New York’s Jewish voters, the largest ethnic group in the city, split sharply in the voting yesterday between victorious Mayor John V. Lindsay and defeated Democratic candidate Mario Procaccino, most political observers agreed today. The election results effectively demolished the concept of a “Jewish vote” in the metropolis.
In other citywide contests, former Controller Abraham D. Beame, running on the Democratic ticket was elected Controller, receiving the biggest vote cast for any candidate in the municipal elections. Sanford D. Garelik, who resigned as Chief Inspector of the New York Police Department to run for City Council President with Mr. Lindsay, was elected as the Republican-Liberal candidate. Both Mr. Beame and Mr. Garelik are Jewish and made a strong impact on the Jewish community.
The New York Times declared that the closeness of the election “seemed to result from the fact that Jewish voters – the city’s largest group of voters – divided in unpredictable patterns, sometimes favoring Mr. Lindsay and sometimes favoring Mr. Procaccino.” The New York Post said that the election “completed the trend – which had emerged in recent years – toward a complete fragmentation of the Jewish vote along income lines in all the boroughs.”
According to a sample polling taken by the Columbia Broadcasting System of men and women after they had voted, New York Jews who went to the polls gave 44 per cent support to Mr. Lindsay in his reelection bid, 44 per cent to Mr. Procaccino and 12 per cent to State Sen. John Marchi, the Republican-Conservative candidate.
The New York Daily News said that Mayor Lindsay made a good showing in the Jewish districts of the city with 43 per cent of the ballots. In an appraisal of the factors contributing to the Lindsay victory, the paper noted that the Mayor got “political mileage” from the visit here of Prime Minister Golda Meir of Israel last month.
A National Broadcasting Company analysis showed that Mr. Lindsay got 62 per cent of the high-income vote, only 32 per cent of the middle-income, and 63 per cent of the low-income vote. That the Jewish vote may have divided along these economic lines was indicated by the fact that in the generally upper and middle-class, heavily Jewish area of Forest Hills, in Queens, Mr. Lindsay received 56.3 per cent of the vote. In less affluent Jewish neighborhoods, like Sheepshead Bay and Coney Island, Brooklyn, Mr. Lindsay ran behind Mr. Procaccino.
This pattern was not universally followed, however, the New York Times pointed out, noting that in the Grand Concourse section of the Bronx, Mr. Lindsay received a greater vote than he did four years ago and ran even with the Democratic candidate in what was considered a Democratic stronghold.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
