1989 New York City mayoral election
The New York City mayoral election of 1989 occurred on Tuesday, November 7, 1989, with Democratic candidate, Manhattan Borough President David Dinkins, narrowly defeating U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Rudy Giuliani, the Republican nominee.[1] They also faced several third party candidates. Dinkins replaced outgoing Democratic incumbent mayor Ed Koch; Dinkins had defeated Koch in the Democratic primary.
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Borough results Dinkins: 50–60% 60–70% Giuliani: 50–60% 70–80% | |||||||||||||||||||
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Elections in New York State |
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Dinkins won with 50.42% of the vote to Giuliani's 47.84%.[2]
Whereas the two preceding mayoral elections of the 1980s had been Democratic landslide victories, with all five boroughs voting to re-elect incumbent Ed Koch, the 1989 election was a closely contested race that finished with a narrow 2.58% margin of victory for David Dinkins. Dinkins won majorities in the Bronx, Manhattan, and Brooklyn, while Giuliani carried Queens and Staten Island, the latter by a landslide margin. Four years later, in the 1993 election, Dinkins and Giuliani would face each other again in a re-match and Dinkins would narrowly lose to Giuliani in his bid for re-election.
Democratic primary
Candidates
- David Dinkins, Manhattan Borough President
- Harrison J. Goldin, New York City Comptroller
- Ed Koch, incumbent Mayor
- Richard Ravitch, former Chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority
Declined
- Andrew Stein, President of the New York City Council
Polling
Poll source | Date(s) | Sample size | Dinkins | Goldin | Koch | Stein |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Johnson/Singer Inc.[3] | Dec. 10, 1988 | 1,204 | 34% | 6% | 29% | 17% |
Results
Democratic primary | |||||||
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Manhattan | The Bronx | Brooklyn | Queens | Staten Island | Total | ||
David N. Dinkins | 151,113 | 101,274 | 170,440 | 113,952 | 11,122 | 547,901 | |
Edward I. Koch | 96,923 | 66,600 | 139,268 | 129,262 | 24,260 | 456,313 | |
Harrison J. Goldin | 6,889 | 4,951 | 9,619 | 5,857 | 1,493 | 28,809 | |
Richard Ravitch | 17,499 | 5,946 | 13,214 | 9,443 | 1,432 | 47,534 | |
1,080,557 |
Republican primary
Results
Giuliani won the Republican Primary, defeating Ron Lauder 77,150 (67.0%) to 37,960 (33.0%)
General election
Results
General election | |||||||
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Manhattan | The Bronx | Brooklyn | Queens | Staten Island | Total | ||
Dinkins' lead over Giuliani | + 97,600 | + 72,471 | + 39,071 | – 94,670 | – 67,392 | + 47,080 | |
Democratic | David N. Dinkins | 255,286 | 172,271 | 276,903 | 190,096 | 22,988 | 917,544 |
Republican - Liberal - Independent | Rudolph W. Giuliani | 157,686 | 99,800 | 237,832 | 284,766 | 90,380 | 870,464 |
Right to Life | Henry Hewes | 3,025 | 2,571 | 4,140 | 5,647 | 2,077 | 17,460 |
Conservative | Ronald S. Lauder | 1,701 | 1,139 | 2,328 | 3,062 | 1,041 | 9,271 |
Others | 1,904 | 714 | 1,197 | 947 | 194 | 4,956 | |
1,819,695 |
Giuliani vote was 815,387 Republican and 55,077 Liberal. Other vote was 1,732 Lenora Fulani-New Alliance; 1,671-James Harris-Socialist Workers; 1,118 Warren Raum-Libertarian; 435 Mazelis-Workers League.
References
- Roberts, Sam. "THE 1989 ELECTIONS: THE NEW YORK VOTE; Almost Lost at the Wire". nytimes.com. Retrieved April 17, 2018.
- "New York City Mayoral Election 1989". Our Campaigns. Retrieved April 4, 2014.
- Anekwe, Simon (10 Dec 1988). "Poll shows Dinkins can unseat Mayor Ed Koch". The New York Times. p. 1.