1969 New York City Council presidential election

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1969 New York City Council presidential election
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← 1965November 3, 19691973 →
 
Nominee Sanford Garelik Francis X. SmithRobert F. Kelly
Party Liberal Democratic Conservative
Alliance Republican
Independent 		Civil Service
Popular vote1,012,757899,330166,602
Percentage48.7%43.3%8.0%
President of the City Council before election

Francis X. Smith
Democratic

Elected President of the City Council

Sanford Garelik
Independent Democratic

An election was held on November 8, 1969 to elect the President of the New York City Council. Democratic incumbent Francis X. Smith ran for re-election to a full term in office but was defeated by Sanford Garelik, a police officer running on the Republican and Liberal lines. Although Garelik was a registered Democrat, this remains the last time a candidate on the Republican ticket won the election to New York City's second-ranking office.

Contents

Republican primary

Candidates

Campaign

Garelik, a registered Democrat, ran in both the Republican and Liberal primaries as the running mate of incumbent mayor John Lindsay. [1] Opponents challenged Garelik's legal right to run in the primary as a registered Democrat, but his eligibility was upheld by unanimously by the Appellate Devision of the State Supreme Court. [2]

Results

Garelik won the nomination, despite Lindsay's loss to State Senator John J. Marchi in the concurrent mayoral primary. [1] The Lindsay candidate for Controller, Vito B. Battista, also won. [3]

1969 Republican Council President primary (unofficial) [3] [4]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Sanford Garelik 109,518 53.74%
Republican Robert F. Kelly94,28046.26%
Total votes203,798 100.00%

Democratic primary

Candidates

All of the candidates except Low were aligned with a mayoral candidate. [5] Low and Carey initially ran for mayor themselves, but each dropped out after former mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr. entered that race. [5]

Results

1969 Democratic Council President primary (unofficial) [5] [4]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Hugh Carey 160,29923.46%
Democratic Francis X. Smith160,12723.43%
Democratic Robert A. Low125,50318.37%
Democratic Elinor Guggenheimer 90,70913.28%
Democratic Jimmy Breslin 75,48011.05%
Democratic Charles B. Rangel 71,13910.41%
Total votes683,257 100.00%

Initial, unofficial results gave Carey a lead over Smith of only 172 votes, but the official count put Smith ahead.

General election

Candidates

Campaign

At the start of the campaign, the unknown Garelik was given little chance of unseating the incumbent Smith. [6] Despite Lindsay's loss in the Republican primary, Garelik continued to campaign with him rather than Republican nominee John J. Marchi and considered himself part of the Lindsay ticket. [1] Marchi attempted to force Garelik off the ticket by appealing to the Board of Elections for his removal, but the Board declined to do so. [7]

Owing to the candidates' backgrounds, criminal justice was a defining issue in the campaign. Although the office had no formal law enforcement role, Lindsay publicly said that he would use Garelik, as Council President, to design a comprehensive narcotics control program for the city. [1] Smith, a former assistant district attorney from Queens, attributed crime to increased use of narcotics and advocated for the use of methadone to reduce heroin usage. He further called for the city to use state prisons to reduce "the intolerable overcrowding in city prisons," which he said was an obstacle to rehabilitation, [1] and the legalization of off-track betting to free up police resources. [1]

Garelik cited his career with the NYPD and defended Mayor Lindsay from charges that his policies were to blame for rising crime, which he called a threat to "the social fabric of our democracy." [1] Garelik called for severe penalties for drug dealers and racketeers and the creation of a special narcotics court. [1]

Kelly, a significant underdog, sought to appeal to conservative Republicans as the only "real" Republican candidate running. [1]

Results

1969 New York City Council President election [6] [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Sanford Garelik 730,755 [a] 35.15%
Republican Sanford Garelik 282,00213.57%
Total Sanford Garelik 1,012,757 48.72%
Democratic Francis X. Smith (incumbent)831,35839.99%
NPCSFrancis X. Smith (incumbent)67,9723.27%
TotalFrancis X. Smith (incumbent)899,33043.26%
Conservative Robert F. Kelly166,6028.01%
Total votes2,078,689 100.00%

Notes

  1. ↑ The total vote for Garelik on the Liberal Party line is combined with his total on the Independent line.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Ronan, Thomas P. (November 1, 1969). "Candidates Campaigning Hard for City's No. 2 Spot" . The New York Times . p. 21.
  2. ↑ "Garelik G.O.P. Role Backed" . The New York Times . June 10, 1969. p. 36.
  3. 1 2 Reeves, Richard (June 18, 1969). "Marchi Defeats Lindsay in G.O.P. Primary; Democrats Pick Procaccino Over Wagner". The New York Times . p. 1.
  4. 1 2 "Complete Results of Republican and Democratic Primary Elections" . The New York Times . June 19, 1969. p. 36.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Tolchin, Martin (June 8, 1969). "Party Split Seen; Wagner Doubts He Can Support Winner, and Badillo is Silent" . The New York Times . p. 1.
  6. 1 2 Reeves, Richard (November 5, 1969). "LINDSAY, GARELIK AND BEAME VICTORS; MARCHI GETS 20%" . The New York Times . pp. 1, 32.
  7. ↑ "MARCHI PROTESTS GARELIK ON TICKET". The New York Times . May 21, 1969. p. 33.
  8. ↑ "Complete Results of Balloting for Mayor and Other Citywide and Local Posts" . The New York Times . November 6, 1969. p. 40.
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