1977 New York City mayoral election
![]() | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
![]() Borough results Koch:40–50%50–60%60–70% Cuomo:40–50%60–70% | ||||||||||||||||
|
Elections in New York State |
---|
![]() |
TheNew York City mayoral election of 1977occurred on Tuesday, November 8, 1977.
IncumbentmayorAbraham Beame,aDemocrat,was challenged by five other Democrats, includingRepresentativeEd Koch,New York Secretary of StateMario Cuomo,and feminist activist and former RepresentativeBella Abzugfor the Democratic nomination. Koch won the initial vote in the Democratic primary as well as arunoff voteheld between him and Cuomo. In the general election, Koch beat Cuomo, who ran on theLiberal Partyticket, andRoy M. Goodman,who ran on theRepublicanticket.
Background[edit]
In October 1975, with the city on the verge ofbankruptcy,Mayor Beame asked the federal government for a bailout.PresidentGerald Fordrefused, leading to the memorableNew York Daily Newsheadline: "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 theSecurities and Exchange Commissionblamed Beame's mismanagement for the city's financial mess, which his opponents seized on as an electoral issue.[2]Beame's struggles with the economy and crime, which had led to a decrease in the population of New York City, encouraged several Democrats to challenge him.
Liberal Party convention[edit]
The Liberal Party convention was held on May 19, 1977. Cuomo defeated Abzug for the nomination.
Results[edit]
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
Democratic primary[edit]
The Democratic primary was held on September 8, 1977.
Candidates[edit]
- Bella Abzug,former U.S. Representative from theWest Sideand candidate for U.S. Senatein 1976
- Herman Badillo,U.S. Representative from theSouth 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 fromGreenwich Village
- Percy Sutton,Manhattan Borough President
Withdrew[edit]
- Edward N. Costikyan,reformer, attorney, and Beame's 1965 campaign manager (endorsed Koch)[3]
Abzug represented parts ofManhattanandthe Bronxin the U.S. House. In 1975, she left her seat to run for theU.S. Senatebut was narrowly defeated in the Democratic primary byDaniel Patrick Moynihan.
Cuomo, aliberalfromQueens,had been appointed Secretary of State byGovernorHugh Careyin 1976, after losing the election forlieutenant governorin 1974.
Ed Koch, aJewishpolitician fromGreenwich Village,began his career as "just a plain liberal,"[4]but shifted rightward, towards being a "liberal with sanity".[5]
Campaign[edit]
Koch ran to the right of the other candidates, on a "law and order"platform. Amajor blackoutaffected New York City from July 13, 1977 to July 14, 1977. The blackout was localized to New York City and the immediate surroundings, and resulted in citywide looting. According to historian Jonathan Mahler, theblackoutand the subsequent rioting helped catapult Koch and his message of restoring public safety to front-runner status.[6]Mayor Beame accusedCon Edison,the power provider for New York City, of "gross negligence". Koch criticized Beame for losing control of the streets and failing to ask Governor Carey to call in theNational Guard.[7][8]
Endorsements[edit]
- Abzug –Local 1199,10,000 hospital workers;Marine Engineers Benevolent Association,Shirley MacLaine,Marlo Thomas
- Badillo –WCBSRadio, the West Brooklyn Independent Democrats, several Hispanic labor organizations,Chita Rivera,Raul Julia
- Beame –Central Labor Council,ILGWU,UFT,TWU,John DeLury,Bert Powers,Stanley Steingut,Donald Manes
- Cuomo – Governor Carey,Mario Biaggi,The New York Times,The Liberal Party,Village Voice,former MayorRobert F. Wagner, Jr.,26 labor organizations
- Harnett – Don Pippin of "A Chorus Line,"Phil Newman,business
- Koch –Stephen J. Solarz,New York Post,New York Daily News,Citizens Union,Bess Myerson
- Sutton – RepresentativeCharles Rangel,Amsterdam News,New York Voice,Ellen Sulzberger Straus,Nicholas Katzenbach,Allied Health Services Union,New York Ministerial Alliance,Baptist Ministers Conference of Greater New York and Vicinity
Polling[edit]
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[edit]
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
Results by borough[edit]
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[edit]
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[edit]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Ed Koch | 431,849 | 54.94 | ||
Democratic | Mario Cuomo | 354,222 | 45.06 | ||
Majority | 77,627 | 9.88 |
- Source:OurCampaigns
Democratic primary results by borough[edit]
1977 Democratic Primary Runoff | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Manhattan | The Bronx | Brooklyn | Queens | Staten Island | Total | ||
Edward I. Koch | 115,251 | 69,612 | 131,271 | 107,033 | 9,835 | 433,002 | |
Mario M. Cuomo | 61,570 | 55,355 | 112,587 | 105,522 | 19,799 | 354,833 | |
Republican primary[edit]
The Republican primary was held on September 8, 1977.
Candidates[edit]
- Barry Farber,talk radio host
- Roy M. Goodman,State Senator from Manhattan
Results[edit]
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
General election[edit]
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.[2]Cuomo ran on banning thedeath penalty,which backfired with New Yorkers during a time of high crime rates. Cuomo then went negative with ads that likened Koch to unpopular former mayorJohn Lindsay.His supporters used the inflammatory slogan "Vote for Cuomo, Not the Homo".[2]Meanwhile, Koch backers accused Cuomo ofanti-Semitismand pelted Cuomo campaign cars with eggs.[2]
Polling[edit]
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[edit]
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 | 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
Results by borough[edit]
General Election | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Manhattan | The Bronx | Brooklyn | Queens | Staten Island | Total | ||
Democratic | Edward I. Koch | 184,842 | 116,436 | 204,934 | 191,894 | 19,270 | 717,376 |
Liberal– Neighborhood Government |
Mario M. Cuomo | 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 | 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[edit]
- ^Russell, Mary (December 10, 1975). "Ford Signs Bill To Aid N.Y.C.".The Washington Post.p. B9.ProQuest146357089.
- ^abcd"From the Daily News Archives".Daily News.New York. Archived fromthe originalon July 24, 2008.
- ^Carroll, Maurice (May 15, 1977)."Costikyan Pulls Out of Mayoral Contest and Supports Koch".The New York Times.p. 1.RetrievedOctober 5,2018.
- ^"Ed Koch's Legacy".Gotham Gazette. November 14, 2005. Archived fromthe originalon April 27, 2007.RetrievedJuly 15,2007.
- ^"Paying Their Dues"ArchivedOctober 11, 2007, at theWayback Machine,Ed Koch,New York Press,May 23, 2007
- ^"That '70s Show"ArchivedMay 9, 2013, at theWayback Machine,Gotham Gazette,May 9, 2005
- ^Purnick, Joyce(July 11, 2007)."The '77 Blackout: Inside the Command Center".The New York Times.RetrievedMay 20,2010.
- ^Koch, Ed (July 10, 2007)."How I Helped Put Juice Back In The Big Apple".New York Post.Archived fromthe originalon September 4, 2012.