New York City mayoral election, 1965

New York City mayoral election, 1965

November 2, 1965

Candidate John Lindsay Abraham Beame William F. Buckley, Jr. Party Republican Democratic Conservative Alliance Liberal Civil Service - Popular vote 1,149,106 1,046,699 341,226 Percentage 44.99% 40.98% 13.36%

Results by Borough   Beame—40-50%   Lindsay—50-60%   Lindsay—40-50%

Mayor before election Robert F. Wagner, Jr. Democratic Elected Mayor John Lindsay Republican

The New York City mayoral election of 1965 occurred on Tuesday, November 2, 1965, with Republican Congressman John Lindsay winning a close plurality victory over the Democratic candidate, New York City Comptroller Abraham Beame.

Lindsay received 44.99% of the vote to Beame's 40.98%, a victory margin of 4.01%.

Finishing in a distant third was the candidate of the recently formed Conservative Party, conservative author and commentator William F. Buckley, Jr., who received 13.36% of the vote.

Lindsay, a liberal Republican, also was the nominee of the Liberal Party.

Beame also received the Civil Service ballot line.

Lindsay won a decisive majority in Manhattan, while winning comfortable plurality victories in Queens and Staten Island. Beame won pluralities in the Bronx and Brooklyn.

Linsday would be sworn in to office in January 1966, replacing outgoing Democratic Mayor Robert F. Wagner, Jr..

Results

1965 General Election	party	Manhattan	The Bronx	Brooklyn	Queens	Richmond [Staten Is.]	Total	%
John V. Lindsay	Republican - Liberal - Independent Citizens	291,326	181,072	308,398	331,162	37,148	1,149,106	45.0%
		55.8%	39.5%	40.0%	47.1%	45.8%
Abraham Beame	Democratic - Civil Service Fusion	193,230	213,980	365,360	250,662	23,467	1,046,699	41.0%
		37.0%	46.6%	47.4%	35.6%	28.9%
William F. Buckley, Jr.	Conservative	37,694	63,858	97,679	121,544	20,451	341,226	13.4%
		7.2%	13.9%	12.7%	17.3%	25.2%
subtotal		522,250	458,910	771,437	703,368	81,066	2,537,031	99.4%
others							17,168	0.6%
T O T A L							2,554,199

Almost a quarter of Lindsay's vote (281,796) was on the Liberal Party line, while 63,590 of Beame's votes were on the Civil Service Fusion line. John Lindsay, a Republican Congressman from the "Silk-Stocking" District on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, carried Manhattan, Queens, and traditionally Republican Staten Island (Richmond), while Abe Beame, the City Comptroller, carried The Bronx and his home borough of Brooklyn, both of which he had also won in the Democratic primary. However, while Beame had also carried Queens in the primary, he lost it to Lindsay in the general election. (Five years later, Bill Buckley's brother James L. Buckley would win the 1970 New York state election for U.S. Senator on the Conservative Party line against divided opposition.) The Other vote was 11,104- Vito Battista - United Taxpayer Party; 3,977- Clifton DeBerry - Socialist Workers; 2,087 - Eric Haas - Socialist Labor

1965 Democratic primary
		Manhattan	The Bronx	Brooklyn	Queens	Staten Island	Total
	Abraham D. Beame	53,386	66,064	128,146	82,601	6,148	336,345
	Paul R. Screvane	66,444	54,260	79,485	63,680	7,512	271,381
	William F. Ryan	48,744	16,632	24,588	22,570	1,204	113,738
	Paul O'Dwyer	6,771	5,976	8,332	6,895	697	28,675
							750,139

Further reading

• Bridges, Linda, and John R. Coyne Jr. Strictly right: William F. Buckley Jr. and the American conservative movement (2007)
• Cannato, Vincent, J. The Ungovernable City: John Lindsay and His Struggle to Save New York (2001) pp 19–74 excerpt
• Carter, Barbara. The Road to City Hall: How John V. Lindsay Became Mayor (1967)
• Taffet, Jeffrey F. "The Snubs and the'Sukkah': John Lindsay and Jewish Voters in New York City." American Jewish History 97.4 (2013): 413-438. online
• Viteritti, Joseph P., ed. Summer in the City: John Lindsay, New York, and the American Dream (Johns Hopkins U Press, 2014)

Primary sources

• Buckley Jr, William F. The unmaking of a mayor (1966)