1901 New York City mayoral election

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1901 New York City mayoral election
  1897 November 1901 1903  
  Seth Low 1901 (3x4 cropped).jpg Edward M. Shepard.jpg
Nominee Seth Low Edward M. Shepard
Party Republican Democratic
Alliance Fusion
Popular vote296,813265,177
Percentage51.2%45.8%

NYC Mayoral Election 1901 Results by Borough.svg
Borough results
Low:     40–50%     50–60%
Shepard:      40–50%

Mayor before election

Robert A. Van Wyck
Democratic

Elected mayor

Seth Low
Republican

An election for Mayor of New York City was held in November 1901.

Contents

Incumbent mayor Robert A. Van Wyck was not a candidate for re-election to a second term in office. Republicans would not win a mayoral election in New York City again until 1933.

Background

In the 1897 mayoral election, held in connection with the consolidation of the five boroughs of Greater New York, Robert Anderson Van Wyck was elected to a four-year term in office with the support of Tammany Hall. Van Wyck was initially quite popular as the result of his reversal of various reversals of reforms instituted by his reformist predecessor, William Lafayette Strong.

The Van Wyck administration was brought down in 1900 following a proposed doubling in the price of ice by the American Ice Company from 30 cents per hundred pounds to 60 cents. Before the invention of commercial refrigeration, ice was the only preservative available for food, milk, and necessary medicines; therefore, the proposed increase had potentially fatal implications.

In response to public outcry, a public investigation revealed that American Ice had secured a monopoly over the product through Tammany Hall maneuvering and that Van Wyck had been gifted over $680,000 ($20,478,719 in 2023) in company stock. The scandal destroyed Van Wyck's reputation and dramatically worsened the public standing of Tammany Hall, although a state investigation initiated by Governor Theodore Roosevelt later absolved Van Wyck of personal wrongdoing.

General election

Candidates

Results by borough

1901 New York City mayoral election [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Seth Low 296,813 51.2%
Democratic Edward M. Shepard 265,17745.8%
Social Democratic Ben Hanford 9,8341.7%
Socialist Labor Benjamin F. Keinard6,2131.1%
Prohibition Alfred L. Manierre1,2640.2%
Total votes579,301 100.00%
Republican gain from Democratic

Results by borough

1901PartyThe Bronx and ManhattanBrooklynQueensRichmond [Staten Is.]Total%
Seth Low Fusion 162,298114,62513,1186,772296,81351.2%
49.1%55.0%47.4%51.9%
Edward M. Shepard Democratic 156,63188,85813,6796,009265,17745.8%
47.4%42.7%49.4%46.1%
Benjamin Hanford Social Democratic 6,4092,6926131209,8341.7%
Benjamin F. Keinard Socialist Labor 4,3231,638181716,2131.1%
Alfred L. Manierre Prohibition 61750174721,2640.2%
TOTAL330,278208,31427,66513,044579,301

References

  1. Jackson, Kenneth (1995). The Encyclopedia of New York City. New Haven: Yale University Press and The New York Historical Society. ISBN   0-300-05536-6.

Sources