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1929 New York City mayoral election

←  1925 November 5, 1929 1932 →
 
Nominee Jimmy Walker Fiorello H. La Guardia Norman Thomas
Party Democratic Republican Socialist
Popular vote 867,522 367,675 175,697
Percentage 60.70% 25.73% 12.29%

A map of Assembly districts by their vote in the 1929 New York City mayoral election. All voted for Walker to varying degrees.
Results by Assembly district
Walker:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%

Mayor before election

Jimmy Walker
Democratic

Elected Mayor

Jimmy Walker
Democratic

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

Candidates

La Guardia gave his acceptance speech at the Mecca Temple. [3]

Results

1929 Republican mayoral primary [4]
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

Results

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]

1929 mayoral election [5]
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

Despite his success, Walker would be embroiled in scandal in 1932 and forced to resign. [6]

Endorsements

Thomas Endorsements
Newspapers
Organizations

References

  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ a b Mann, Arthur (1965). La Guardia Comes To Power 1933. J. B. Lippincott & Co.
  4. ^ "Our Campaigns - NYC Mayor - R Primary Race - Sep 17, 1929".
  5. ^ "Our Campaigns - New York City Mayor Race - Nov 05, 1929".
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ Soyer 2021, p. 19-20.

Works cited