1981 New York City mayoral election
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The New York City mayoral election of 1981 occurred on Tuesday, November 3, 1981, with Democratic incumbent Mayor Ed Koch being re-elected to a second term by a landslide margin.
Koch won both the Democratic and Republican nominations and appeared on the ballot with both of their lines. He only faced opposition from third parties in the election.[1]
Koch received an overwhelming 74.64% of the vote citywide. Koch also swept all five boroughs by landslide margins, breaking 60% of the vote in Manhattan and breaking 70% of the vote in Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens and Staten Island.[2] Koch's closest competitor was the short-lived New York Unity Party nominee Frank J. Barbaro, who received 13.31%. Finishing in a distant third and fourth were the Conservative Party nominee, John A. Esposito, who received 4.92%, and Liberal Party nominee, Mary T. Codd, who received 3.41%.
Democratic primary
[edit]Candidates
[edit]- Frank J. Barbaro, Assemblyman from Bensonhurst
- Melvin Klenetsky
- Ed Koch, incumbent mayor
Koch won the Democratic Primary with 347,351 votes (59.8%), defeating Barbaro who had 209,369 votes (36.0%) and Melvin Klenetsky who had 24,352 votes (4.2%).
Republican primary
[edit]Candidates
[edit]- John Esposito
- Ed Koch, incumbent Democratic mayor
Koch also won the Republican Primary, defeating Esposito by 44,724 to 22,354.
General election
[edit]Candidates
[edit]- Frank J. Barbaro, Assemblyman from Bensonhurst (Unity)
- Mary Codd (Liberal)
- Jeronimo Dominguez, Roman Catholic activist, physician, and candidate for Bronx Borough President in 1979 (Right to Life)
- John Esposito (Conservative)
- Judith Jones (Libertarian)
- Ed Koch, incumbent Mayor (Democratic–Republican)
- Wells Todd (Socialist Workers)
Results
[edit]| General Election | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manhattan | The Bronx | Brooklyn | Queens | Staten Island | Total | ||
| Democratic – Republican | Edward I. Koch | 189,631 | 132,421 | 261,292 | 275,812 | 53,466 | 912,622 |
| Unity | Frank J. Barbaro | 56,702 | 22,074 | 48,812 | 31,225 | 3,906 | 162,719 |
| Liberal | Mary Codd | 14,228 | 5,902 | 7,958 | 8,795 | 4,835 | 41,718 |
| Conservative | John Esposito | 6,682 | 7,634 | 15,388 | 26,515 | 3,881 | 60,100 |
| 1,222,644 | |||||||
Koch had 738,288 Democratic votes and 174,334 Republican votes. Others = 45,485. Jeronimo Dominguez – Right to Life – 32,790 2.7%; Judith Jones – Libertarian – 6,902 0.6%; Wells Todd – Socialist Workers – 5,793 0.5%
References
[edit]- ^ Wayne, Stephen (2008). Parties and Elections in America: The Electoral Process Fifth Edition. Rowman & Littlefield.
- ^ "New York City Mayoral Election 1981". Our Campaigns. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
