1978 Washington, D.C., mayoral election

Last updated

1978 Washington, D.C., mayoral election
Flag of the District of Columbia.svg
←  1974 November 7, 1978 1982  →
  Marion Barry, 1996 in Washington, D.C (cropped).jpg Arthur-Fletcher - Department of Labor (1).jpg
Nominee Marion Barry Arthur Fletcher
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote68,35427,366
Percentage70.2%28.1%
Mayor before election

Walter Washington
Democratic

Elected Mayor

Marion Barry
Democratic

On November 7, 1978, Washington, D.C., held the second election for its mayor as a result of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act. The primary election of the Democratic Party (the most important contest in the race, as 90% of the District's voters were registered Democrats) [1] took place on Tuesday, September 12, with At-Large Councilman Marion Barry defeating incumbent mayor Walter E. Washington and Council Chair Sterling Tucker to become the Democratic nominee for Mayor. Barry defeated Republican nominee Arthur Fletcher and two marginal candidates in the general election on November 7, 1978.

Contents

Campaign

Democratic primary

Walter Washington had been the last appointed head of the city, serving as Mayor-Commissioner under President Lyndon Johnson, before being elected DC's first home rule mayor. By 1978, though he still had the support of the city's unions, Washington was largely seen as a caretaker mayor who served to transition the city from federal oversight to local independence. [1] Washington had appointed white politicians to his high-level administration positions, alienating the black majority who felt that blacks should run the city, and his position as a Johnson appointee raised suspicions that he was too closely tied to the city's former federal custodians. [2]

D.C. Council Chair Sterling Tucker was the early favorite in the race. [1] Like Washington, Tucker had been in Johnson's appointed DC government, the president's choice for council chair in 1967; previously he had been head of the DC chapter of the Urban League and was seen as a moderate crusader for civil rights. Tucker had the support of the city's black ministers, one of the most influential political blocs, and the business community.

Marion Barry , then incumbent as At-Large member of the DC Council, had come to the District in 1965 as head of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and had evolved into radical civil rights activism on the local DC level by the end of the 1960s, founding the activist group Pride, Inc. to provide employment for the city's poor black community. However, he had gained the support of the city's wealthy white liberal establishment and had begun to move through the city's public ranks when elected president of the school board in 1972, then to the Council two years later. Barry kept the white liberal support in his mayoral race, as well as that of the gay community, civil rights movement veterans, and the DC Board of Trade. [1] However, he remained in third place until The Washington Post endorsed Barry on August 30, two weeks before the election. [3]

On the September 12 primary, Barry beat Tucker by an extremely small margin of 1,400 votes, close enough that Tucker did not concede until after a recount had taken place. Incumbent Mayor Washington finished third, with just under 3,000 votes less than Barry. [1]

General election

In the November general election, Barry faced Arthur Fletcher, an African-American Republican who had served as an Assistant Secretary in Richard Nixon's Department of Labor. Fletcher approached the race by accusing Barry of being the "white man's candidate," a tactic which The Washington Post criticized as "unforgivably shabby." [1] On November 7, Barry won a landslide election with 70% of the vote. [4]

Results

Democratic primary

1978 Washington, D.C. mayoral election, Democratic primary results [4]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Democratic Marion Barry 31,26534.94
Democratic Sterling Tucker 29,90933.43
Democratic Walter Washington 28,28631.62

General election

1978 Washington, D.C. mayoral election results [4]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Democratic Marion Barry 68,35470.16-12.29
Republican Arthur Fletcher 27,36628.09+24.44
U.S. Labor Susan Pennington1,0661.09
Independent Glova Scott6380.66
Majority
Turnout

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marion Barry</span> Former mayor of the District of Columbia

Marion Shepilov Barry was an American politician who served as mayor of the District of Columbia from 1979 to 1991 and 1995 to 1999. A Democrat, Barry had served three tenures on the Council of the District of Columbia, representing as an at-large member from 1975 to 1979, in Ward 8 from 1993 to 1995, and again from 2005 to 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter Washington</span> Mayor of the District of Columbia from 1975 to 1979

Walter Edward Washington was an American civil servant and politician. After a career in public housing, Washington was the chief executive of the District of Columbia from 1967 to 1979, serving as the first and only Mayor-Commissioner of the District of Columbia from 1967 to 1974, and as the first Mayor of the District of Columbia from 1975 to 1979.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arthur Fletcher</span> American politician (1924–2005)

Arthur Allen Fletcher was an American government official, widely referred to as the "father of affirmative action" as he was largely responsible for the Revised Philadelphia Plan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carol Schwartz</span> American politician

Carol Schwartz is an American politician from Washington, D.C., who served as a Republican at-large member on the Council of the District of Columbia from 1985 to 1989 and again from 1997 to 2009. A five-time perennial candidate for mayor, she is the only Republican nominee since the restoration of home rule to garner more than 30 percent of the vote. She announced her fifth campaign for Mayor of the District of Columbia on June 9, 2014 finishing behind Muriel Bowser and David Catania. In 2015, she was appointed to the D.C. Board of Ethics and Government Accountability by Mayor Muriel Bowser.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linda W. Cropp</span> American politician

Linda Washington Cropp is an American politician from Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. She was a Democratic member of the Council of the District of Columbia, where she was the first woman to serve as the elected Council Chairman. On September 12, 2006, she lost the Democratic Primary for Mayor to Adrian Fenty. This loss came in spite of the fact that Cropp had been endorsed by outgoing mayor Anthony A. Williams. She was succeeded as Council Chairman by Vincent C. Gray.

Arrington Dixon is an American politician who is a former Chair and Member of the Council of the District of Columbia of Washington, D.C.

William Parker Lightfoot is an attorney and politician in Washington, D.C.

Sterling Tucker was an American civil and political rights activist and politician in Washington, D.C. He was the first chair of the Council of the District of Columbia and was an unsuccessful candidate for mayor of the city in 1978.

Eydie D. Whittington is a Democratic politician in Washington, D.C.

Willie J. Hardy was a Democratic politician and activist in Washington, D.C. She was elected as one of the original members of the Council of the District of Columbia in 1974 when D.C. gained home rule. She represented Ward 7 on the council from 1975 to 1981.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1986 Washington, D.C., mayoral election</span>

On November 6, 1986, Washington, D.C., held an election for its mayor, with Democratic candidate and incumbent mayor Marion Barry defeating Republican candidate Carol Schwartz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2010 Washington, D.C., mayoral election</span>

On November 2, 2010, Washington, D.C., held an election for its mayor. The primary elections occurred on September 14. Vincent Gray won the general election by a wide margin, although many voters wrote in incumbent Mayor Adrian Fenty, whom Gray defeated in the primary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1964 Democratic Party presidential primaries</span> Selection of the Democratic Party nominee

From March 10 to June 2, 1964, voters of the Democratic Party chose its nominee for president in the 1964 United States presidential election. Incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson was selected as the nominee through a series of primary elections and caucuses culminating in the 1964 Democratic National Convention held from August 24 to August 27, 1964, in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1973 Atlanta mayoral election</span>

The 1973 Atlanta mayoral election was held on October 16, 1973, in Atlanta, Georgia. Vice Mayor Maynard Jackson was elected as the city's first African-American mayor, defeating incumbent Mayor Sam Massell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mayor of the District of Columbia</span> Head of the executive branch of the D.C. government

The mayor of the District of Columbia is the head of the executive branch of the government of the District of Columbia. The mayor has the duty to enforce district laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the D.C. Council. In addition, the mayor oversees all district services, public property, police and fire protection, most public agencies, and the district public school system. The mayor's office oversees an annual district budget of $8.8 billion. The mayor's executive office is located in the John A. Wilson Building in Downtown Washington, D.C. The mayor appoints several officers, including the deputy mayors for Education and Planning & Economic Development, the district administrator, the chancellor of the district's public schools, and the department heads of the district agencies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anita Bonds</span> American politician

Anita Bonds is an American Democratic politician in Washington, D.C. She is an at-large member of the Council of the District of Columbia. She served as the Chair of the District of Columbia Democratic Party from 2006 to 2018. She worked as an executive at Fort Myer Construction, a District contractor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1964 United States presidential election in Virginia</span> Election in Virginia

The 1964 United States presidential election in Virginia took place on November 3, 1964. All 50 states and the District of Columbia were part of the 1964 United States presidential election. Virginia voters chose 12 electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president of the United States.

The Socialist Workers Party of the District of Columbia is a minor political party in the District of Columbia The party advocates for statehood for the District of Columbia and ending Congressional control over the District's laws and finances. The party wants to abolish capitalism and replace it with a socialist economy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1983 Philadelphia mayoral election</span> 1983 mayoral election in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The 1983 Philadelphia mayoral election saw the election of Wilson Goode.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Jaffe, Harry S.; Sherwood, Tom (1994). Dream City: Race, Power, and the Decline of Washington . Simon & Schuster. ISBN   0-671-76846-8.
  2. ↑ Stone, Chuck (July–August 1986). "A dream deferred; a black mayor betrays the faith". Washington Monthly. Retrieved October 28, 2010.
  3. ↑ Editorial (August 30, 1978). "Marion Barry for Mayor". Washington Post. Retrieved October 28, 2010.
  4. 1 2 3 Scammon, Richard M.; McGillivray, Alice V. (1979). America Votes 13. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press. p. 380. ISBN   978-0871871831.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.