• Source: 1950 New York City special mayoral election

    • The 1950 New York City special mayoral election was held on November 7, 1950. Incumbent Democratic Mayor William O'Dwyer had resigned as mayor of New York City in August 1950 to become the United States Ambassador to Mexico. As a result, fellow Democrat Vincent R. Impellitteri became acting mayor in August, having to run in the special election in November to serve out the remaining three years of O'Dwyer's term. Ultimately, Impellitteri was not nominated by New York City Democrats in this election. However, Impellitteri won the election as a third-party candidate.
    This election was notable because all major mayoral candidates were Italian-Americans: Impellitteri, Pecora, and Corsi all had Italian heritage.


    Background


    Mayor William O'Dwyer was first elected in 1945 and re-elected in 1949, both times with the support of the Tammany Hall political machine. Following his 1949 campaign, O'Dwyer was seen as the likely Democratic nominee for the upcoming gubernatorial election in New York in 1950. However, a fast-moving scandal had surfaced connecting the New York Police Department to a gambling ring that included many of the city's top political figures. Within weeks, the scandal began to attract national attention, notably from the anti-crime committee of Tennessee Senator Estes Kefauver. President Harry Truman then offered O'Dwyer the ambassadorship to Mexico before the scandal escalated further and possibly implicated O'Dwyer.
    Due to O'Dwyer's unexpected resignation, New York City Council President Vincent R. Impellitteri was appointed as mayor of New York City following after O'Dwyer left office in August 1950. Impellitteri had been an ally of O'Dwyer and the Tammany Hall Democratic political machine through that time, with O'Dwyer personally selecting him as New York City Council President. Historian Robert Caro alleges that the unassuming Impellitteri was a virtually unknown civil servant who started his career in politics because he had "a name that even the dumbest voter [would] be able to tell was Italian," as Italians were a critical voting bloc in New York City at the time. However, within a month of his appointment as mayor, Impellitteri had replaced the incumbent New York City Police Commissioner with Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Francis Murphy, who garnered significant support for his anti-corruption efforts against the New York City Police Department.


    Nominations




    = Democratic

    =
    Despite losing a great deal of power under the administration of Republican mayor Fiorello La Guardia, Tammany Hall nevertheless remained a significant force in New York City's Democratic politics. By this point, Tammany had turned against Impellitteri, who they felt was undeserving of the Democratic nomination. Instead, the Democrats and Liberals nominated Ferdinand Pecora, a judge on the New York Supreme Court, former Securities and Exchange Commissioner, and longtime Tammany Hall member. Pecora was one of the candidates on the shortlist of Tammany boss Carmine DeSapio.


    = Republican

    =
    Edward Corsi won the Republican nomination.


    = Liberal

    =
    The Liberals considered giving their nomination to a Republican, especially if it was Jacob Javits. However, Thomas J. Curran opposed forming a coalition with the liberals.


    = American Labor

    =
    The American Labor Party nominated Paul Ross, the first chairman of the New York City Rent Commission. Corsi and Ross both received far less support than either Pecora or Impellitteri.


    = Experience

    =
    Impellitteri refused to concede the election following his loss of the Democratic nomination and instead ran as a member of the Experience Party, which Impellitteri created to run in this election. Impellitteri was a political unknown in the city at the time, but his aides quickly sought to introduce him to voters as a dedicated opponent of New York City's political corruption and as an ally of the popular Robert Moses. After promising Moses a free hand in setting New York City construction policy, Moses agreed to support the incumbent mayor's third-party campaign. Ultimately, the Experience Party was a "shoestring operation" with the task of taking on the dominant political machine of New York City. However, Impellitteri's anti-corruption message resonated with voters; he mustered volunteers, and won election to the remaining three years of O'Dwyer's term.


    Results


    Mayor Impellitteri won the election by nine points over Pecora, winning the boroughs of Manhattan, Queens and Staten Island. Pecora won narrow pluralities in Brooklyn and The Bronx.


    Endorsements




    References




    Works cited


    Soyer, Daniel (2021). Left in the Center: The Liberal Party of New York and the Rise and Fall of American Social Democracy. Cornell University Press. ISBN 9781501759888. JSTOR 10.7591/j.ctv1hw3x50.2.

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