New York City mayoral election, 1989

New York City mayoral election, 1989
New York City
November 7, 1989

 
Candidate David Dinkins Rudy Giuliani
Party Democratic Republican
Alliance - Liberal
Popular vote 917,544 870,464
Percentage 50.42% 47.84%

Results by Borough
  Dinkins—60-70%
  Dinkins—50-60%
  Giuliani—50-60%
  Giuliani—70-80%

Mayor before election

Ed Koch
Democratic

Elected Mayor

David Dinkins
Democratic

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, Rudolph 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.

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.

Results

General Election
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.

Democratic Primary
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

Giuliani won the Republican Primary, defeating Ron Lauder 77,150 (67.0%) to 37,960 (33.0%)

References