1978 Washington, D.C., mayoral election

Last updated

1978 Washington, D.C., mayoral election
Flag of Washington, D.C.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

Democratic primary

Candidates

Campaign

By 1978, though he still had the support of the city's unions, Washington was largely seen as a caretaker mayor whose mayoralty had served a purpose of transition the city from federal oversight to local independence. [1] In his term as mayor, Washington had appointed white politicians to his high-level administration positions, which had alienated the black majority of the city's population who felt that the black-majority city should be run by black officials. Additionally, Washington's history as a former presidential appointee raised suspicions that he was too closely tied to the city's former federal custodians. [2]

Tucker was the early favorite in the race. [1]

Barry, who had enjoyed support from white liberal Washingtonians as a city councilor retained their support for his mayoral campaign. Barry's mayoral campaign also enjoyed support from the city's gay community, as well as the backing of the DC Board of Trade and the support of many veteran civil rights movement activists. [1] However, Barry remained in third place until The Washington Post endorsed him on August 30, two weeks before the election. [3]

Results

The primary was held on September 12. It saw a very narrow three-way finish. 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]

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

Campaign

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

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 and Republican politician, he was a pioneer of affirmative action as he was largely responsible for the Revised Philadelphia Plan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carol Schwartz</span> American politician (born 1944)

Carol Schwartz is an American politician and Perennial candidate 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 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1978 United States Senate election in Massachusetts</span>

The United States Senate election of 1978 in Massachusetts was held on November 7, 1978, with the incumbent Republican Senator Edward Brooke being defeated by Democratic Congressman Paul Tsongas.

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">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.

LaRuby Zinea May is an American politician and African American lawyer who formerly represented Ward 8 on the Council of the District of Columbia in Washington, D.C. She won the Ward 8 special election on May 10, 2015, succeeding Marion Barry, who died in office on November 23, 2014. May, who was sworn into office on May 14, 2015, served out the remainder of Barry's term, which ended on December 31, 2016. During her first council term, she was active on the issues of crime and violence, marijuana policy, assisted suicide, and improvements to Advisory Neighborhood Commissions. She criticized the city's emergency medical services department, opposed the creation of a public electrical utility, and applauded the construction of a sports arena in her ward. She was one of the few council members to support the mayor during the FreshPAC scandal, and although she asked Congress to end its school voucher program she also supported a political action committee which supports an expanded voucher and charter school program in the District. She is a member of the Democratic Party.

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.

Trayon White is an American politician from Washington, D.C. A member of the Democratic Party, he has represented Ward 8 on the Council of the District of Columbia since 2017. He was first elected to the council in 2016 in his second attempt for the position, which had been held by former mayor Marion Barry prior to his death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Calvin H. Gurley</span> American accountant

Calvin H. Gurley is an accountant and perennial candidate living in Washington, D.C.

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

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

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Council of the District of Columbia election</span>

On November 8, 2022, a general election was held for the Council of the District of Columbia. Elections were held in four ward districts as well as for chairperson of the council and two at-large seats. Democrats remained in control of the council, electing six out of the seven positions that were on the ballot. Independent Kenyan McDuffin, formerly the Democratic councilperson for Ward 5, was also elected.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 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.