New_York_City_mayoral_election,_1969

1969 New York City mayoral election

1969 New York City mayoral election

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The 1969 New York City mayoral election occurred on Tuesday, November 4, 1969, with incumbent Liberal Party Mayor John Lindsay elected to a second term. Lindsay defeated the Democratic candidate, New York City Comptroller Mario Procaccino, and the Republican candidate, state senator John Marchi.

Quick Facts Candidate, Party ...

Lindsay received 42.36% of the vote to Procaccino's 34.79%, a Liberal victory margin of 7.57%.[1] Marchi finished a distant third with 22.69%.

Background

Lindsay, a liberal originally elected in 1965 as a Republican with Liberal Party support, had lost the Republican primary to Marchi but still managed to be re-elected as a Liberal. Lindsay also received the independent ballot line. Procaccino also received the Civil Service ballot line, while Marchi received the Conservative Party ballot line.

Reflecting the three-way split in the race, with each candidate garnering double-digit support citywide, the five boroughs split between all 3 candidates. Lindsay scored a big victory in Manhattan with 67.1% of the vote, while also winning a narrow plurality in Queens with 36.3% of the vote. Procaccino won pluralities by small margins in Brooklyn and the Bronx. Marchi, a state senator from Staten Island, won that borough with 62.0% of the vote.

Lindsay would be sworn into his second and final term in January 1970.

Republican primary

Candidates

  • John Lindsay, incumbent mayor since 1966
  • John J. Marchi, state senator from Staten Island

Results

1969 Republican primary
Manhattan The Bronx Brooklyn Queens Staten Island Total
[Lindsay minus Marchi] + 31,779 – 3,910 – 13,119 – 13,811 – 7,271 – 6,332
John V. Lindsay 44,236 12,222 20,575 26,658 3,675 107,366
John J. Marchi 12,457 16,132 33,694 40,649 10,946 113,698
221,064

Democratic primary

Candidates

Results

1969 Democratic primary
Manhattan The Bronx Brooklyn Queens Staten Island Total
Mario Procaccino 26,804 50,465 87,650 79,002 11,628 255,529
percentage
 16% 34% 36% 40% 52% 33%
Robert F. Wagner Jr. 40,978 33,442 81,833 61,244 6,967 224,464
percentage
 25% 23% 33% 31% 31% 29%
Herman Badillo 74,809 48,841 52,866 37,880 2,769 217,165
percentage
 45% 33% 22% 19% 12% 28%
Norman Mailer 17,372 4,214 10,299 8,700 703 41,288
percentage
 10% 3% 4% 4% 3% 5%
James H. Scheuer 7,117 10,788 11,942 8,994 509 39,350
percentage
 4% 7% 5% 5% 2% 5%
777,796

General election

Candidates

  • John Lindsay, incumbent mayor since 1966 (Liberal - Independent)
  • John J. Marchi, state senator from Staten Island (Republican - Conservative)
  • Mario Procaccino, New York City Comptroller (Democratic - Civil Service Fusion)

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 Democratic Primary, Norman Mailer and Jimmy Breslin, running under a platform of secession from the state, finished in fourth place.

Results

In the general election, Lindsay carried Manhattan (the only borough he had carried in losing the Republican primary to Marchi, 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 was easily returned to his old job of Comptroller.)[2]

1969 General Election party Manhattan The Bronx Brooklyn Queens Richmond [Staten Is.] Total %
John V. LindsayLiberal - Independent328,564161,953256,046249,33016,7401,012,63342.4%
67.1%40.1%36.0%36.3%17.5%
Mario ProcaccinoDemocratic - Civil Service Fusion99,460165,647301,324245,78319,558831,77234.8%
20.3%41.0%42.4%35.8%20.5%
John MarchiRepublican - Conservative61,53976,711152,933192,00859,220542,41122.7%
12.6%19.0%21.5%27.9%62.0%
subtotal
489,563404,311710,303687,12195,5182,386,81699.8%
Rasheed StoreyCommunist4,0180.2%
T O T A L
2,390,834100.0%
  • 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).

References

  1. [1]
    "New York City Mayoral Election 1969". Our Campaigns. Retrieved April 18, 2014.
  2. [2]
    page 437 of The Ungovernable City: John Lindsay and His Struggle to Save New York By Vincent J. Cannato (Basic Books, 2001, ISBN 0-465-00843-7)

Further reading

  • Cannato, Vincent, J. The Ungovernable City: John Lindsay and His Struggle to Save New York (2001) pp 389–42 excerpt
  • Klebanoff, Arthur M. "Is There a Jewish Vote." Commentary 49.1 (1970): 43–47.
  • Lizzi, Maria C. "" My Heart Is as Black as Yours": White Backlash, Racial Identity, and Italian American Stereotypes in New York City's 1969 Mayoral Campaign." Journal of American Ethnic History (2008): 43-80. in JSTOR
  • Morris, Charles R. The Cost of Good Intentions: New York City and the Liberal Experiment (1980)
  • 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. online
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