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1981 New York City mayoral election

←  1977 November 3, 1981 1985 →
 
Candidate Ed Koch Frank J. Barbaro
Party Democratic Unity
Alliance Republican
Popular vote 912,622 162,719
Percentage 74.6% 13.3%

Borough results
Koch:      60–70%      70–80%

Mayor before election

Ed Koch
Democratic

Elected Mayor

Ed Koch
Democratic

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

Candidates

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

Candidates

  • John Esposito
  • Ed Koch, incumbent Democratic mayor

Koch also won the Republican Primary, defeating Esposito by 44,724 to 22,354.

General election

Candidates

  • 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

General Election
Manhattan The Bronx Brooklyn Queens Staten Island Total
DemocraticRepublican 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

  1. ^ Wayne, Stephen (2008). Parties and Elections in America: The Electoral Process Fifth Edition. Rowman & Littlefield.
  2. ^ "New York City Mayoral Election 1981". Our Campaigns. Retrieved April 7, 2014.