1929 New York City mayoral election
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The 1929 New York City mayoral election was held on November 5 in concert with other municipal elections.[1] Democratic incumbent Jimmy Walker defeated Republican challenger Fiorello H. La Guardia in what was considered "a Crushing Defeat to [the] City G.O.P. [delivered]" by Tammany Hall.[2] Socialist candidate Norman Thomas also ran, as did Socialist Labor candidate Olive M. Johnson and former Police Commissioner Richard Edward Enright for the Square Deal Party.
Republican primary
[edit]Candidates
[edit]- Fiorello LaGuardia, U.S. Representative from East Harlem
- William M. Bennett, former State Senator from Manhattan and perennial candidate
La Guardia gave his acceptance speech at the Mecca Temple.[3]
Results
[edit]| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Fiorello LaGuardia | 62,894 | 78.62% | |
| Republican | William M. Bennett | 17,100 | 21.38% | |
| Total votes | 79,994 | 100.00% | ||
General election
[edit]Results
[edit]Walker won with a plurality of 497,165 votes, which had been the largest ever recorded for a mayoral candidate up to that time,[2] and won the absolute majority of votes in all five boroughs. The results were part of a larger Democratic landslide in which Democrats won the position of President of the Board of Aldermen, Comptroller, all positions in Brooklyn, and all Borough Presidencies except Queens, and gained 2 seats in the Assembly and 3 in the Board of Aldermen from Republicans.[2] Thomas's results were the highest recorded by the Socialist party to that date.[2]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Jimmy Walker (inc.) | 867,522 | 60.70% | |
| Republican | Fiorello LaGuardia | 367,675 | 25.73% | |
| Socialist | Norman Thomas | 175,697 | 12.29% | |
| Socialist Labor | Olive M. Johnson | 6,401 | 0.45% | |
| Communist | William Weinstone | 5,805 | 0.41% | |
| Square Deal | Richard Enright | 5,695 | 0.40% | |
| Commonwealth Land | Lawrence W. Tracy | 320 | 0.02% | |
| Total votes | 1,429,115 | 100.00% | ||
Aftermath
[edit]Despite his success, Walker would be embroiled in scandal in 1932 and forced to resign.[6]
Endorsements
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ McGoldrick, Joseph (1930). "The New York City Election of 1929". American Political Science Review. 24 (3): 688–690. doi:10.2307/1946937. ISSN 0003-0554. JSTOR 1946937. S2CID 146912519.
- ^ a b c d "497,165 plurality hailed by Walker as a vindication". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Vol. 89, no. 308. November 6, 1929. p. 1. Retrieved January 24, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b Mann, Arthur (1965). La Guardia Comes To Power 1933. J. B. Lippincott & Co.
- ^ "Our Campaigns - NYC Mayor - R Primary Race - Sep 17, 1929".
- ^ "Our Campaigns - New York City Mayor Race - Nov 05, 1929".
- ^ Emery, Frank (September 2, 1932). "Rose to Power On Chessboard of Tiger Chiefs". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Vol. 91, no. 244. p. 6. Retrieved January 24, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Soyer 2021, p. 19-20.
Works cited
[edit]- Soyer, Daniel (2021). Left in the Center: The Liberal Party of New York and the Rise and Fall of American Social Democracy. Cornell University Press. ISBN 9781501759888. JSTOR 10.7591/j.ctv1hw3x50.2.
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