1957 New York City mayoral election

none January 2025 September 2023 1957 New York City mayoral election New York City presidential no 1953 New York City mayoral election 1953 1961 New York City mayoral election 1961 November 5, 1957 Robert K. Christenberry 1953 (cropped).jpg Robert K. Christenberry Republican Party (United States) 585,768 26.9% File:RobertFWagner.png Robert F. Wagner Jr. Democratic Party (United States) LiberalCity Fusion 1,509,775 69.2% NYCmayoralelectionresultsbyborough1957.svg 250px Results by Borough #6674de 60–70% #584cde 70–80% Mayor Robert F. Wagner, Jr. Democratic Party (United States) Robert F. Wagner, Jr. Democratic Party (United States) 2,442,888 2,224,05491.04% (3.65 pp) The 1957 New York City mayoral election occurred on Tuesday, November 5, 1957. Incumbent Democratic mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr. won re-election for a second term in office. Wagner defeated the Republican nominee, businessman Robert K. Christenberry. Democratic nomination Incumbent Mayor Robert F. Wagner, Jr. chose to run for reelection to a second term. Wagner received the backing of the powerful Tammany Hall political machine.Mayhew David R. Placing Parties in American Politics: Organization, Electoral Settings, and Government Activity in the Twentieth Century 14 July 2014 Princeton University Press 978-0-691-61056-6 45 Liberal nomination There was debate within the Liberal Party over their strategy for the 1957 elections. Since the middle of the 1950s, there was increasing pressure for the party to fold and merge with the Democrats.McNickle Chris To be Mayor of New York : Ethnic Politics in the City 1993 Columbia University Press New York 978-0-231-07636-4 118 Factions within the party believed the Democrats had evolved past machine politics, meaning there was no need for continued existence of the Liberals. Ultimately the view of party father David Dubinsky prevailed; the Liberals would endorse worthy Democrats and Republicans but maintain a separate structure.McNickle 1993 119 The Liberals voted by 280 to 23 on July 10 that they would endorse Wagner for Mayor while running their own candidates for city council races.Knowles Clayton LIBERALS SUPPORT MAYOR AND SLATE https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1957/07/11/84733318.html?pageNumber=1 20 August 2021 New York Times 10 July 1957 This was met with criticism by the pro-Liberal New York Post, which labelled the endorsement as "surrender".McNickle 1993 119 Wagner also appeared on the City Fusion, an anti-Tammany party, ballot line.INDEPENDENTS FILE FOR CITY ELECTIONS https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1957/09/24/84765353.html?pageNumber=23 20 August 2021 New York Times 24 September 1957 Republican nomination On June 27, the Republican party nominated Robert K. Christenberry at the Ambassador Hotel, of which Christenberry was the president. Though Christenberry had never held elected office, he was a friend of former governor Thomas Dewey and had been appointed by Dewey to the state Athletic Commission. Christenberry had also served as Vice Consul in Vladivostok and the Dominican Republic as well as the American representative at the inauguration of Paraguayan President Alfredo Stroessner.Amper Richard Christenberry Named By G.O.P. In Mayoral Race https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1957/06/28/issue.html 19 August 2021 New York Times 28 June 1957 General election Candidates Vito P. Battista, architect and founder of the Institute of Design and ConstructionFlanagan Richard M. Robert Wagner and the Rise of New York City's Plebiscitary Mayoralty: The Tamer of the Tammany Tiger December 12, 2014 Palgrave Macmillan 978-1-137-40087-1 39 The NYPR Archive Collections - Vito P. Battista https://www.wnyc.org/story/vito-p-battista/ WNYC 19 August 2021 (United Taxpayers) Robert K. Christenberry, president of the Ambassador Hotel (Republican) Joyce Cowley, single mother and Trotskyist activistSOCIALIST SLATE FILED https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1957/09/19/84981086.html?pageNumber=15 19 August 2021 New York Times 19 September 1957Boone Barri Joyce Maupin, 1921–1998 https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/newspape/atc/1747.html Marxists Internet Archive 20 August 2021 (Socialist Workers) Eric Hass, Socialist Labor Party nominee for President of the United States in 1952 and 1956Mayoralty Candidate Named https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1957/04/14/121641256.html?pageNumber=26 19 August 2021 New York Times 14 April 1957SOCIALIST LABORITES GET OWN NAME BACK https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1957/11/03/93218234.html?pageNumber=63 19 August 2021 New York Times 3 November 1957 (Industrial Government) Robert F. Wagner Jr., incumbent mayor since 1954 (Democratic and Liberal) Campaign From the start of the campaign, Wagner was favored for reelection. Though Christenberry was praised by Democrats like Eleanor Roosevelt for his energy and knowledge of the issues, even traditionally Republican newspapers were not optimistic about his chances.Roosevelt Eleanor My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, July 6, 1957 https://www2.gwu.edu/~erpapers/myday/displaydoc.cfm?_y=1957&_f=md003847 George Washington University 19 August 2021 Despite this, President Eisenhower and Vice President Nixon appeared with and endorsed Christenberry.Egan Leo President, Here, Endorses Christenberry for Mayor https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1957/10/23/90843765.html?pageNumber=1 19 August 2021 New York Times 23 October 1957Illson Murray CITY SAFETY ISSUE BACKED BY NIXON https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1957/09/11/84975000.html?pageNumber=26 19 August 2021 New York Times 11 September 1957 Former Governor Dewey endorsed Christenberry just four days before the election in a letter.Kaplan Morris DEWEY ENDORSES G.O.P. CITY TICKET Ex-Governor Comes Out for Ch https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1957/11/02/90847143.html?pageNumber=1 19 August 2021 New York Times 2 November 1957 A Democratic internal poll in August indicated Wagner would win reelection by 350,000 votes and a second poll in September indicated an even larger victory.McNickle 1993 119 These polls found Wagner had support from every ethnic group in New York, though Wagner was strongest among Jews, with 75% of Jewish voters supporting him.McNickle 1993 120 At the start of his campaign, Christenberry attacked Mayor Wagner, saying he had "a record of indecision" and a "failure to face up to problems". Christenberry centered his campaign around a plan to hire 5,000 new police officers to reduce crime, the reduction of graft and corruption in city government, and halting New York City's population loss.Christenberry's Views https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1957/06/28/issue.html 19 August 2021 New York Times 28 June 1956Text of the Republican Party's City Campaign Principles and Platform https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1957/08/06/87310589.html?pageNumber=16 19 August 2021 New York Times 6 August 1957 Throughout the campaign, Christenberry attacked Wagner on the issue of crime and claimed that the administration had "miserably failed" on that issue.Egan Leo CITY CRIME SCORED BY G.O.P. NOMINEE https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1957/08/06/87310441.html?pageNumber=1 19 August 2021 New York Times 6 August 1957 During the campaign the Democrats spent $300,000, Republicans spent $75,000, and Liberals spent $75,000.Soyer 2021 150 Vito Battista, a Republican architect, ran on the third party "United Taxpayers" ticket in opposition to Mayor Wagner's policies on taxation and social services.Flanagan Richard M. Robert Wagner and the Rise of New York City's Plebiscitary Mayoralty: The Tamer of the Tammany Tiger December 12, 2014 Palgrave Macmillan 978-1-137-40087-1 39 On WNYC's Campus Press Conference, Battista stated that his party stood for "lower taxes or the intelligent distribution of the tax dollar in running local city government; the elimination of waste, the elimination of inefficiency, and the proper planning of our community." Battista also railed against communist influence in the city government, and alleged that there were communists living in New York City public housing.The NYPR Archive Collections - Vito P. Battista https://www.wnyc.org/story/vito-p-battista/ WNYC 19 August 2021 Results Wagner received 69.23% of the vote to Christenberry's 26.86%, a landslide Democratic victory margin of 42.37%. Wagner swept all five boroughs, breaking 60% of the vote in Queens and Staten Island, and breaking 70% of the vote in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the Bronx. New York City Mayoral Election, 1957New York City Mayoral Election 1957 http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=79432 Our Campaigns 29 April 2014 Robert F. Wagner, Jr. Democratic Party (United States) 1,284,856 58.91 Robert F. Wagner, Jr. Liberal Party of New York 217,941 9.99 Robert F. Wagner, Jr. City Fusion Party 6,978 0.32 Robert F. Wagner, Jr. (incumbent) Total 1,509,775 69.23 Robert K. Christenberry Republican Party (United States) 585,768 26.86 Vito P. Battista United Taxpayers Party 67,266 3.08 Joyce Cowley Socialist Workers Party (United States) 13,453 0.62 Socialist Labor Party (United States) Eric Hass 4,611 0.21 2,180,873 100 Democratic Party (United States) Results by borough PartyManhattanThe BronxBrooklynQueens Richmond [Staten Is.]Total%Robert F. Wagner, Jr. Democratic - Liberal - Fusion 316,203316,299494,078341,21240,9831,508,77569.2%73.8%76.6%75.1%64.1%64.7%Robert Christenberry Republican112,17396,726163,427191,06122,381585,76826.9% 26.2%23.4%24.9%35.9%35.3%subtotal428,376413,025657,505532,27363,3642,094,54396.1% others  85,3553.9%T O T A L  2,179,878 References 30em Works cited Soyer Daniel Left in the Center: The Liberal Party of New York and the Rise and Fall of American Social Democracy https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7591/j.ctv1hw3x50.2 Cornell University Press 2021 10.7591/j.ctv1hw3x50.2 9781501759888 collapsed Mayoral election Category:Mayoral elections in New York City New York City mayoral New York City New York City mayoral election Category:Tammany Hall