. He inspired the eco ...
, 1897), Civic All'ce = Civic Alliance (
Hearst 1909), Exp = Experience party (
Impellitteri's label for his independent campaign in 1950), Jobs & Educ. = Independent Jobs & Education party (
Bloomberg Bloomberg may refer to:
People
* Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer
* Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian
* Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician and m ...
's personal label sharing a ballot line with Independence Party in 2009)
How the boroughs voted
See the table above for more information about the candidates and parties involved. Blue indicates a candidate endorsed by the
Democratic Party; pink one endorsed by the
Republicans; and buff (or beige) one endorsed by neither party. (Darker shades indicate where a borough voted for a candidate who lost the citywide vote.) In 1981,
Edward Koch
Edward Irving Koch ( ; December 12, 1924February 1, 2013) was an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, film critic, and television personality. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and was mayo ...
ran on the tickets of both the Democrats and the Republicans.
Click a year to see the table or tables for that particular election (# indicates a link devoted to one specific election rather than to a set of two to six.)
Although separate
boroughs
A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
In the Middle A ...
since 1898,
the Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New ...
and
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
shared New York County and reported elections together until the separate Bronx County was formed in April 1912 and started her separate existence on January 1, 1914. The borough of Richmond changed its name to
Staten Island
Staten Island ( ) is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey b ...
in 1975, although the co-extensive Richmond County still retains that name.
Although it was not uncommon for a candidate to carry all five boroughs in the same election, variations in voting patterns are noticeable. Since it started reporting separate returns in 1913,
the Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New ...
has supported only one Republican (
Fiorello La Guardia
Fiorello Henry LaGuardia (; born Fiorello Enrico LaGuardia, ; December 11, 1882September 20, 1947) was an American attorney and politician who represented New York in the House of Representatives and served as the 99th Mayor of New York City fr ...
) and
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
has opposed only two successful candidates (
Giuliani Giuliani is an Italian family name, which can refer to:
* Carlo Giuliani, who died during the demonstrations against 2001 G8
* Carlo Giuliani (bishop), died 1663, bishop of Ston
* François Giuliani, (1938–2009) Algerian journalist and publici ...
in
1993
File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...
and
Bloomberg Bloomberg may refer to:
People
* Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer
* Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian
* Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician and m ...
in
2001
The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanist ...
). On the other hand, in the eleven elections since 1965 that were contested between Democratic and Republican candidates (i.e. excluding
1981
Events January
* January 1
** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union.
** Palau becomes a self-governing territory.
* January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...
, when
Ed Koch
Edward Irving Koch ( ; December 12, 1924February 1, 2013) was an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, film critic, and television personality. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and was ma ...
was endorsed by both parties),
Staten Island
Staten Island ( ) is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey b ...
has voted for only two Democratic candidates,
Abe Beame
Abraham David Beame (March 20, 1906February 10, 2001) was the 104th mayor of New York City from 1974 to 1977. As mayor, he presided over the city during its fiscal crisis of the mid-1970s, when the city was almost forced to declare bankruptcy.
...
in
1973
Events January
* January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union.
* January 15 – Vietnam War: ...
and Koch in
1985
The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** The Internet's Domain Name System is created.
** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...
.
Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
has voted for only three,
Abe Beame
Abraham David Beame (March 20, 1906February 10, 2001) was the 104th mayor of New York City from 1974 to 1977. As mayor, he presided over the city during its fiscal crisis of the mid-1970s, when the city was almost forced to declare bankruptcy.
...
in
1973
Events January
* January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union.
* January 15 – Vietnam War: ...
, Koch in
1985
The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** The Internet's Domain Name System is created.
** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...
, and Bill de Blasio in
2017
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...
. The City as a whole elected four of the Democratic candidates in those same eleven elections from 1965 to 2009. The Bronx supported all eleven,
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
nine, and
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
six.
Some basic patterns of mayoral elections in New York City
Democrats, Republicans, and reformers
One pattern, stretching back well before consolidation and lasting into the 1960s, is the conflict between, on one side,
Tammany Hall
Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York City political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society. It became the main loc ...
, the
Democratic political organization largely built on
political patronage
Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...
with a consequent deep skepticism about
Civil Service
The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...
, the
merit system The merit system is the process of promoting and hiring government employees based on their ability to perform a job, rather than on their political connections. It is the opposite of the spoils system.
History
The earliest known example of a me ...
of assigning government jobs, and
competitive bidding
Procurement is the method of discovering and agreeing to terms and purchasing goods, services, or other works from an external source, often with the use of a tendering or competitive bidding process. When a government agency buys goods or servi ...
for city contracts, and on the other hand, its various opponents, including
Republicans, businessmen opposed to taxation or extorted bribes, middle-class reformers and
labor union
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits (s ...
activists.
Until the election of
Fiorello H. La Guardia
Fiorello Henry LaGuardia (; born Fiorello Enrico LaGuardia, ; December 11, 1882September 20, 1947) was an American attorney and politician who represented New York in the House of Representatives and served as the 99th Mayor of New York City fr ...
in
1933
Events
January
* January 11 – Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand.
* January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independence, against the wis ...
, it was almost never possible to unite the disparate anti-Tammany elements in a coalition strong enough to prevail for more than one election. (This was not only for negative reasons: Tammany could listen to and satisfy some of its opponents' needs, and could on occasion run candidates of undoubted quality, such as
Abram Hewitt
Abram Stevens Hewitt (July 31, 1822January 18, 1903) was an American politician, educator, ironmaking industrialist, and lawyer who was mayor of New York City for two years from 1887–1888. He also twice served as a U.S. Congressman from a ...
to oppose
Henry George
Henry George (September 2, 1839 – October 29, 1897) was an American political economist and journalist. His writing was immensely popular in 19th-century America and sparked several reform movements of the Progressive Era. He inspired the eco ...
's United Labor Party in 1886. ) In the reported words of the Tammany leader
George Washington Plunkitt
George Washington Plunkitt (November 17, 1842 – November 19, 1924) was an American politician from New York State, who served in both houses of the New York State Legislature. He was a leader of the Tammany Hall political organization, a veheme ...
, reformers were only "mornin' glories —- looked lovely in the mornin' and withered up in a short time, while the regular machines went on flourishin' forever, like fine old oaks.".
Quite apart from Tammany Hall itself, both Republicans and left-wing reform parties have always had to deal with the overwhelmingly Democratic sympathies of New York City's voters. An examination of the
election table below will show that neither the various Socialist and labor parties nor the Republicans were ever strong enough to elect a Mayor alone without the support, or at least the benign non-hostility, of other parties and independents.
Fusion, second ballot lines, and third parties
The local term for uniting several constituencies or movements against Tammany was
Fusion
Fusion, or synthesis, is the process of combining two or more distinct entities into a new whole.
Fusion may also refer to:
Science and technology Physics
*Nuclear fusion, multiple atomic nuclei combining to form one or more different atomic nucl ...
, which usually required the Republicans to abstain from competing with a non-Republican reform candidate (as in the elections of
Seth Low
Seth Low (January 18, 1850 – September 17, 1916) was an American educator and political figure who served as the mayor of Brooklyn from 1881 to 1885, the president of Columbia University from 1890 to 1901, a diplomatic representative of ...
in
1901
Events
January
* January 1 – The British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia federate as the Commonwealth of Australia; Edmund Barton becomes the first Prime Minist ...
and
John P. Mitchel in
1913
Events January
* January 5 – First Balkan War: Battle of Lemnos – Greek admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis forces the Turkish fleet to retreat to its base within the Dardanelles, from which it will not venture for the rest of the ...
). Later the unusual ability of New York candidates to combine (fuse) votes from several different parties allowed Republicans and Democrats to run their own reform candidates on third party lines, such as "Fusion",
American Labor,
Liberal,
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
and
Independence
Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the stat ...
. In fact, no Republican has ever been elected Mayor of consolidated New York without the support of at least one other significant party, from LaGuardia to the ex-Democrat
Michael Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a c ...
. See the
Statistical Appendix for other examples.
Even when a candidate could not gain another party's support, they often found it expedient to create a separate line or party name for independent voters to support him, such as "Recovery" (
Joseph V. McKee
Joseph Vincent McKee, Sr. (August 8, 1889January 28, 1956) was a teacher at DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx, New York, who later became a politically active Democrat and briefly served as the acting mayor of New York City.
Life and car ...
in
1933
Events
January
* January 11 – Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand.
* January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independence, against the wis ...
), "Anticommunist" (
Jeremiah T. Mahoney
Jeremiah T. Mahoney (June 23, 1878 – June 15, 1970) was an American lawyer and jurist. He served on the New York Supreme Court and as president Amateur Athletic Union (AAU). As president of the AAU, he advocated for the United States to boycot ...
in
1937
Events
January
* January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua.
* January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into ...
), "Experience" (
Vincent Impellitteri in
1950
Events January
* January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed.
* January 5 – Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 crashes in a snowstorm. All 19 ...
) or "Brotherhood" (
Robert F. Wagner, Jr. in
1961
Events January
* January 3
** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015).
** Aero Flight 311 (K ...
). In
1965
Events January–February
* January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years.
* January 20
** Lyndon B. Johnson is sworn in for a full term ...
, Rep.
John V. Lindsay (R-Liberal) won votes on the "Independent Citizens" line, while his opponent Comptroller
Abe Beame
Abraham David Beame (March 20, 1906February 10, 2001) was the 104th mayor of New York City from 1974 to 1977. As mayor, he presided over the city during its fiscal crisis of the mid-1970s, when the city was almost forced to declare bankruptcy.
...
(D) won additional votes for "Civil Service Fusion".
Although granting or withholding endorsement was an effective tool for a minor party to influence a candidate's policies and actions, it could sometimes lead to counter-pressure from those who felt that candidates were being swayed too far in the wrong direction. This was one of the main reasons for founding the
Conservative Party of New York
The Conservative Party of New York State is an American political party founded in 1962 following conservative dissatisfaction with the Republican Party in New York. Running on the Conservative Party line, James L. Buckley won election to the U ...
in 1962 by those upset at the liberalism of Republican Governor
Nelson A. Rockefeller
Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979), sometimes referred to by his nickname Rocky, was an American businessman and politician who served as the 41st vice president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. A member of t ...
and (later) Lindsay, against whose
1965 Mayoral campaign the Conservatives ran
William F. Buckley, Jr.
More recently, there has been a trend of reformers working not through third parties (such as the now-dormant
Liberals) but through Reform Democratic clubs, leading to lively internal contests such as the
1989 Democratic primary where
David Dinkins
David Norman Dinkins (July 10, 1927 – November 23, 2020) was an American politician, lawyer, and author who served as the 106th mayor of New York City from 1990 to 1993. He was the first African American to hold the office.
Before enteri ...
unseated incumbent Mayor
Edward Koch
Edward Irving Koch ( ; December 12, 1924February 1, 2013) was an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, film critic, and television personality. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and was mayo ...
who started his own political career in a Reform Democratic Club. On the other side, however, dissatisfied conservatives have created their own new parties outside the Republican Party, such as the
New York State Right to Life Party
The New York State Right to Life Party was a minor anti-abortion American political party that was active only in the state of New York and was founded to oppose the legalization of abortion in New York State in 1970.
History
In 1970 the Right t ...
and the
Independence Party of New York
The Independence Party is a political party in the U.S. state of New York. The party was founded in 1991 by Dr. Gordon Black, Tom Golisano, and Laureen Oliver from Rochester, New York, and acquired ballot status in 1994. They lost their ballot ...
.
Recent elections
2021
Brooklyn Borough President
Eric Adams
Eric Leroy Adams (born September 1, 1960) is an American politician and retired police captain serving as the 110th mayor of New York City since January 1, 2022.
Adams was an officer in the New York City Transit Police and then the New York ...
of the
Democratic Party defeated
Guardian Angels
A guardian angel is a type of angel that is assigned to protect and guide a particular person, group or nation. Belief in tutelary beings can be traced throughout all antiquity. The idea of angels that guard over people played a major role in A ...
founder
Curtis Sliwa
Curtis Sliwa (; born March 26, 1954) is an American activist, radio talk show host and founder and chief executive officer of the Guardian Angels, a nonprofit organization for unarmed crime prevention. Sliwa was the Republican nominee for the ...
, who ran on the
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
and Independent lines by a margin of 441,416 votes or 66.99% against 27.76%. Notable third party candidates included teacher Cathy Rojas of the
Party for Socialism and Liberation
The Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) is a communist party in the United States, established in 2004. Its members are active in a wide range of movements including the labor, anti-war, immigrants' rights, women's rights, and anti-police ...
(2.49%/27,982 votes) and retired police officer Bill Pepitone of the
Conservative Party
The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right.
Political parties called The Conservative P ...
(1.12%/12,575 votes). However, this was ultimately a fairly partisan election by New York City standards with 94% of voters voting on the Democratic and Republican lines. This was likely due to the absence of the
Working Families Party
The Working Families Party (WFP) is a minor political party in the United States, founded in New York in 1998. There are active chapters in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Ne ...
from the ballot, who elected not to endorse a candidate and the standalone candidacy of the Conservative Party, who typically garner votes by endorsing the Republican candidate.
2017
Bill de Blasio
Bill de Blasio (; born Warren Wilhelm Jr., May 8, 1961; later Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm) is an American politician who served as the 109th mayor of New York City from 2014 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he held the office of New Y ...
, the incumbent mayor, won re-election to a second term, on
Democratic and
Working Families Party
The Working Families Party (WFP) is a minor political party in the United States, founded in New York in 1998. There are active chapters in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Ne ...
lines, over challengers
Nicole Malliotakis
Nicole Malliotakis (; born November 11, 1980) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for New York's 11th congressional district since 2021. Her constituency covers Staten Island and southern Brooklyn.
Malliotakis is the on ...
on the
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
and
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
party lines,
Sal Albanese
Sal F. Albanese (born August 29, 1949) is a politician from New York City. He served as a New York City Council member, and ran unsuccessfully for several other public offices including New York State Assembly, United States Congress, and Mayor ...
on the
Reform Party line,
Akeem Browder on the
Green Party
A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence.
Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...
line, independent candidates
Mike Tolkin and
Bo Dietl
Richard A. "Bo" Dietl (born December 4, 1950) is an American retired police detective, a media personality and actor. Dietl is the founder and CEO of Beau Dietl & Associates and Beau Dietl Consulting Services.
Early life and police career
Bo D ...
, and
Libertarian Party candidate Aaron Commey.
2013
The principal candidates were
Joe Lhota
Joseph J. Lhota (; born October 7, 1954) is an American public servant and a former politician who served as the chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and was also a former deputy mayor of New York City. He was the Republican n ...
on the Republican and Conservative lines,
Bill de Blasio
Bill de Blasio (; born Warren Wilhelm Jr., May 8, 1961; later Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm) is an American politician who served as the 109th mayor of New York City from 2014 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he held the office of New Y ...
on the Democratic and Working Families lines, and some independents. Bill de Blasio won the election in a landslide
2013 results by borough
Democratic primary election, Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Bill de Blasio
Bill de Blasio (; born Warren Wilhelm Jr., May 8, 1961; later Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm) is an American politician who served as the 109th mayor of New York City from 2014 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he held the office of New Y ...
, the city's elected
Public Advocate
An ombudsman (, also ,), ombud, ombuds, ombudswoman, ombudsperson or public advocate is an official who is usually appointed by the government or by parliament (usually with a significant degree of independence) to investigate complaints and at ...
, won 40.8% of the total Democratic primary vote and, by exceeding 40.0%, avoided an October 1 primary runoff with
Bill Thompson, who won the second-highest number of primary votes, or 26.1%. (In 2009, Thompson had won the Democratic primary only to lose a close general election to Mayor
Michael Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a c ...
.)
Christine Quinn
Christine Callaghan Quinn (born July 25, 1966) is an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, she formerly served as the Speaker of the New York City Council. The third person to hold this office, she was the first female and first ...
, the
Speaker of the New York City Council
The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs.
The council serves as a check against the mayor in a mayor-council government model, the performance of ...
, came in third, with 15.7%, while none of the other candidates, including
City Comptroller John Liu
John Chun Yah Liu (born January 8, 1967) is an American politician in New York City. A member of the Democratic Party, he is a member of the New York State Senate for the 11th district in northeast Queens. He previously served as the 43rd New Y ...
and former Congressman
Anthony Weiner
Anthony David Weiner (; born September 4, 1964) is an American former politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 1999 until his resignation in 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he consistently carried the district with at ...
, won as much as 10%. De Blasio carried all five boroughs and Thompson came in second in every borough except Manhattan, where he finished third behind Quinn.
From the
Board of Elections in the City of New York, September 27, 2013
Republican primary election, Tuesday, September 10, 2013
In the Republican primary,
Joe Lhota
Joseph J. Lhota (; born October 7, 1954) is an American public servant and a former politician who served as the chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and was also a former deputy mayor of New York City. He was the Republican n ...
, a former deputy mayor and former chairman of the
Metropolitan Transportation Authority
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is a public benefit corporation responsible for public transportation in the New York City metropolitan area of the U.S. state of New York. The MTA is the largest public transit authority in th ...
carried every borough but Staten Island, which was won by
John Catsimatidis
John A. Catsimatidis (born September 7, 1948) is an American billionaire businessman and radio talk show host. He is the owner, president, chairman, and CEO of Gristedes Foods, a grocery chain in Manhattan, and the Red Apple Group, a real estate ...
, a businessman, publisher and property developer. Catsimatidis, in losing, won nearly as large a percentage of his own party's vote (40.69%) as the Democratic winner, Bill de Blasio won of his (40.81%). The 61,111 valid votes cast in the Republican primary were less than one-eleventh of the 691,801 cast in the Democratic one held on the same day in the same polling places.
From the Board of Elections in the City of New York, September 27, 2013
2009
The principal candidates were Mayor
Michael Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a c ...
, an independent running for the third time on the Republican and
Independence Party lines, and New York City Comptroller
Bill Thompson, running for the Democratic and
Working Families Parties. Bloomberg had enjoyed pluralities of about 9% to 16% in most independent published pre-election polls and on Tuesday, November 3, he won his third term with 50.7% of votes over Thompson's 46%.
Other candidates included:
[For the first seven candidates, see Emily S. Rebb]
"Seven Others Striving to Win the Mayor's Job"
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', published on line October 13, 2009, retrieved October 14, 2009
*Steven Christopher of Memorial Baptist Church in Brooklyn,
Conservative Party of New York State
The Conservative Party of New York State is an American political party founded in 1962 following conservative dissatisfaction with the Republican Party in New York. Running on the Conservative Party line, James L. Buckley won election to the U ...
*Joseph Dobrian,
Libertarian Party of New York
The Libertarian Party of New York (LPNY) (also known as the Free Libertarian Party of New York), is the affiliate of the Libertarian Party in the U.S. state of New York. Due to changes in New York State election law in 2020, the Libertarian Party ...
*Reverend
Billy Talen
Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping is a radical performance community based in New York City. The Stop Shopping Choir is accompanied by a comic preacher, Reverend Billy, portrayed by performer William (Billy) Talen. The philosophy of ...
of the Church of Life After Shopping,
Green Party of New York
The Green Party of New York is the affiliate of the Green Party of the United States in the U.S. state of New York. It was founded in 1992 and is a part of the Green Party movement. The Party has had ballot access at various points in its histo ...
*Dan Fein,
Socialist Workers Party
*Francisca Villar,
Party for Socialism and Liberation
The Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) is a communist party in the United States, established in 2004. Its members are active in a wide range of movements including the labor, anti-war, immigrants' rights, women's rights, and anti-police ...
*
Jimmy McMillan
James McMillan III (born December 1, 1946) is an American political activist, perennial candidate, and Vietnam War veteran.
McMillan is best known as the founder of the Rent Is Too Damn High Party, a New York-based political party. McMillan h ...
,
Rent Is Too Damn High Party
The Rent Is Too Damn High Party (Rent Is 2 Damn High Party) is a single issue political party, primarily active in the state of New York, that has nominated candidates for mayor of New York City in 2005 and 2009, and for governor and senator in ...
*Tyrell Eiland, New Voice Party
*
Jonny Porkpie
Jonny Porkpie (born 1974) is a New York City-based writer, director, and performer in neo-burlesque. So called for his pork pie hat, Jonny Porkpie writes theatrical burlesque shows as part of his production company, Pinchbottom, as well as solo p ...
, independent
*John M. Finan, independent
General election, Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Democratic primary, Tuesday, September 15, 2009
From the
Board of Elections in the City of New York, September 26, 2009
[Board of Elections in the City of New York](_blank)
Statement and Return Report for Certification Primary Election 2009 - 09/15/2009 Crossover - Democratic Party Democratic Mayor Citywide (PDF)
, September 25–26, 2009, retrieved on October 21, 2009
Tony Avella represents a Queens district on the
New York City Council
The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs.
The council serves as a check against the mayor in a mayor-council government model, the performance of ...
. Out of the nearly 400 write-in votes, almost half or 184 (representing about one Democratic voter in 2,000) were some form or spelling of Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
2005
In 2005, Mayor
Bloomberg Bloomberg may refer to:
People
* Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer
* Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian
* Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician and m ...
won every borough but
The Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New ...
(of which his Democratic opponent was the former Borough President) against a Democratic Party split by a divisive primary, in contrast to his first victory in 2001, when Bloomberg carried only
Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
and
Staten Island
Staten Island ( ) is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey b ...
.
''Source: Board of Elections in the City of New York'' http://www.vote.nyc.ny.us/results.html
2001
The 2001 mayoral election was held on Tuesday, November 6.
Republican incumbent
Rudy Giuliani
Rudolph William Louis Giuliani (, ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 107th Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney General from 1981 to 19 ...
could not run again due to term limits. As Democrats outnumber Republicans by 5 to 1 in the city, it was widely believed that a Democrat would succeed him in City Hall. However, billionaire
Michael Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a c ...
, a lifelong Democrat, changed his party affiliation a few months before the election in order to avoid a crowded primary, and ran as a Republican. The Democratic primary was meant to be held on September 11 but was postponed due to the
September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...
; it was instead held on September 25. The primary opened the way to a bitter run-off between the Bronx-born Puerto Rican
Fernando Ferrer
Fernando James Ferrer (born April 30, 1950) is an American politician who was the borough president of The Bronx from 1987 to 2001. Ferrer was a candidate for mayor of New York City in 1997 and 2001 and was the Democratic Party nominee for ma ...
, and
Mark J. Green
Mark Joseph Green (born March 15, 1945) is an American author, former public official, public interest lawyer, and Democratic politician from New York City. Green was New York City Consumer Affairs Commissioner from 1990 to 1993 and New York Ci ...
, a non-Hispanic who attacked Ferrer's close ties to Rev.
Al Sharpton
Alfred Charles Sharpton Jr. (born October 3, 1954) is an American civil rights activist, Baptist minister, talk show host and politician. Sharpton is the founder of the National Action Network. In 2004, he was a candidate for the Democrati ...
, leaving the party divided along racial lines.
Bloomberg spent $74 million on his election campaign, which was a record amount at the time for a non-presidential election (Bloomberg would break his own record in 2005)
Thanks also in part to active support from Giuliani, whose approval ratings shot up after the September 11 attacks, Bloomberg won a very close general election.
1997
Notes:
Giuliani vote was 748,277 Republican and 35,538 Liberal.
Other vote was Sal Albanese -Independence-14,316 1.1%; Peter Gaffney-Right to Life-5,304 0.5%; Olga Rodriguez-Socialist Workers-3,753 0.3%; Dominick Fusco-Fusion- 632; Scattered 293
*In the Democratic Primary, Messinger defeated Rev.
Al Sharpton
Alfred Charles Sharpton Jr. (born October 3, 1954) is an American civil rights activist, Baptist minister, talk show host and politician. Sharpton is the founder of the National Action Network. In 2004, he was a candidate for the Democrati ...
, Sal Albanese and 2 others, avoiding a runoff election.
The vote was: Messenger-165,377 40.2%; Sharpton-131,848 32.0%; Albanese-86,485 21.0%; Eric Melendez-17,633 4.3%; Roland Rogers-10,086 2.5%
Past elections
1993
, , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Giuliani vote included 867,767 Republican and 62,469 Liberal. Marlin vote included 9,433 Conservative and 6,493 Right to Life.
In addition, there were 2,229 votes for J. Brennan-Libertarian; 2,061 votes for M. Bockman - Socialist Workers and 117 Scattered votes.
Dinkins won Democratic Primary with 336,285 votes to 126,449 for Roy Innis and 35,492 for Eric Melendez
1989
, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Giuliani vote was 815,387 Republican and 55,077 Liberal.
Other vote was 1,732 Lenora Fulani-New Alliance; 1,671-James Harris-Socialist Workers; 1,118 Warren Raum-Libertarian; 435 Mazelis-Workers League.
Giuliani won the Republican Primary, defeating Ron Lauder 77,150 (67.0%) to 37,960 (33.0%)
1985
The Koch vote include 862,226 Democratic and 6,034 Independent votes. The McGrath vote was 79,508 Republican and 22,160 Conservative.
Other vote was: Yehuda Levin - Right to Life - 14,517; Lenora Fulani - New Alliance - 7,597;Jarvis Tyner - People Before Profits - 3,370; Andrea Gonzalez - Socialist Workers - 1,677; Gilbert DiLucia - Coalition - 1,135; Marjorie Stanberg - Spartacist - 1,101; Scattered - 9
Koch won the Democratic Primary: Koch-436,151 64.0%; Bellamy - 127,690 18.7%; Denny Farrell - 89,845 13.2%; DiLucia - 11, 627 1.7%; Fred Newman - 8,584 1.2%;
Judah Rubenstein - 8,057 1.2%
1981
Koch had 738,288 Democratic votes and 174,334 Republican votes.
Others = 45,485. Jeronimo Dominguez - Right to Life - 32,790 2.7%; Judith Jones - Libertarian - 6,902 0.6%; Wells Todd - Socialist Workers - 5,793 0.5%
Koch won the Democratic Primary with 347,351 votes (59.8%), defeating Barbaro who had 209,369 votes (36.0%) and Melvin Klenetsky who had 24,352 votes (4.2%). Koch also won the Republican Primary, defeating Esposito by 44,724 to 22,354.
1977
In his 2005 book ''Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bronx Is Burning'', historian Jonathan Mahler argues that the
New York City blackout of 1977
The New York City blackout of 1977 was an electricity blackout that affected most of New York City on July 13–14, 1977. The only unaffected neighborhoods in the city were in southern Queens (including neighborhoods of the Rockaways), which ...
, with its accompanying rioting, enabled the law-and-order advocate
Ed Koch
Edward Irving Koch ( ; December 12, 1924February 1, 2013) was an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, film critic, and television personality. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and was ma ...
to beat out his more left-wing opponents, including incumbent mayor
Abe Beame
Abraham David Beame (March 20, 1906February 10, 2001) was the 104th mayor of New York City from 1974 to 1977. As mayor, he presided over the city during its fiscal crisis of the mid-1970s, when the city was almost forced to declare bankruptcy.
...
, in the 1977 election.
Other vote was: Kenneth F. Newcombe - Communist - 5,300; Catarino Garza - Socialist Workers - 3,294; Vito Battista - United Taxpayers Party - 2,119; Louis Wein - Independent - 1,127; William Lawry - Free Libertarian - 1,068; Elijah Boyd - Labor - 873. Cuomo's total vote included 522,942 Liberal and 64,971 Neighborhood Government.
Runoff-Koch-433,002 55.0%; Cuomo-354,833 45.0% Total vote 787,835
Manhattan-Koch-115,251 65.2%; Cuomo—61,570 34.8%
Bronx-----Koch-69,612 55.7%; Cuomo—55,355 44.3%
Brooklyn—Koch-131,271 53.8%; Cuomo—112,587 46.2%
Queens----Koch-107,033 50.4%; Cuomo—105,522 49.6%
Staten----Koch-9,835 33.1%; Cuomo—19,799 66.9%
Note that the eventual winner, Rep.
Ed Koch
Edward Irving Koch ( ; December 12, 1924February 1, 2013) was an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, film critic, and television personality. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and was ma ...
, could not win a plurality in any of the Five Boroughs for the initial Democratic primary. Rep.
Bella Abzug
Bella Savitzky Abzug (July 24, 1920 – March 31, 1998), nicknamed "Battling Bella", was an American lawyer, politician, social activist, and a leader in the women's movement. In 1971, Abzug joined other leading feminists such as Gloria Steine ...
took Manhattan, Mayor
Abe Beame
Abraham David Beame (March 20, 1906February 10, 2001) was the 104th mayor of New York City from 1974 to 1977. As mayor, he presided over the city during its fiscal crisis of the mid-1970s, when the city was almost forced to declare bankruptcy.
...
Brooklyn, Rep.
Herman Badillo
Herman Badillo (pronounced ''bah-DEE-yoh''; August 21, 1929 – December 3, 2014) was an American politician who served as borough president of The Bronx and United States Representative, and ran for Mayor of New York City. He was the first Pu ...
the Bronx, and NY Sec. of State
Mario Cuomo
Mario Matthew Cuomo (, ; June 15, 1932 – January 1, 2015) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 52nd governor of New York for three terms, from 1983 to 1994. A member of the Democratic Party, Cuomo previously served as ...
Queens & Staten Island. In the Democratic run-off with Cuomo, Koch took Queens and three other boroughs, leaving Cuomo with only Staten Island. In the general election, Cuomo kept Staten Island and won back Queens, but lost the other three boroughs (Manhattan, Brooklyn and The Bronx) to Koch.
''In the Republican primary,''
Roy M. Goodman
Roy Matz Goodman (March 5, 1930 – June 3, 2014) was an American politician and businessman who served as a member of the New York State Senate from 1969 to 2002. He was the Republican nominee in the 1977 New York City mayoral election, r ...
, a member of the
New York State Senate
The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate.
Partisan comp ...
, defeated
Barry Farber
Barry Morton Farber (May 5, 1930 – May 6, 2020) was an American conservative radio talk show host, author, commentator and language-learning enthusiast. In 2002, industry publication ''Talkers magazine'' ranked him the 9th greatest radio talk ...
, a radio commentator, by a vote of 41,131 to 31,078(57.0% to 43.0%). Farber, however, won the nomination of the
Conservative Party of New York
The Conservative Party of New York State is an American political party founded in 1962 following conservative dissatisfaction with the Republican Party in New York. Running on the Conservative Party line, James L. Buckley won election to the U ...
and won almost as many votes in the general election (57,437 or 4.0%) as Goodman did as the Republican nominee (58,606 or 4.1%).
1929 to 1973
Some figures and anecdotes courtesy James Trager's ''New York Chronology'' (
HarperCollins
HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News C ...
: 2003). Other numbers are from ''
The World Almanac and Book of Facts
''The World Almanac and Book of Facts'' is a US-published reference work, an almanac conveying information about such subjects as world changes, tragedies, and sports feats. It has been published yearly from 1868 to 1875, and again every year sinc ...
'', then published by ''The
New York World-Telegram
The ''New York World-Telegram'', later known as the ''New York World-Telegram and The Sun'', was a New York City newspaper from 1931 to 1966.
History
Founded by James Gordon Bennett Sr. as ''The Evening Telegram'' in 1867, the newspaper began ...
'' (
Scripps-Howard
The E. W. Scripps Company is an American broadcasting company founded in 1878 as a chain of daily newspapers by Edward Willis "E. W." Scripps and his sister, Ellen Browning Scripps. It was also formerly a media conglomerate. The company is h ...
), for 1943 (page 412) and 1957 (page 299), and from ''
The Encyclopedia of New York City
''The Encyclopedia of New York City'' is a reference book on New York City, New York. Edited by Columbia University history professor Kenneth T. Jackson, the book was first published in 1995 by the New-York Historical Society and Yale Univers ...
'' (see
Sources
Source may refer to:
Research
* Historical document
* Historical source
* Source (intelligence) or sub source, typically a confidential provider of non open-source intelligence
* Source (journalism), a person, publication, publishing institute o ...
below).
Before 1975, the present
Borough
A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
In the Middle Ag ...
of
Staten Island
Staten Island ( ) is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey b ...
was formally known as The Borough of Richmond.
1973
note: All the candidates except
Marchi
Moscow Architectural Institute (State Academy) - MArchI (russian: Московский Архитектурный Институт (Государственная Академия) - МАрхИ) is a famous architecture school located in Moscow, ...
had run in the Democratic primary. Candidates votes on their second ballot lines included above were: Beame-Civil Service & Fusion -67,277; Marchi-Integrity - 14,271; Blumenthal - Good Government - 29, 335; Biaggi - Safe City - 8,010. Other vote includes 8,818 Fran Youngstein - Free Libertarian Party; 3,601 Rasheed Storey - Communist; 2,282 Norman Oliver - Socialist Workers; 2,000 Anton Chaiken -Labor; 1,762 John Emanuel - Socialist Labor
1969
Note: In one of the most unusual primary seasons since the conglomeration of greater New York, the incumbent Mayor (
Lindsay) and a former incumbent (
Robert F. Wagner Jr.) both lost their parties' primaries. Procaccino won with less than 33% of the vote against four opponents, which inspired the use of runoffs in future primaries. In the general election, Lindsay carried Manhattan (the only borough he had carried in losing the Republican primary to
Marchi
Moscow Architectural Institute (State Academy) - MArchI (russian: Московский Архитектурный Институт (Государственная Академия) - МАрхИ) is a famous architecture school located in Moscow, ...
, 107,000 to 113,000) as he did in 1965, but he was only 4,000 votes ahead of giving first place in Queens to
Procaccino. Turnout dropped to 2.4 million from 2.6 million in 1965. (In the same election, Lindsay's 1965 opponent
Abe Beame
Abraham David Beame (March 20, 1906February 10, 2001) was the 104th mayor of New York City from 1974 to 1977. As mayor, he presided over the city during its fiscal crisis of the mid-1970s, when the city was almost forced to declare bankruptcy.
...
was easily returned to his old job of comptroller.)
The
New York Mets
The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major lea ...
' unlikely win in the
1969 World Series
The 1969 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1969 season. The 66th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the American League (AL) champion Baltimore Orioles and the National L ...
and Mayor Lindsay's participation in their postgame celebration may have given the Mayor a late public relations boost which contributed to his victory.
* The Lindsay vote was 872,660 Liberal (36.5%) and 139,973 Independent (5.9%).
* Procaccino's vote was 774,708 Democratic (32.4%) and 57,064 Civil Service Fusion (2.4%).
* The Marchi vote was 329,506 Republican (13.8%) and 212,905 Conservative (8.9%).
* By themselves, the straight Democratic and Republican lines added up to less than 50% of the mayoral vote (1,104,214 or 46.2%), but more than the total vote for Lindsay (1,012,633 or 42.4%).
* Procaccino's general election votes on the Democratic line alone (774,708) were slightly fewer than the total votes received by all candidates in the Democratic primary (777,796).
* Lindsay's general election votes on the Liberal line alone (872,660) exceeded Procaccino's total votes on all lines (831,772).
1965
Almost a quarter of Lindsay's vote (281,796) was on the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
line, while 63,590 of Beame's votes were on the Civil Service Fusion line.
John Lindsay
John Vliet Lindsay (; November 24, 1921 – December 19, 2000) was an American politician and lawyer. During his political career, Lindsay was a U.S. congressman, mayor of New York City, and candidate for U.S. president. He was also a regular ...
, a Republican Congressman from the
"Silk-Stocking" District on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, carried
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
,
Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
, and traditionally Republican
Staten Island
Staten Island ( ) is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey b ...
(Richmond), while
Abe Beame
Abraham David Beame (March 20, 1906February 10, 2001) was the 104th mayor of New York City from 1974 to 1977. As mayor, he presided over the city during its fiscal crisis of the mid-1970s, when the city was almost forced to declare bankruptcy.
...
, the city comptroller, carried
The Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New ...
and his home borough of
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, both of which he had also won in the Democratic primary. However, while Beame had also carried Queens in the primary, he lost it to Lindsay in the general election. (Five years later, Bill Buckley's brother
James L. Buckley would win the 1970 New York state election for U.S. Senator on the
Conservative Party
The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right.
Political parties called The Conservative P ...
line against divided opposition.) The Other vote was 11,104- Vito Battista - United Taxpayer Party; 3,977- Clifton DeBerry - Socialist Workers; 2,087 - Eric Haas - Socialist Labor
1961
Mayor Wagner broke with the regular Democratic organization which had supported him in
1953
Events
January
* January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma.
* January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a government-in-exile in Oslo.
* January 14
** Marshal Josip Broz Tito is chosen President of Yugosl ...
and
1957
1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th year ...
, defeating their candidate,
Arthur Levitt
Arthur Levitt Jr. (born February 3, 1931) is the former Chairman of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). He served from 1993 to 2001 as the twenty-fifth and longest-serving chairman of the commission. Widely hailed as a c ...
, in the Democratic primary 61% to 39%. At the same time, after running successfully with Lawrence Gerosa for
Comptroller
A comptroller (pronounced either the same as ''controller'' or as ) is a management-level position responsible for supervising the quality of accounting and financial reporting of an organization. A financial comptroller is a senior-level execut ...
in the previous two elections, Wagner chose to run instead with
Abraham Beame
Abraham David Beame (March 20, 1906February 10, 2001) was the 104th mayor of New York City from 1974 to 1977. As mayor, he presided over the city during its fiscal crisis of the mid-1970s, when the city was almost forced to declare bankruptcy.
...
in 1961. Gerosa ran against Wagner for mayor as the "real Democrat" on a pro-taxpayer platform. 211,000 of Wagner's 1,237,000 votes came on the Liberal Party line, and 55,000 on the purpose-built Brotherhood line.
Other vote was: Vito Battista - United Taxpayers Party - 19,960; Richard Garza - Socialist Workers - 7,037; Eric Haas - Socialist Labor - 3,272
1957
Other vote was:
; Joyce Cowley - Socialist Workers - 13,453 0.6%; Eric Haas - Socialist Labor- 4,611 0.2%
1953
Total vote was 2,207,516
Other vote was David L. Weiss-Socialist Workers-2,054 (0.1%);Nathan Karp-Industrial Government-916; Scattered-180.
"Industrial Government" is a ballot title sometimes used, to avoid confusion or to meet election laws, by the
Socialist Labor Party
The Socialist Labor Party (SLP)"The name of this organization shall be Socialist Labor Party". Art. I, Sec. 1 of thadopted at the Eleventh National Convention (New York, July 1904; amended at the National Conventions 1908, 1912, 1916, 1920, 1924 ...
. The
Liberal Party of New York
The Liberal Party of New York is a political party in New York. Its platform supports a standard set of socially liberal policies, including abortion rights, increased spending on education, and universal health care.
History
The Liberal Part ...
won over five times as many votes as the
American Labor Party
The American Labor Party (ALP) was a political party in the United States established in 1936 that was active almost exclusively in the state of New York. The organization was founded by labor leaders and former members of the Socialist Party of A ...
in Manhattan, and eight-to-ten times as many in the other boroughs. The ALP lost its ballot status after the
1954 Governor's race, and voted to dissolve itself in 1956.
1950
Vincent Impellitteri, the mayor who succeeded mid-term after
William O'Dwyer
William O'Dwyer (July 11, 1890November 24, 1964) was an Irish-American politician and diplomat who served as the 100th Mayor of New York City, holding that office from 1946 to 1950.
Life and career
O'Dwyer was born in Bohola, County Mayo, Ir ...
resigned on August 31, 1950, swept
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
,
Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
and
Staten Island
Staten Island ( ) is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey b ...
in this special election, while
Ferdinand Pecora
Ferdinand Pecora (January 6, 1882 – December 7, 1971) was an American lawyer and New York State Supreme Court judge who became famous in the 1930s as Chief Counsel to the United States Senate Committee on Banking and Currency during its investi ...
(aided by the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
) took very narrow leads in
The Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New ...
and
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
. In this election, the Liberals heavily outpolled the
American Labor Party
The American Labor Party (ALP) was a political party in the United States established in 1936 that was active almost exclusively in the state of New York. The organization was founded by labor leaders and former members of the Socialist Party of A ...
in every borough but
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
and
Staten Island
Staten Island ( ) is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey b ...
, where the two parties' votes were almost equal.
1949
Other vote was: Eric Haas - Industrial Government - 7,857; Joseph G. Glass - Socialist - 3,396; Michael Bartell - Socialist Workers - 1,224. The Morris vote was 570,713 Republican, 373,287 Liberal and 12,069 Fusion
1945
O'Dwyer received 867,426 Democratic votes and 257,929 on the American Labor Party line. The Goldstein vote was 301,144 Republican, 122,316 Liberal and 8,141 City Fusion.
The
No Deal Party (according to Chris McNickle in ''
The Encyclopedia of New York City
''The Encyclopedia of New York City'' is a reference book on New York City, New York. Edited by Columbia University history professor Kenneth T. Jackson, the book was first published in 1995 by the New-York Historical Society and Yale Univers ...
'') was founded by the retiring maverick Republican Mayor
Fiorello La Guardia
Fiorello Henry LaGuardia (; born Fiorello Enrico LaGuardia, ; December 11, 1882September 20, 1947) was an American attorney and politician who represented New York in the House of Representatives and served as the 99th Mayor of New York City fr ...
to draw Republican votes towards
Newbold Morris and away from the official Republican Party with whom La Guardia was having a dispute. The No Deal Party dissolved soon after the 1945 election. Newbold Morris was a Republican, while Jonah Goldstein was a Democrat until nomination day.
Other vote was: Joseph G. Glass - Socialist - 9,304;
Farrell Dobbs
Farrell Dobbs (July 25, 1907 – October 31, 1983) was an American Trotskyist, trade unionist, politician, and historian.
Early years
Dobbs was born in Queen City, Missouri, where his father was a worker in a coal company garage. The family ...
- Trotskyist Anti-War - 3,656;
Eric Hass
Eric Hass (March 4, 1905 – October 2, 1980) was a four-time Socialist Labor candidate for President of the United States.
Life
Hass was of German and Danish ancestry, and was born in Lincoln, Nebraska in 1905. He died of a heart attack i ...
- Socialist Labor - 3,465;
Max Shachtman
Max Shachtman (; September 10, 1904 – November 4, 1972) was an American Marxist theorist. He went from being an associate of Leon Trotsky to a social democrat and mentor of senior assistants to AFL–CIO President George Meany.
Beginnings
...
- Workers - 585; Scattered - 45.
1941
As in 1937, more voters in every borough voted on the Democratic line than on any other single line; but this time (unlike 1937) the Democrat carried
Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
and
Staten Island
Staten Island ( ) is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey b ...
over
La Guardia, shrinking the Mayor's overall citywide percentage lead from 20% to 6%. As in 1937, La Guardia's overall margin of victory depended on the
American Labor Party
The American Labor Party (ALP) was a political party in the United States established in 1936 that was active almost exclusively in the state of New York. The organization was founded by labor leaders and former members of the Socialist Party of A ...
, which again won more votes than the Republicans in
The Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New ...
. While the total vote and Republican vote were almost identical in 1937 and 1941, the ALP line lost 47,000 votes (2.4%), almost entirely from Manhattan (-18,000) and Brooklyn (-26,000), as the vote on La Guardia's other lines (Fusion, Progressive and United City) dropped from 187,000 (8.3%) to 86,000 (3.7%). The Democratic Party gained about 160,000 votes lost by La Guardia (and about 7½% of the total). In both Queens and Richmond (Staten Island), the swing was even greater: La Guardia lost over 15% of the total vote (and the Democrats gained over 15%) from 1937, as his lead there flipped from roughly 56%-44% to 39%-60%.
1937
Note that the leading line in every borough, and in the City as a whole, is the Democratic line for Judge Mahoney. Running on the Republican line alone (as he did when losing the
election of 1929), Mayor
La Guardia would have lost every borough, but he carried all five when the
American Labor Party
The American Labor Party (ALP) was a political party in the United States established in 1936 that was active almost exclusively in the state of New York. The organization was founded by labor leaders and former members of the Socialist Party of A ...
line was added. The ALP line did better than the Republican line in
The Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New ...
, although worse than the Democratic one.
There were also 2,307 votes for Emil Teichert on the Industrial Government line.
1933
While opposed by
Tammany Hall
Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York City political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society. It became the main loc ...
,
McKee enjoyed the support of Democratic President (and former Governor)
Franklin D. Roosevelt, who declared neutrality when his ally
Mayor La Guardia was running for reelection in . (See
Ed Flynn's comments about FDR's 1936 contribution to starting the
American Labor Party
The American Labor Party (ALP) was a political party in the United States established in 1936 that was active almost exclusively in the state of New York. The organization was founded by labor leaders and former members of the Socialist Party of A ...
in the below.) According to
Michael Tomasky
Michael John Tomasky (born October 13, 1960) is an American columnist, progressive commentator, and author. He is the editor of ''The New Republic'' and editor in chief of ''Democracy''. He has been a special correspondent for ''Newsweek'', ''T ...
, La Guardia, who had lost the Republican Mayoral primary to Manhattan
Borough President Henry Curran, did not enjoy the support of a united Republican Party when he won the party's nomination and lost the general election in , but was able to win over Republican organizational support in 1933.
The 1933 LaGuardia vote was 446,833 Republican and 421,689 City Fusion. The O'Brien vote was 570,937 Democratic and 15,735 Jeffersonian.
There were also 1,778 votes for Henry Klein-Five Cent Fare & Taxpayers; 472 for Aaron Orange - Socialist Labor; and 118 for Adolph Silver - Independent Union.
Collapse of the Socialist Party vote
In 1933, a year that might otherwise have favored the
Socialist Party's chances, the
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Con ...
began,
Morris Hillquit
Morris Hillquit (August 1, 1869 – October 8, 1933) was a founder and leader of the Socialist Party of America and prominent labor lawyer in New York City's Lower East Side. Together with Eugene V. Debs and Congressman Victor L. Berger, Hillqu ...
died,
Norman Thomas
Norman Mattoon Thomas (November 20, 1884 – December 19, 1968) was an American Presbyterian minister who achieved fame as a socialist, pacifist, and six-time presidential candidate for the Socialist Party of America.
Early years
Thomas was the ...
refused to run again for mayor, and the Socialist vote (previously as high as one-eighth to one-fifth of the total) collapsed irretrievably from a quarter of a million to sixty thousand (one-thirtieth of the total). Many supporters of Thomas's 1929 campaign defected (some, like
Paul Blanshard
Paul Beecher Blanshard (August 27, 1892 – January 27, 1980) was an American author, assistant editor of ''The Nation'' magazine, lawyer, socialist, secular humanist, and from 1949 an outspoken critic of Catholicism.
Early life and educ ...
, also leaving the Party) to support
Fiorello La Guardia
Fiorello Henry LaGuardia (; born Fiorello Enrico LaGuardia, ; December 11, 1882September 20, 1947) was an American attorney and politician who represented New York in the House of Representatives and served as the 99th Mayor of New York City fr ...
. By the time of the next mayoral election in 1937, which the Socialist Party decided by internal referendum not to contest, many reformers and trade-unionists who wanted to support major-party progressives like La Guardia (R-ALP-Fusion), Gov.
Herbert Lehman
Herbert Henry Lehman (March 28, 1878 – December 5, 1963) was an American Democratic Party politician from New York. He served from 1933 until 1942 as the 45th governor of New York and represented New York State in the U.S. Senate from 194 ...
(D-ALP) and Pres.
Franklin D. Roosevelt (D-ALP) from outside the two-party structure backed the
American Labor Party
The American Labor Party (ALP) was a political party in the United States established in 1936 that was active almost exclusively in the state of New York. The organization was founded by labor leaders and former members of the Socialist Party of A ...
(ALP), the
Social Democratic Federation
The Social Democratic Federation (SDF) was established as Britain's first organised socialist political party by H. M. Hyndman, and had its first meeting on 7 June 1881. Those joining the SDF included William Morris, George Lansbury, James C ...
and later the
Liberal Party of New York
The Liberal Party of New York is a political party in New York. Its platform supports a standard set of socially liberal policies, including abortion rights, increased spending on education, and universal health care.
History
The Liberal Part ...
. After a disastrous
gubernatorial campaign in 1938 (where Thomas and George Hartmann won only 25,000 votes out of over 4.7 million), the Socialist Party lost its separate line on the New York ballot, allowed its members to join the ALP, and indeed encouraged them to do so. In 1939, the Socialist
Harry W. Laidler
Harry Wellington Laidler (February 18, 1884 – July 14, 1970) was an American socialist writer, magazine editor, and politician. He is best remembered as executive director of the League for Industrial Democracy, successor to the Intercollegiate ...
, a co-founder of th
Intercollegiate Socialist Societyand
League for Industrial Democracy The League for Industrial Democracy (LID) was founded as a successor to the Intercollegiate Socialist Society in 1921. Members decided to change its name to reflect a more inclusive and more organizational perspective.
Background Intercollegiate So ...
, was elected (with the help of
proportional representation
Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...
) to the
New York City Council
The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs.
The council serves as a check against the mayor in a mayor-council government model, the performance of ...
on the ALP's ticket, but lost its renomination two years later because of rivalry with the
Communists
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
.
*''
Communist_Party_
A_communist_party_is_a__political_party_that_seeks_to_realize_the_socio-economic_goals_of__communism._The_term_''communist_party''_was_popularized_by_the_title_of_''_The_Manifesto_of_the_Communist_Party''_(1848)_by_Karl_Marx_and__Friedrich_Engel_...
's_vote_for_other_municipal_offices,_such_as_
Communist_Party_
A_communist_party_is_a__political_party_that_seeks_to_realize_the_socio-economic_goals_of__communism._The_term_''communist_party''_was_popularized_by_the_title_of_''_The_Manifesto_of_the_Communist_Party''_(1848)_by_Karl_Marx_and__Friedrich_Engel_...
's_vote_for_other_municipal_offices,_such_as_New_York_City_Council">City_Council
_
A_municipal_council_is_the__legislative_body_of_a_municipality_or__local_government_area._Depending_on_the_location_and_classification_of_the_municipality_it_may_be_known_as_a_city_council,___town_council,_town_board,_community_council,_rural_coun_...
_and_President_of_the_Board_of_Aldermen,_was_increasing_at_the_same_time_that_the_Socialist_Party's_was_declining_below_the_Communists'._But_in_1936,_when_the_foundation_of_the_ALP_coincided_with_