TheNew York City mayoral election of 1985 occurred on Tuesday, November 5, 1985, withDemocratic incumbentMayorEd Koch being re-elected to a third term by a landslide margin.
Koch received an overwhelming 78.02% of the vote citywide. Koch also swept all five boroughs by landslide margins, breaking 70% of the vote inManhattan andQueens and breaking 80% of the vote inBrooklyn,the Bronx, andStaten Island.[1] Koch's closest competitor was theLiberal Party nominee,New York City Council PresidentCarol Bellamy, who received 10.20% of the vote. Finishing in a distant third was theRepublican nominee, Diane McGrath, who received 9.14% of the vote. Koch was sworn into his third and final term in January 1986.
To date, this is the last time a Democrat wonStaten Island in a mayoral election, and the last time any mayoral candidate carried all five boroughs.
Al Vann andHerman Badillo tried to unite the Black and Puerto Rican communities but were thwarted by the HarlemGang of Four. In a move that shocked Vann, the so-called “Gang of Four” from Harlem—Charles Rangel,David Dinkins,Basil Paterson andPercy Sutton—broke ranks and put forth their own candidate for mayor, Harlem AssemblymanHerman “Denny” Farrell, a dark horse if ever there was one. They argued that a black group like theCoalition for a Just New York should support a black candidate, not aPuerto Rican. Badillo bitterly withdrew from consideration. Farrell lost badly in the primary."[2]