1937 New York City mayoral election

1937 New York City mayoral election

←  1933 November 2, 1937 1941  →

Candidate Fiorello La Guardia Jeremiah T. Mahoney Party Republican Democratic Alliance American Labor City Fusion Ind. Progressive Trades Union Anti-Communist Popular vote 1,344,630 890,756 Percentage 60.1% 39.8%

Borough results LaGuardia:     40–50%     50–60%

Mayor before election Fiorello La Guardia Republican Elected mayor Fiorello La Guardia Republican

The 1937 New York City mayoral election took place on November 2, 1937 in New York City. Incumbent Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, the Republican candidate, was reelected with 60.09% of the vote, defeating the Democratic candidate Jeremiah T. Mahoney, a lawyer and former New York Supreme Court justice, as well as other, third party candidates. ^[1] La Guardia was also the nominee of the American Labor Party, and additionally ran on the City Fusion and Independent Progressive ballot lines, while Mahoney ran on the Trade Union and Anti-Communist party lines. ^[2]

Primaries were held on Thursday, September 16. U.S. Senator Royal S. Copeland ran in both the Republican and Democratic primaries as a critic of the New Deal with the support of Tammany Hall, but lost both to New Deal supporters La Guardia and Mahoney, respectively.

Republican primary

Candidates

• Royal S. Copeland, United States Senator from New York since 1923 (also running as Democrat)
• Fiorello La Guardia, incumbent mayor since 1934

Withdrew

• Thomas J. Curran, Minorty Leader of the Board of Aldermen ^[3]

Results

1937 Republican mayoral primary ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Fiorello La Guardia (incumbent)	81,667	63.54%
	Democratic	Royal S. Copeland	46,853	36.46%
Total votes			128,520	100.00%

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Royal S. Copeland, United States Senator from New York since 1923 (also running as Republican)
• Jeremiah T. Mahoney, president of the Amateur Athletic Union and former New York Supreme Court judge
• Fiorello La Guardia, incumbent Republican mayor since 1934 (write-in)

Withdrew

• Samuel Levy, Manhattan Borough President ^[5] (endorsed Copeland, ran for City Council President )
• Grover A. Whalen, president of the New York World's Fair Corporation and former New York City Police Commissioner ^[5] (endorsed Mahoney ^[6] )

Declined

• John P. O'Brien, former mayor ^[3]
• Jimmy Walker, former mayor ^[3]

Results

1937 Democratic mayoral primary ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jeremiah T. Mahoney	417,980	58.14%
	Democratic	Royal S. Copeland	243,880	33.92%
	Republican	Fiorello La Guardia (inc., write-in)	57,092	7.94%
Total votes			718,952	100.00%

General election

Candidates

• Fiorello La Guardia, incumbent mayor since 1934 (Republican, City Fusion, American Labor and Independent Progressive)
• Jeremiah T. Mahoney, president of the Amateur Athletic Union and former New York Supreme Court judge (Democratic, Anti-Communist and Trade Union)

Results

1937 New York City mayoral election ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Fiorello La Guardia (incumbent)	672,823	30.12%	9.45
	American Labor	Fiorello La Guardia (incumbent)	482,459	21.60%	N/A
	City Fusion	Fiorello La Guardia (incumbent)	159,895	7.16%	12.44
	Ind. Progressive	Fiorello La Guardia (incumbent)	28,839	1.27%	N/A
	Total	Fiorello La Guardia (incumbent)	1,344,016	60.17%	19.79
	Democratic	Jeremiah T. Mahoney	875,942	39.22%	12.95
	Trades Union	Jeremiah T. Mahoney	7,163	0.32%	N/A
	Anti-Communist	Jeremiah T. Mahoney	6,486	0.29%	N/A
	Total	Jeremiah T. Mahoney	889,591	39.83%	N/A
Total votes			2,233,607	100.00%

References

1. "Jeremiah T. Mahoney, 91, Dies; A Lawyer and Former Justice". New York Times. June 20, 1970. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
2. "Our Campaigns – New York City Mayor Race – Nov 02, 1937". OurCampaigns.org. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
3. "Copeland's Race Hinges on Parleys This Week; Foes to Complete Slate" . The New York Times . July 19, 1937. p. 1.
4. "Copeland Predicts New Party Line-Up" . The New York Times . September 18, 1937. p. 6.
5. "Tammany Leaders Turn to Whalen" . The New York Times . July 21, 1937. p. 1.
6. "Whalen Drops Out of Race; Mahoney Will Replace Him; Copeland to Continue Fight" . The New York Times . August 5, 1937. p. 1.
7. The New York Times . November 3, 1937. p. 14 https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1937/11/03/issue.html .{{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)