1909 New York City mayoral election

An election for Mayor of New York City was held in November 1909.

1909 New York City mayoral election

← 1905 November 1909 1913 →

Nominee William Jay Gaynor Otto Bannard William Randolph Hearst Party Democratic Republican Civic Alliance Alliance Fusion Popular vote 250,378 177,313 154,187 Percentage 42.1% 29.8% 25.9%

Borough results Gaynor:      30–40%      40–50%

Mayor before election George B. McClellan Jr. Democratic Elected mayor William Jay Gaynor Democratic

Incumbent mayor George B. McClellan Jr. was not nominated for a third term in office. He was succeeded by Democratic candidate William Jay Gaynor, who defeated William Randolph Hearst and Otto Bannard in the general election.

After the election, Gaynor survived being shot in the throat by a disappointed office-seeker in 1910 but died at sea from the indirect effects of his injury on September 10, 1913. He was succeeded for the rest of 1913 by Ardolph Loges Kline, the acting president of the board of aldermen.

This was the first mayoral election since consolidation that a candidate carried all five boroughs.

General election

Candidates

• Otto Bannard, president of the New York Trust Company (Republican-Fusion)
• Joseph Cassidy (Socialist)
• William Jay Gaynor, New York State Supreme Court appellate judge (Democratic)
• William Randolph Hearst, publisher of the New York Tribune and former U.S. representative (Civic Alliance)
• James T. Hunter, silversmith and candidate for mayor in 1903^[1] (Socialist Labor)

Results

1909 New York City mayoral election^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	William Jay Gaynor	250,378	42.1%
	Republican	Otto T. Bannard	177,313	29.8%
	Civic Alliance	William Randolph Hearst	154,187	25.9%
	Socialist	Joseph Cassidy	11,768	2.0%
	Socialist Labor	John Kinneally	1,256	0.2%
Total votes			604,673	100.00
	Democratic hold

Results by borough

1909	Party	The Bronx and Manhattan	Brooklyn	Queens	Richmond [Staten Is.]	Total	%
William Jay Gaynor	Democratic	134,075	91,666	17,570	7,067	250,378	42.1%
		42.5%	41.9%	38.4%	47.1%
Otto T. Bannard	Republican - Fusion	86,497	73,860	11,907	5,049	177,313	29.8%
		27.4%	33.8%	26.0%	33.6%
William Randolph Hearst	Civic Alliance	87,155	49,040	15,186	2,806	154,187	25.9%
		27.6%	22.4%	33.2%	18.7%
Joseph Cassidy	Socialist	6,811	3,874	1,004	79	11,768	2.0%
James T. Hunter	Socialist Labor	813	369	56	18	1,256	0.2%
TOTAL		315,351	218,809	45,723	15,019	594,902