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1925 New York City mayoral election

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1925 New York City mayoral election

← 1921 November 5, 1925 1929 →
 
Nominee Jimmy Walker Frank D. Waterman
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 748,687 346,564
Percentage 65.80% 30.50%

Mayor before election

John F. Hylan
Democratic

Elected mayor

Jimmy Walker
Democratic

The 1925 New York City mayoral election took place on November 3, 1925. Incumbent Democratic mayor John Francis Hylan ran for re-election to a third term in office but was defeated in the Democratic Party primary by State Senator Jimmy Walker. In the general election, Walker defeated Republican nominee Frank D. Waterman.[1]

Democratic primary

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Candidates

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Results

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Results by borough

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1925 Democratic primary Manhattan The Bronx Brooklyn Queens Richmond [Staten Is.] Total %
Jimmy Walker 102,835 45,308 65,671 28,203 6,321 248,338 62%
79% 68% 52% 47% 34%
John Francis Hylan 27,802 21,228 60,814 32,163 12,197 154,204 38%
21% 32% 48% 53% 66%
subtotal (for Walker and Hylan only) 130,637 66,536 126,485 60,366 18,518 402,542 [100%]

General election

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Candidates

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Campaign

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The main contenders in the race were the Democratic Party candidate Jimmy Walker (1881-1946), a city assemblyman and State Senator,[2] and the Republican candidate Frank D. Waterman (1869-1938) of the Waterman Pen Company.[3][4] Walker's reputation as a flamboyant man-about-town made him a hero to many working-class voters; he was often seen at legitimate theaters and illegitimate speakeasies.[5][6] Walker backed many social and cultural issues that were considered politically important at the time, such as opposition to Prohibition, social welfare legislation, legalization of boxing, repeal of blue laws against Sunday baseball games, and condemning the Ku Klux Klan.[7] Waterman was a vocal critic of the Tammany machine's mismanagement of municipal affairs with the expansion of the subway system as a main issue. Waterman, however, was repeatedly accused of hostility to labor, discriminatory hiring practices, and anti-Semitism.[3]

Walker, the Democratic party leader in the New York State Senate received the support from John McCooey, the leader in Brooklyn, and Walker from Ed Flynn of the Bronx, went on to defeat New York Mayor John Hylan in the Democratic primary.[8]

Results

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Walker defeated Waterman after receiving 748,687 votes to Waterman's 346,546 votes.[8]

Results by borough

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1925 general election Party Manhattan The Bronx Brooklyn Queens Richmond [Staten Is.] Total %
Jimmy Walker Democratic 247,079 131,226 244,029 103,629 22,724 748,687 65.8%
69.4% 71.8% 60.9% 63.0% 67.3%
Frank D. Waterman Republican 98,617 39,615 139,060 58,478 10,794 346,564 30.5%
27.7% 21.7% 34.7% 35.6% 32.0%
Norman Thomas Socialist 9,482 11,133 16,809 1,943 207 39,574 3.5%
Joseph Brandon Socialist Labor 388 488 591 155 21 1,643 0.1%
Warren Fisher Progressive 387 262 528 284 37 1,498 0.1%
TOTAL 355,953 182,724 401,017 164,489 33,783 1,137,966

References

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  1. ^ "American Elections". Ashburton Guardian, Vol. XLVI, Issue 10639, 5 November 1925, Page 2.
  2. ^ "Former Mayor Walker Of New York Dies". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. November 19, 1946. Retrieved March 17, 2010.
  3. ^ a b "Frank D. Waterman's Run for Mayor: New York City, 1925". The PENnant. 1995.
  4. ^ Wallace, D. (2012). Capital of the World: A Portrait of New York City in the Roaring Twenties. Rowman & Littlefield. Page 9.
  5. ^ David Wallace, Capital of the World: A Portrait of New Your City in the Roaring Twenties (2011) p. 11.
  6. ^ Young, Greg. "Mayor Jimmy Walker: a finer class of corruption". The Bowery Boys: New York City History. Retrieved May 27, 2009.
  7. ^ Connolly, James. "Walker, James J.", American National Biography, Oxford University Press, February 1, 2000.
  8. ^ a b Robert A. Slayton, Empire Statesman: The Rise and Redemption of Al Smith, The Free Press, New York, 2001, ISBN 0-684-86302-2, pages 115-116 and 221-225. See also 1917 New York City mayoral election.