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1929 New York City mayoral election

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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

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Candidates

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

Results

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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

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Results

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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

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

Endorsements

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Thomas Endorsements

Newspapers

Organizations

References

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  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

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