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An election was held on November 8, 1977 to elect the President of theNew York City Council. Democratic incumbentPaul O'Dwyer ran for re-election to a second term in office but was defeated in the Democratic primary byCarol Bellamy in a historic upset. After winning the general election easily over Republican John Esposito and ConservativeAbe Hirschfeld, Bellamy became the first woman elected to citywide office inNew York City history.
From the start, Bellamy's campaign lacked the financial support of her opponents, who included the wealthy Manhattan developerAbe Hirschfeld and City CouncilmanCarter Burden, a member of theVanderbilt family.[2] Burden and Hirschfeld spent $500,000 and $300,000, respectively, drawn largely from their personal fortunes, the incumbent O'Dwyer spent about $200,000, and Bellamy spent only $90,000.[2] She also lacked the citywide name recognition of the incumbent, a seventy-year veteran of multiple campaigns for the United States Senate, and AssemblymanLeonard P. Stavisky.[2] Bellamy, at only thirty-five years old, was also half the age of O'Dwyer.[2]
Despite these disadvantages and poor public opinion polling, which showed her trailing the incumbent by twenty-five points, Bellamy maintained a public mood of optimism. Her campaign, staffed and funded by young volunteers, distributed over 1.7 million leaflets and pamphlets over the last five months of the campaign.[2] She also boasted a number of key institutional endorsements, including the support of all three major daily newspapers in the city. TheNew Democratic Coalition, which O'Dwyer had founded and led, declined to make an endorsement, but delegates to its city convention backed Bellamy over O'Dwyer by 57.1 to 26.1 percent.[2]
Late in the campaign, Hirschfeld formed an alliance with mayoral candidateHerman Badillo, who had been the runner-up in the 1973 mayoral primary but was struggling to gain support outside of the city's Puerto Rican population.[1]
| Poll source | Sample size | Dates administered | Carol Bellamy | Carter Burden | Abe Hirschfield | Paul O'Dwyer | Leonard Stavisky | Other/ Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The New York Times/CBS News[3] | 1,327 RV | August 13–20, 1977 | 5% | 14% | 18% | 30% | 3% | 30% |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Paul O'Dwyer (incumbent) | 225,021 | 30.53% | |
| Democratic | Carol Bellamy | 186,775 | 25.34% | |
| Democratic | Carter Burden | 145,750 | 19.77% | |
| Democratic | Abe Hirschfeld | 123,767 | 16.79% | |
| Democratic | Leonard P. Stavisky | 55,856 | 7.58% | |
| Total votes | 737,169 | 100.00% | ||
At her election night party, Bellamy shouted to her supporters, "This is a great night for New York!"[2] Addressing the crowd, she continued, "There is a sense in the city of people looking for new leadership, and for all the talk of apathy, I think that the people were looking at the records of the candidates."[2] (In theconcurrent Democratic mayoral primary, incumbentAbraham Beame failed to qualify for the runoff election.)
O'Dwyer acknowledged the primary had been a hard-fought campaign and characterized Bellamy as a "good, able campaigner."[2]
Despite his defeat in the primary, Hirschfeld won the endorsement of theConservative Party of New York to appear on the November general election ballot.[5]
The runoff election was held ten days after the initial primary.[2]Both candidates struck a positive tone on the first day of campaigning, with Bellamy stating, "Paul's a fine individual, but he has not been as active as he should have been in the Board of Estimate or during the fiscal crisis. My performance has been one of action and Paul's one of passivity in office."[6] O'Dwyer, who conceded that he had expected to face Burden, stressed his incumbency. Both candidates predicted they would win the runoff.[6]
Bellamy soon announced the endorsements of thirty federal, state and local elected officials. She scored another surprise upset by leading all three ballots of the city chapter ofAmericans for Democratic Action, though she fell short of the sixty percent required for a formal endorsement.[5]
O'Dwyer charged Bellamy with inexperience, while Bellamy countered that the city needed a stronger Council President.[5] O'Dwyer expected strong support from minority groups, boasting of his endorsements fromPercy Sutton,Herman Badillo andAbe Hirschfeld. He publicly stated, "I'm not a black or Puerto Rican, and I can't think like a black or Puerto Rican, but I can say I am the closest thing running, and I am committed to their difficulties."[7] When questioned about her strength with minority voters, she pointed to support from state senatorsRobert Garcia,Major Owens andCarl McCall and stated, "I think I've been responsive to the needs of minorities and will do well among them."[5]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Carol Bellamy | 435,662 | 58.75% | |
| Democratic | Paul O'Dwyer (incumbent) | 305,860 | 41.25% | |
| Total votes | 741,522 | 100.00% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Carol Bellamy | 1,037,419 | 82.73% | |
| Republican | John A. Esposito | 137,111 | 10.93% | |
| Conservative | Abe Hirschfeld | 79,502 | 6.34% | |
| Total votes | 1,254,032 | 100.00% | ||
