1932 New York City special mayoral election

1932 New York City mayoral election

←  1929 November 8, 1932 1933  →

Nominee John P. O'Brien Lewis H. Pounds Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,056,115 443,901 Percentage 52.3% 22.0%   Nominee Morris Hillquit Joseph V. McKee (write-in) Party Socialist Independent Popular vote 249,887 234,372 Percentage 12.4% 11.6%

Borough results O'Brien:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%

Mayor before election Joseph V. McKee Democratic Elected mayor John P. O'Brien Democratic

The 1932 New York City special mayoral election was held on November 8. It was triggered by the resignation of incumbent Democratic Mayor Jimmy Walker on September 1, after his administration had become embroiled in scandal. Democratic nominee John P. O'Brien easily defeated Republican Lewis H. Pounds and Socialist Morris Hillquit. Acting Mayor Joseph V. McKee also featured as a write-in candidate. Minor candidates included Communist William L. Patterson and Socialist Labor candidate Olive Johnson.

Background

Mayor Jimmy Walker, who was supported by Tammany Hall, resigned on September 1, 1932, following investigations into corruption by the Hofstadter Committee under the leadership of Samuel Seabury. ^[1]

General election

Candidates

• Morris Hillquit, labor lawyer and nominee for mayor in 1917 (Socialist)
• Olive M. Johnson, editor of The Weekly People (Socialist Labor)
• Joseph V. McKee, president of the New York City Board of Aldermen and acting mayor (write-in; draft)
• John P. O'Brien, New York City Corporation Counsel (Democratic)
• William L. Patterson, radical attorney and head of International Labor Defense (Communist)
• Lewis H. Pounds, former New York State Treasurer and Brooklyn Borough President (Republican)

Acting mayor Joseph V. McKee did not seek the office, ^[2] but a movement led by Roy W. Howard and the New York World-Telegram called for voters to write him in. ^[3]

Results

O'Brien won with a majority of the vote, but underperformed Franklin D. Roosevelt's result in the presidential election by 399,061 votes and Herbert H. Lehman's results in the gubernatorial election by 475,050 votes. O'Brien also received a smaller percentage of the vote than Walker had in the 1929 election while Morris Hillquit had received a record high result for the Socialist Party of America in New York City's mayoral elections. ^[1]

McKee received 249,372 write-in votes, despite not seeking the office. ^[2]

1932 special mayoral election ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	John P. O'Brien	1,056,115	52.29%	8.41
	Republican	Lewis H. Pounds	443,901	21.98%	3.75
	Socialist	Morris Hillquit	249,887	12.37%	0.06
	Independent	Joseph V. McKee (inc.) (write-in)	234,372	11.60%	N/A
	Communist	William L. Patterson	24,014	1.19%	0.78
	Socialist Labor	Olive M. Johnson	11,379	0.56%	0.09
Total votes			2,019,668	100.00%

References

1. Mann 1965, pp. 61–64.
2. Mann 1965, p. 64.
3. Mann 1965, p. 73.
4. "Our Campaigns - New York City Mayor Special Race - Nov 08, 1932".

Works cited

• Mann, Arthur (1965). La Guardia Comes To Power 1933. J. B. Lippincott & Co.

External links

• The City for the People! : Municipal Platform of the Socialist Party, Mayoralty Election, 1932: For Mayor, Morris Hillquit