1965 New York City Mayoral Election
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The 1965 New York City mayoral election occurred on Tuesday, November 2, 1965, with
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 ...
Congressman A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The term member of parliament (MP) is an equivalen ...
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 ...
winning a close plurality victory over the Democratic candidate,
New York City Comptroller The Office of Comptroller of New York City, a position established in 1801, is the chief financial officer and chief auditor of the city agencies and their performance and spending. The comptroller also reviews all city contracts, handles the s ...
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. ...
. Lindsay received 44.99% of the vote to Beame's 40.98%, a victory margin of 4.01%. Finishing in a distant third was the candidate of the recently formed
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 ...
, conservative author and commentator
William F. Buckley Jr. William Frank Buckley Jr. (born William Francis Buckley; November 24, 1925 – February 27, 2008) was an American public intellectual, conservative author and political commentator. In 1955, he founded ''National Review'', the magazine that stim ...
, who received 13.36% of the vote. Lindsay and Beame received the
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and Civil Service ballot line respectively. Lindsay won a decisive majority in
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 ...
, while winning comfortable plurality victories in
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 borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...
. Beame won pluralities 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 Y ...
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 ...
. Linsday was sworn into office in January 1966, replacing outgoing Democratic Mayor
Robert F. Wagner Jr. Robert Ferdinand Wagner II (April 20, 1910 – February 12, 1991) was an American politician who served three terms as the mayor of New York City from 1954 through 1965. When running for his third term, he broke with the Tammany Hall leadership ...
While Lindsay won the mayoralty four years later, he lost the Republican nomination to
John J. Marchi John Joseph Marchi (May 20, 1921 – April 25, 2009) was an American attorney and jurist who represented Staten Island in the New York State Senate for 50 years. Marchi (pronounced MAR-key), a Republican, retired on December 31, 2006, from the ...
. As a result, this was the last mayoral election that a Republican won until
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 198 ...
's victory in
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.


Results

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 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 borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...
(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 Y ...
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.Page 41 of the 1966 ''World Almanac & Book of Facts'' and page 69 of Cannato'
''The Ungovernable City: John Lindsay and His Struggle to Save New York''
/ref> (Five years later, Bill Buckley's brother James L. Buckley won 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


References


Further reading

* Bridges, Linda, and John R. Coyne Jr. ''Strictly right: William F. Buckley Jr. and the American conservative movement'' (2007) * Cannato, Vincent, J. ''The Ungovernable City: John Lindsay and His Struggle to Save New York'' (2001) pp 19–7
excerpt
* Carter, Barbara. ''The Road to City Hall: How John V. Lindsay Became Mayor'' (1967) * Taffet, Jeffrey F. "The Snubs and the'Sukkah': John Lindsay and Jewish Voters in New York City." ''American Jewish History'' 97.4 (2013): 413-438

* Viteritti, Joseph P., ed. ''Summer in the City: John Lindsay, New York, and the American Dream'' (Johns Hopkins U Press, 2014)


Primary sources

* Buckley Jr, William F. ''The unmaking of a mayor'' (1966) {{DEFAULTSORT:New York City Mayoral Election, 1965 Mayoral election, 1965
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 Second inauguration of Lyndo ...
New York City mayoral
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