1965 New York City mayoral election


The 1965 New York City mayoral election 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 and Beame received the Liberal and Civil Service ballot line respectively.
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 into office in January 1966, replacing outgoing Democratic Mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr.. Whilst Lindsay would go on to win the mayoralty four years later, he would lose the Republican nomination to John J. Marchi. As a result this would be the last mayoral election that a Republican would win until Rudy Giuliani's victory in 1993.

Results

Almost a quarter of Lindsay's vote 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, 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. The Other vote was 11,104- Vito Battista - United Taxpayer Party; 3,977- Clifton DeBerry - Socialist Workers; 2,087 - Eric Haas - Socialist Labor

Primary sources