1929 New York City mayoral election

1929 New York City mayoral election

←  1925 November 5, 1929 1932  →

Nominee Jimmy Walker Fiorello H. La Guardia Norman Thomas Party Democratic Republican Socialist Popular vote 867,522 367,675 175,697 Percentage 60.70% 25.73% 12.29%

Results by Assembly district Walker:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%

Mayor before election Jimmy Walker Democratic Elected mayor Jimmy Walker Democratic

The 1929 New York City mayoral election was held on November 5 in concert with other municipal elections. ^[1] Democratic incumbent Jimmy Walker defeated Republican challenger Fiorello H. La Guardia in what was considered "a Crushing Defeat to [the] City G.O.P. [delivered]" by Tammany Hall. ^[2] Socialist candidate Norman Thomas also ran, as did Socialist Labor candidate Olive M. Johnson and former Police Commissioner Richard Edward Enright for the Square Deal Party.

Republican primary

Candidates

• Fiorello LaGuardia, U.S. Representative from East Harlem
• William M. Bennett, former State Senator from Manhattan and perennial candidate

La Guardia gave his acceptance speech at the Mecca Temple. ^[3]

Results

1929 Republican mayoral primary ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Fiorello LaGuardia	62,894	78.62%
	Republican	William M. Bennett	17,100	21.38%
Total votes			79,994	100.00%

General election

Results

Walker won with a plurality of 497,165 votes, which had been the largest ever recorded for a mayoral candidate up to that time. ^[2] This record would stand for more than five years, being surpassed when the 1935 Chicago mayoral election was won by a plurality of 631,579. ^[5]

Walker won the absolute majority of votes in all five boroughs. The results were part of a larger Democratic landslide in which Democrats won the position of President of the Board of Aldermen, Comptroller, all positions in Brooklyn, and all Borough Presidencies except Queens, and gained 2 seats in the Assembly and 3 in the Board of Aldermen from Republicans. ^[2] Thomas's results were the highest recorded by the Socialist party to that date. ^[2]

1929 mayoral election ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jimmy Walker (inc.)	867,522	60.70%
	Republican	Fiorello LaGuardia	367,675	25.73%
	Socialist	Norman Thomas	175,697	12.29%
	Socialist Labor	Olive M. Johnson	6,401	0.45%
	Communist	William Weinstone	5,805	0.41%
	Square Deal	Richard Enright	5,695	0.40%
	Commonwealth Land	Lawrence W. Tracy	320	0.02%
Total votes			1,429,115	100.00%

Aftermath

Despite his success, Walker would be embroiled in scandal in 1932 and forced to resign. ^[7]

Endorsements

Thomas Endorsements

Newspapers

• The Nation, weekly magazine ^[8]

Organizations

• Citizens Union ^[9]

References

1. McGoldrick, Joseph (1930). "The New York City Election of 1929" . American Political Science Review. 24 (3): 688–690. doi:10.2307/1946937. ISSN   0003-0554. JSTOR   1946937. S2CID   146912519.
2. "497,165 plurality hailed by Walker as a vindication" . The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Vol. 89, no. 308. November 6, 1929. p. 1. Retrieved January 24, 2020– via Newspapers.com.
3. Mann 1965, p. 104.
4. "Our Campaigns - NYC Mayor - R Primary Race - Sep 17, 1929".
5. "Decatur Daily Democrat 3 April 1935 — Hoosier State Chronicles: Indiana's Digital Historic Newspaper Program". Decatur Daily Democrat. United Press. April 3, 1935. p. 6. Retrieved June 12, 2025– via newspapers.library.in.gov (Hoosier State Chronicles).
6. "Our Campaigns - New York City Mayor Race - Nov 05, 1929". www.ourcampaigns.com.
7. Emery, Frank (September 2, 1932). "Rose to Power On Chessboard of Tiger Chiefs". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Vol. 91, no. 244. p. 6. Retrieved January 24, 2020– via Newspapers.com.
8. Mann 1965, p. 109.
9. Soyer 2021, p. 19-20.

Works cited

• Mann, Arthur (1965). La Guardia Comes To Power 1933. J. B. Lippincott & Co.
• Soyer, Daniel (2021). Left in the Center: The Liberal Party of New York and the Rise and Fall of American Social Democracy. Cornell University Press. ISBN   9781501759888. JSTOR   10.7591/j.ctv1hw3x50.2.