The New York City mayoral election of 1953 occurred on Tuesday, November 3, 1953. Incumbent mayor Vincent R. Impellitteri ran for re-election to a second term in office but lost the Democratic nomination to Robert F. Wagner Jr. Wagner went on to win the general election with a decisive plurality in a three-way race against Republican Harold Riegelman and Liberal Rudolph Halley.
Wagner enjoyed the support of the powerful Tammany Hall political machine, easily securing him a victory.
Wagner received 46.33% of the vote to Riegelman's 29.97%, a Democratic victory margin of 16.36%. Halley finished in third with 21.16%.
Democratic nomination.
Campaign.
Wagner was supported by Tammany Hall and Edward J. Flynn's political machine.
Results.
Robert F. Wagner Jr. defeated incumbent Mayor Vincent R. Impellitteri for the Democratic nomination.
Liberal nomination.
Background.
Rudolph Halley's election as president of the New York City Council as the Liberal candidate in 1951, led to Adolf A. Berle stating that the party could "take over the administration of the City of New York".
Candidates.
The Liberals wanted to form a coalition with the Republicans rather than the Democrats and David Dubinsky met with Young Republicans to discuss a possible coalition. Ralph Bunche, Jacob Javits, Newbold Morris, and Nelson Rockefeller were considered as possible candidates.
Campaign.
Javits was the favorite candidate of the party leadership and Berle told him that he could get the "New York Herald Tribune" and "New York Post" to endorse him. Javits wanted to run, but did not want to break from Governor Thomas E. Dewey. Dewey gave Javits permission to run. Maurice Calman, a former Socialist councilor, and Charles Rubinstein, an American Labor Party city council candidate, opposed nominating Javits and believed that Halley could win as an independent candidate. Berle attempted to read the names of five possible mayoral candidates at the party's annual dinner, but could not get past the first name, Halley's, due to "prolonged applause and cheers".
Liberal leadership soured on Javits and Berle stated that Javits was "trying to be both" a Republican and independent. Berle also wrote in his diary that "the Republicans are not popular on the street". The Liberals attempted to negotiate with the Republicans, but they rejected endorsing Halley and were unsure if they would nominate Javits. Halley was given the Liberal nomination on July 13, 1953.
General election.
Campaign.
Halley's campaign was weakened by facing Wagner, rather than Impellitteri. Ben Davidson stated that "Halley against Impellitteri was one thing. Halley against Wanger was another thing". One Liberal club in Brooklyn endorsed Wagner.
Results.
Halley had the best performance for a Liberal in New York City's mayoral election at that point.
Aftermath.
The Liberal Party of New York won over five times as many votes as the American Labor Party in Manhattan, and eight-to-ten times as many in the other boroughs.
Vito Marcantonio later claimed that the poor performance of the American Labor Party in the mayoral election resulted in them failing to receive over 50,000 votes, enough to maintain ballot access, in the 1954 gubernatorial election. He claimed that communists sabotaged the McAvoy campaign by implying that they approved voting for Halley. The ALP voted to dissolve itself in 1956.
References.
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