1903 Boston mayoral election

1903 Boston mayoral election

←  1901 December 15, 1903 1905  →

Candidate Patrick Collins George N. Swallow George W. Galvin Party Democratic Republican Socialist Popular vote 48,745 22,369 5,205 Percentage 63.0% 28.9% 6.7%

Mayor before election Patrick Collins Democratic Elected mayor Patrick Collins Democratic

The Boston mayoral election of 1903 occurred on Tuesday, December 15, 1903. Democratic incumbent Patrick Collins defeated Republican nominee George N. Swallow and two other contenders to win a second term.

Under legislation adopted in June 1903, ^[1] this was the first Boston municipal election with "caucuses, henceforth to be called primaries", ^[2] which were held on Thursday, November 19, 1903.

Inaugural exercises were held on Monday, January 4, 1904. ^[3]

Results

Democratic primary

• Patrick Collins, Mayor of Boston since 1902, former member of the United States House of Representatives (1883–1889), Massachusetts Senate (1870–1871), and Massachusetts House of Representatives (1868–1869)
• Frederick S. Gore, member of the Massachusetts Senate ^[4]

Candidates	Primary Election [5]
	Votes	%
Patrick Collins (incumbent)	30,729	73.4%
Frederick S. Gore	11,129	26.6%
all others	5	0.0%

Republican primary

• E. Peabody Gerry, physician, age 56, former Boston Alderman (1900)
• Michael J. Murray, lawyer, age 36
• George N. Swallow, grocer, age 49, former chairman of the Boston Republican Committee (1899), Governor's councilor (1888–1889), state senator (1894), and state representative (1889–1891)

Source: ^[6]

Candidates	Primary Election [7]
	Votes	%
George N. Swallow	6,383	52.3%
Michael J. Murray	3,294	27.0%
E. Peabody Gerry	2,530	20.7%

Other candidates

• William H. Carroll, Socialist Labor ^[8]
• George W. Galvin, physician and head of the Wage Earners Emergency and General Hospital, Socialist ^[9]

Galvin received all 423 votes cast in his party's primary election for mayor. ^[10]

General election

Candidates [11]		General Election [12]
		Votes	%
D	Patrick Collins (incumbent)	48,745	63.0%
R	George N. Swallow	22,369	28.9%
S	George W. Galvin	5,205	6.7%
SLP	William H. Carroll	1,018	1.3%
all others		14	0.0%

See also

• List of mayors of Boston, Massachusetts

References

1. "Governor Signs the Luce Primary Election Law". The Boston Post . June 24, 1903. p. 6. Retrieved March 18, 2018– via newspapers.com.
2. "CAUCUS LAW" . The Boston Globe . July 30, 1903. p. 12. Retrieved March 18, 2018– via pqarchiver.com.
3. "MAYOR COLLINS' INAUGURAL" . The Boston Globe . January 5, 1904. p. 10. Retrieved March 18, 2018– via pqarchiver.com.
4. "FRED GORE FOR MAYOR" . The Boston Globe . October 20, 1903. p. 1. Retrieved March 18, 2018– via pqarchiver.com.
5. "Annual Report of the Board of Election Commissioners". City of Boston. 1903. p. 119. Retrieved March 18, 2018– via archive.org.
6. "The Five Mayoralty Candidates by Comparison". The Boston Post . November 15, 1903. p. 29. Retrieved March 18, 2018– via newspapers.com.
7. "Annual Report of the Board of Election Commissioners". City of Boston. 1903. p. 148. Retrieved March 18, 2018– via archive.org.
8. "Socialist Labor Party Denounces the Socialists". The Boston Post . November 30, 1903. p. 8. Retrieved March 18, 2018– via newspapers.com.
9. "Socialist City Campaign to Open Tomorrow". The Boston Post . November 12, 1903. p. 8. Retrieved March 18, 2018– via newspapers.com.
10. "Annual Report of the Board of Election Commissioners". City of Boston. 1903. p. 168. Retrieved March 18, 2018– via archive.org.
11. "The Ticket for Today's Election". The Boston Post . December 15, 1903. p. 9. Retrieved March 18, 2018– via newspapers.com.
12. "Annual Report of the Board of Election Commissioners". City of Boston. 1903. p. 192. Retrieved March 18, 2018– via archive.org.

Further reading

• "Collins Sweeps Boston". The New York Times . December 16, 1903. p. 1. Retrieved March 18, 2018– via newspapers.com.