The 1989 New York City mayoral election was held on Tuesday, November 7. Incumbent Mayor

Ed Koch Edward Irving Koch ( ; December 12, 1924February 1, 2013) was an American politician. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and was mayor of New York City from 1978 to 1989. Koch was a lifelong Democrat who ...

, who had served since 1978, ran for an unprecedented fourth term in office but was defeated in the Democratic Party primary by

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

Borough President

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. Dinkins was among the more than 20,000 Montford Point Marine Associa ...

. Dinkins went on to narrowly defeat U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York

Rudy Giuliani Rudolph William Louis Giuliani ( , ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and Disbarment, disbarred lawyer who served as the 107th mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney ...

, the candidate of both the Republican Party and

Liberal Party of New York The Liberal Party of New York is a political party in New York (state), New York. Its political platform, platform supports a standard set of socially liberal policies, including abortion rights, increased spending on education, and universal h ...

. Dinkins won with 50.42% of the vote to Giuliani's 47.84%. Whereas the two preceding mayoral elections of the 1980s had been landslide victories for Koch, who had not lost a single borough and had received the co-endorsement of the Republican Party in 1981, this election was a closely contested race. Dinkins won majorities in

the Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

, and

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, while Giuliani carried

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

and won a landslide on

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is the southernmost of the boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County and situated at the southernmost point of New York (state), New York. The borough is separated from the ad ...

. Four years later, in the 1993 election, Dinkins and Giuliani would face each other again in a re-match and Dinkins would narrowly lose to Giuliani in his bid for re-election. Democrats would not win a mayoral election in New York City again until

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

Democratic primary

Candidates

, Manhattan Borough President * Harrison J. Goldin, New York City Comptroller *

, incumbent Mayor since 1978 * Richard Ravitch, former chairman of the

Metropolitan Transportation Authority The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is a New York state public benefit corporations, public benefit corporation in New York (state), New York State responsible for public transportation in the New York metropolitan area, New York Ci ...

Declined

* Andrew Stein, President of the New York City Council

Polling

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

, U.S. Attorney for the

Southern District of New York The Southern District of New York is a federal judicial district that encompasses the counties of New York (Manhattan), Bronx, Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Orange, Dutchess, and Sullivan. Federal offices or agencies operating in the distri ...

Ronald Lauder Ronald Steven Lauder (born February 26, 1944) is an American businessman and pro-Israel political activist. He and his brother, Leonard Lauder, are the sole heirs to the Estée Lauder Companies, Estée Lauder cosmetics company, founded by their ...

, son of Estée Lauder and former U.S. Ambassador to Austria

Results

1989 New York City mayor Republican primary by State Assembly district

General election

Debate

Candidates

* Warren L. Baum (Libertarian) *

, Manhattan Borough President (Democratic) *

Lenora Fulani Lenora Branch Fulani (born April 25, 1950) is an American psychologist, psychotherapist, and political activist. She is best known for her presidential campaigns and development of youth programs serving minority communities in the New York City ...

, psychologist, activist and candidate for President of the United States in 1988 (New Alliance) *

, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York (Republican and Liberal) * James E. Harris (Socialist Workers) * Henry F. Hewes, consultant (Right to Life) * Ronald S. Lauder, son of Estée Lauder and former U.S. Ambassador to Austria (Conservative)

Results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:New York City Mayoral Election, 1989 Mayoral election

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

New York City mayoral 1989 United States mayoral elections Rudy Giuliani