1969 New York City mayoral election

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1969 New York City mayoral election
Flag of New York City.svg
  1965 November 4, 1969 1973  
  John Lindsay in June 1969 Tight Crop.jpg Mario Procaccino, N.Y. politician (3x4 cropped).jpg John Marchi, New York politician, cropped.jpg
Candidate John Lindsay Mario Procaccino John J. Marchi
Party Liberal Democratic Republican
Alliance Civil Service Conservative
Popular vote1,012,633831,772542,411
Percentage42.4%34.8%22.7%

NYCmayoralelectionresultsbyborough1969.svg
Results by Borough
  Procaccino—40–50%
  Marchi—60–70%
  Lindsay—30–40%
  Lindsay—60–70%

Mayor before election

John Lindsay
Republican

Elected Mayor

John Lindsay
Liberal

The 1969 New York City mayoral election occurred on Tuesday, November 4, 1969, with incumbent Liberal Party Mayor John Lindsay elected to a second term. Lindsay defeated the Democratic candidate, New York City Comptroller Mario Procaccino, and the Republican candidate, state senator John Marchi.

Contents

Lindsay received 42.36% of the vote to Procaccino's 34.79%, a Liberal victory margin of 7.57%. [1] Marchi finished a distant third with 22.69%.

In one of the most unusual primary seasons since the consolidation of greater New York, the incumbent Lindsay and former mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr. both lost their parties' respective primaries. In the Republican primary, Lindsay was defeated narrowly by state senator John J. Marchi of Staten Island. Procaccino won the Democratic primary with less than 33% of the vote against four opponents, including Wagner, Bronx Borough President Herman Badillo, Congressman James H. Scheuer, and author Norman Mailer, who ran on a platform proposing secession from the state of New York.

Background

1965 election

Incumbent mayor John Lindsay was elected in 1965 as a Republican with Liberal Party support. However, Lindsay failed to win a majority of the vote, primarily due to the rise of the Conservative Party, which polled over thirteen percent of the vote behind candidate William F. Buckley Jr. Liberal Party support, which typically went to the Democratic Party nominee, was therefore crucial to Lindsay's win.

Race relations

In summer 1967, New York was one of many American cities rocked by urban riots, with four killed after an off-duty NYPD officer shot and killed a Puerto Rican man, Renaldo Rodriguez, who lunged at him with a knife. In response to the unrest throughout the country, President Lyndon B. Johnson established the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders. [2] Lindsay served on the Commission and used it as an opportunity to publicly campaign for urban renewal, visiting riot-damaged sites accompanied by national and local press, and he was influential in its final report. [3]

In April 1968, one month after the report was released, rioting broke out in more than 100 American cities following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. In New York, however, Lindsay was credited with averting a crisis when he traveled personally to the Black-majority neighborhood of Harlem to tell residents that he regretted King's death and was working to end urban poverty. [4] His administration also sponsored the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, at which Lindsay was introduced as "our blue-eyed soul brother." [5]

Blizzard of 1969

On February 10, 1969, New York City received 15 inches (38 cm) of snow and in one day alone, 14 people died and 68 were injured. [6] For three days, the city was completely paralyzed; streets, subways, airports, and schools were suspended. Lindsay faced repeated criticism during and after the blizzard that he had prioritized his native borough of Manhattan over the four other boroughs, particularly Queens, which remained unplowed over one week after the storm. [7] The criticism prompted Lindsay to visit Queens but, after his limousine became trapped in Rego Park, he was forced to abandon it in favor of a four-wheel truck and was heckled by local residents. [8]

Ultimately, 42 people died as a result of the snowstorm, half of them in Queens, and 288 were injured. [9] Biographer Vincent J. Cannato attributed Lindsay's failed handling of the snowstorm to a hesitation to exceed his budget and potentially, deliberate sabotage by the city's sanitation workers, who held a grudge against Lindsay for his heavy-handed negotiation tactics during their 1968 strike. [10]

Republican primary

Candidates

Withdrawn

  • Vito P. Battista, State Assemblyman from Brooklyn and perennial candidate (ran for Controller; endorsed Marchi)

Results

Marchi claimed victory at 12:40 a.m. in a speech claiming that the primary "mark[ed] the beginning of [a] revitalized Republican Party."

In conceding the results, Lindsay proclaimed that they were "not the voice of the Republicans of this city ... not the voice of the Democrats ... not the voice of New York." He pledged to wage a new campaign against "the twin horsemen of doubt and fear" with a "new coalition" in city politics.

1969 New York City Republican primary
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican John J. Marchi 113,698 51.43%
Republican John Lindsay (incumbent)107,36648.57%
Total votes221,064 100.00%

Results by borough

1969 Republican primary
Manhattan The Bronx Brooklyn Queens Staten Island Total
[Lindsay minus Marchi]+ 31,779– 3,910– 13,119– 13,811– 7,271– 6,332
John V. Lindsay 44,23612,22220,57526,6583,675107,366
John J. Marchi 12,45716,13233,69440,64910,946113,698
221,064

Democratic primary

Candidates

Withdrawn

Results

1969 New York City Democratic primary
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Mario Procaccino 255,529 32.85%
Democratic Robert F. Wagner Jr. 224,46428.86%
Democratic Herman Badillo 217,16527.92%
Democratic Norman Mailer 41,2885.31%
Democratic James H. Scheuer 39,3505.06%
Total votes777,796 100.00%

Results by borough

1969 Democratic primary
Manhattan The Bronx Brooklyn Queens Staten Island Total
Mario Procaccino 26,80450,46587,65079,00211,628255,529
percentage
16%34%36%40%52%33%
Robert F. Wagner Jr. 40,97833,44281,83361,2446,967224,464
percentage
25%23%33%31%31%29%
Herman Badillo 74,80948,84152,86637,8802,769217,165
percentage
45%33%22%19%12%28%
Norman Mailer 17,3724,21410,2998,70070341,288
percentage
10%3%4%4%3%5%
James H. Scheuer 7,11710,78811,9428,99450939,350
percentage
4%7%5%5%2%5%
777,796

General election

Candidates

Lindsay was also nominated on an independent ticket, while Procaccino received the Civil Service ballot line, and Marchi received the Conservative Party ballot line.

Campaign

During the campaign, Lindsay made a conscious effort to appeal to Jewish New Yorkers through symbolic gestures. In late September, he gave an extraordinary reception to Prime Minister of Israel Golda Meir in a sukkah , emphasizing his support for the State of Israel in the Arab–Israeli conflict. [12]

Results

Turnout dropped to 2.4 million from 2.6 million in 1965. (In the same election, Lindsay's 1965 opponent Abe Beame was easily returned to his old job of Comptroller.) [13]

1969 New York City mayoral election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal John Lindsay (incumbent)872,66036.50%Increase2.svg25.5
Independent John Lindsay (incumbent)139,9735.85%
Total John Lindsay (incumbent) 1,012,633 42.35% Decrease2.svg 2.6
Democratic Mario Procaccino 774,70832.40%Decrease2.svg 6.1
Civil Service Mario Procaccino 57,0642.39%Decrease2.svg 0.1
Total Mario Procaccino 831,77234.79%Decrease2.svg 6.2
Republican John J. Marchi 329,50613.78%
Conservative John J. Marchi 212,9058.91%Decrease2.svg 5.5
Total John J. Marchi 542,41122.69%N/A
Communist Rasheed Storey4,0180.17%N/A
Total votes2,390,834 100.00%

Results by borough

Reflecting the three-way split in the race, three candidates garnered double-digit support citywide, and the five boroughs split between the three candidates. Lindsay scored a mayor victory in Manhattan with 67.1% of the vote, while also winning a narrow plurality in Queens with 36.3% of the vote. Procaccino won pluralities by small margins in Brooklyn and the Bronx. Marchi won Staten Island with 62.0% of the vote.

1969 General ElectionpartyManhattanThe BronxBrooklynQueensRichmond[Staten Is.]Total%
John V. Lindsay Liberal - Independent328,564161,953256,046249,33016,7401,012,63342.4%
67.1%40.1%36.0%36.3%17.5%
Mario Procaccino Democratic - Civil Service Fusion99,460165,647301,324245,78319,558831,77234.8%
20.3%41.0%42.4%35.8%20.5%
John Marchi Republican - Conservative 61,53976,711152,933192,00859,220542,41122.7%
12.6%19.0%21.5%27.9%62.0%
subtotal
489,563404,311710,303687,12195,5182,386,81699.8%
Rasheed Storey Communist 4,0180.2%
T O T A L
2,390,834100.0%

References

  1. "New York City Mayoral Election 1969". Our Campaigns. Retrieved April 18, 2014.
  2. Hrach, Thomas J. (2008). The News Media and Disorders: The Kerner Commission's Examination of Race. ISBN   9780549689546 . Retrieved July 17, 2013.
  3. Hrach, Thomas J. (2008). The News Media and Disorders: The Kerner Commission's Examination of Race. ISBN   9780549689546 . Retrieved July 17, 2013.
  4. Purnick, Joyce (December 21, 2000). "Remembering A Mayor, Faults and All". New York Times . Retrieved July 17, 2013.
  5. Greene, Bryan (June 2017). "Parks and Recreation: Harlem at a Crossroads in the Summer of '69". Poverty and Race Research Action Council.
  6. Fox, Sylvan (February 11, 1969). "A Paralyzed City Digs Out of Snow; 14 Dead, 68 Hurt". The New York Times , p. 1.
  7. Stern, Michael (February 20, 1969). "Now Is the Winter of Discontent in Queens; Snow Mess Makes Baysiders Feel City Couldn't Care Less About Them", The New York Times .
  8. Chan, Sewell (February 10, 2009). "Remembering a Snowstorm That Paralyzed the City". The New York Times . Retrieved March 18, 2009.
  9. Chan, Sewell (February 10, 2009). "Remembering a Snowstorm That Paralyzed the City". The New York Times . Retrieved March 18, 2009.
  10. Chan, Sewell (February 10, 2009). "Remembering a Snowstorm That Paralyzed the City". The New York Times . Retrieved March 18, 2009.
  11. Reeves, Richard (February 28, 1969). "Broderick, Frank to Run for Mayor" . The New York Times . p. 1.
  12. Taffet 2013.
  13. page 437 of The Ungovernable City: John Lindsay and His Struggle to Save New York By Vincent J. Cannato (Basic Books, 2001, ISBN   0-465-00843-7)

Further reading