1977 New York City mayoral election
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Borough results Koch: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% Cuomo: 40–50% 60–70% | ||||||||||||||||
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Elections in New York State |
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The New York City mayoral election of 1977 occurred on Tuesday, November 8, 1977.
Background
In October 1975, with the city on the verge of bankruptcy, Mayor Beame asked the federal government for a bailout. President Gerald Ford refused, leading to the memorable New York Daily News headline: "Ford to City: Drop Dead". As a result, Mayor Beame laid off many police officers and other city employees, which was followed by an increase in crime. (The next month, Ford relented in part, signing the New York City Seasonal Financing Act of 1975, which extended $2.3 billion in federal loans to the city for three years.[1])
A 982-page report from the
Liberal Party convention
The Liberal Party convention was held on May 19, 1977. Cuomo defeated Abzug for the nomination.
Results
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal | Mario Cuomo | 238 | 95.20 | ||
Liberal | Abstention | 7 | 2.80 | ||
Liberal | Bella Abzug | 5 | 2.00 | ||
Majority | 231 | 92.40 |
- Source: OurCampaigns.com
Democratic primary
The Democratic primary was held on September 8, 1977.
Candidates
- Bella Abzug, former U.S. Representative from the West Side and candidate for U.S. Senate in 1976
- Herman Badillo, U.S. Representative from the South Bronx
- Abraham Beame, incumbent Mayor of New York City
- Mario Cuomo, Secretary of State of New York
- Joel Hartnett, civic watchdog
- Ed Koch, U.S. Representative from Greenwich Village
- Percy Sutton, Manhattan Borough President
Withdrew
- Edward N. Costikyan, reformer, attorney, and Beame's 1965 campaign manager (endorsed Koch)[3]
Abzug represented parts of Manhattan and the Bronx in the U.S. House. In 1975, she left her seat to run for the U.S. Senate but was narrowly defeated in the Democratic primary by Daniel Patrick Moynihan.
Cuomo, a liberal from Queens, had been appointed Secretary of State by Governor Hugh Carey in 1976, after losing the election for lieutenant governor in 1974.
Ed Koch, a
Campaign
Koch ran to the right of the other candidates, on a "
Endorsements
- Abzug – Marine Engineers Benevolent Association, Shirley MacLaine, Marlo Thomas
- Badillo – WCBS Radio, the West Brooklyn Independent Democrats, several Hispanic labor organizations, Chita Rivera, Raul Julia
- Beame –
- Cuomo – Governor Carey, Robert F. Wagner, Jr., 26 labor organizations
- Harnett – Don Pippin of "A Chorus Line," Phil Newman, business
- Koch –
- Sutton – Representative
Polling
Poll Source | Dates Administered | Beame | Abzug | Cuomo | Koch | Sutton | Badillo |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
New York Times/CBS News | August 23, 1977 | 17% | 17% | 14% | 12% | 9% | 7% |
Results
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Ed Koch | 180,248 | 19.81 | ||
Democratic | Mario Cuomo | 170,488 | 18.74 | ||
Democratic | Abraham Beame (incumbent) | 163,610 | 17.98 | ||
Democratic | Bella Abzug | 150,719 | 16.56 | ||
Democratic | Percy Sutton | 131,197 | 14.42 | ||
Democratic | Herman Badillo | 99,808 | 10.97 | ||
Democratic | Joel Harnett | 13,927 | 1.53 | ||
Majority | 9,760 | 1.07 |
- Source: OurCampaigns.com
Results by borough
1977 Democratic Primary | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Manhattan | The Bronx | Brooklyn | Queens
|
Staten Island | Total | ||
Edward I. Koch
|
50,806 | 23,453 | 49,470 | 52,002 | 5,812 | 181,544 | |
Mario M. Cuomo
|
25,331 | 23,028 | 54,845 | 56,698 | 10,430 | 170,332 | |
Abraham D. Beame
|
23,758 | 25,747 | 63,304 | 44,607 | 7,337 | 164,753 | |
Bella Abzug | 56,045 | 20,435 | 37,236 | 33,883 | 4,314 | 151,913 | |
Percy Sutton | 35,012 | 24,801 | 42,903 | 28,525 | 1,399 | 132,640 | |
Herman Badillo | 27,193 | 35,007 | 28,909 | 9,051 | 876 | 101,036 | |
Democratic runoff campaign
As no candidate obtained the needed 40%, a runoff election was scheduled. The runoff election was held on September 19, 1977 between the top two vote getters, Koch and Cuomo.
Results
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Ed Koch | 431,849 | 54.94 | ||
Democratic | Mario Cuomo | 354,222 | 45.06 | ||
Majority | 77,627 | 9.88 |
- Source: OurCampaigns.com
Democratic primary results by borough
1977 Democratic Primary Runoff | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Manhattan | The Bronx | Brooklyn | Queens
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Staten Island | Total | ||
Edward I. Koch
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115,251 | 69,612 | 131,271 | 107,033 | 9,835 | 433,002 | |
Mario M. Cuomo
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61,570 | 55,355 | 112,587 | 105,522 | 19,799 | 354,833 | |
Republican primary
The Republican primary was held on September 8, 1977.
Candidates
- Barry Farber, talk radio host
- Roy M. Goodman, State Senator from Manhattan
Results
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Roy M. Goodman | 44,667 | 56.22 | ||
Republican | Barry Farber | 34,782 | 43.78 | ||
Majority | 9,885 | 12.44 |
- Source: OurCampaigns.com
General election
Though Koch won the runoff convincingly, Cuomo remained in the race as the Liberal Party nominee.
Though Governor Carey had persuaded Cuomo to run for mayor in the first place, he threw his support to Koch and urged Cuomo to stand down for the sake of party unity. Cuomo refused.
While Koch had a reputation as a crusading reformer, that summer he quietly promised plum city jobs to the political powerbrokers in the boroughs in exchange for their support.
Polling
Poll Source | Dates Administered | Koch (D) | Cuomo (L) | Farber (C) | Goodman (R) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
New York Post | November 1–3, 1977 | 49.5% | 35.4% | 3.6% | 3.4% |
Results
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Ed Koch | 717,376 | 49.99 | ||
Liberal | Mario Cuomo | 587,913 | 40.97 | ||
Republican | Roy M. Goodman | 58,606 | 4.08 | ||
Conservative
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Barry Farber | 57,437 | 4.00 | ||
Communist | Kenneth F. Newcombe | 5,300 | 0.37 | ||
Socialist Workers | Catarino Garza | 3,294 | 0.23 | ||
United Taxpayers Party | Vito P. Battista | 2,119 | 0.15 | ||
Independence | Louis P. Wein | 1,127 | 0.08 | ||
Libertarian
|
William Lawry | 1,068 | 0.07 | ||
U.S. Labor | Elijah C. Boyd | 873 | 0.06 | ||
Majority | 129,463 | 9.02 | |||
Turnout | 1,435,113 |
- Source: OurCampaigns.com
Results by borough
General Election | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Manhattan | The Bronx | Brooklyn | Queens
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Staten Island | Total | ||
Democratic
|
Edward I. Koch
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184,842 | 116,436 | 204,934 | 191,894 | 19,270 | 717,376 |
Liberal – Neighborhood Government |
Mario M. Cuomo
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77,531 | 87,421 | 173,321 | 208,748 | 40,932 | 587,913 |
Republican
|
Roy M. Goodman | 19,321 | 6,102 | 11,491 | 18,460 | 3,229 | 58,606 |
Conservative
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Barry M. Farber | 9,070 | 7,624 | 16,576 | 20,453 | 3,714 | 57,437 |
others | 4,281 | 1,731 | 3,752 | 3,256 | 761 | 13,781 | |
1,435,113 |
Other vote was: Kenneth F. Newcombe – Communist – 5,300; Catarino Garza – Socialist Workers – 3,294; Vito Battista – United Taxpayers Party – 2,119; Louis Wein – Independent – 1,127; William Lawry – Free Libertarian – 1,068; Elijah Boyd – Labor – 873. Cuomo's total vote included 522,942 Liberal and 64,971 Neighborhood Government.
References
- ProQuest 146357089.
- ^ a b c d "From the Daily News Archives". Daily News. New York. Archived from the original on July 24, 2008.
- ^ Carroll, Maurice (May 15, 1977). "Costikyan Pulls Out of Mayoral Contest and Supports Koch". The New York Times. p. 1. Retrieved October 5, 2018.
- ^ "Ed Koch's Legacy". Gotham Gazette. November 14, 2005. Archived from the original on April 27, 2007. Retrieved July 15, 2007.
- ^ "Paying Their Dues" Archived October 11, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, Ed Koch, New York Press, May 23, 2007
- ^ "That '70s Show" Archived May 9, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, Gotham Gazette, May 9, 2005
- ^ Purnick, Joyce (July 11, 2007). "The '77 Blackout: Inside the Command Center". The New York Times. Retrieved May 20, 2010.
- ^ Koch, Ed (July 10, 2007). "How I Helped Put Juice Back In The Big Apple". New York Post. Archived from the original on September 4, 2012.