1937 New York City Council election

{{Short description|none}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2023}}

{{Infobox election

| election_name = 1937 New York City Council election

| country = New York City

| type = legislative

| ongoing = no

| previous_election = 1935 New York City aldermanic election

| previous_year = 1935

| next_election = 1939 New York City Council election

| next_year = 1939

| seats_for_election = All 26 seats to the New York City Council

| majority_seats = 14

| turnout =

| election_date = November 2, 1937

| image1 =

| leader1 =

| party1 = Democratic Party (United States)

| seats_before1 =

| seats1 = 13

| popular_vote1 =

| percentage1 = 47.0%

| seat_change1 =

| image2 =

| leader2 =

| party2 = American Labor Party

| seats_before2 =

| seats2 = 5

| popular_vote2 =

| percentage2 = 21.0%

| seat_change2 =

| image3 =

| leader3 =

| party3 = Republican Party (United States)

| seats_before3 =

| seats3 = 3

| popular_vote3 =

| percentage3 = 8.5%

| seat_change3 =

| image4 =

| color4 = c0c0c0

| leader4 =

| party4 = City Fusion

| seats_before4 =

| seats4 = 3

| popular_vote4 =

| percentage4 = 11.5%

| seat_change4 =

| image5 =

| color5 = 3333ff

| leader5 =

| party5 = Insurgent Democrats

| seats_before5 =

| seats5 = 2

| popular_vote5 =

| percentage5 = 8.0%

| seat_change5 =

| map =

| map_size =

| map_caption =

| title = Majority Leader

| before_election =

| before_party =

| after_election = Baruch Charney Vladeck

| after_party = American Labor Party

}}

Elections were held on November 2, 1937 to fill the New York City Council, which had just been formed to replace the New York City Board of Aldermen. The new Council comprised 26 members elected via proportional representation by borough, in contrast to the 65-member Board of Aldermen elected by district. This was done in response to the large majorities the Democrats often received in the Board of Aldermen. Each borough was entitled to one member of the council for each 75,000 votes cast, and an additional member for each remainder greater than 50,000.{{cite news |title=N.Y. City Council Results Slowed |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/136271459/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=May 5, 2019 |work=Rochester Democrat and Chronicle |agency=Associated Press |date=November 3, 1937 |via=Newspapers.com}} Due to voter turnout, Brooklyn elected nine members of the Council, Manhattan six, Queens and The Bronx five each, and Richmond one.{{cite news |title=P.R. in Operation |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/52989205/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=May 5, 2019 |work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle |volume=97 |issue=326 |page=6 |date=November 24, 1937 |via=Newspapers.com}}

Owing to the novelty and complexity of proportional representation the results of the election were expected to be significantly slowed down, and were not available until later in the month.

File:Vladeck for City Council.jpg run for City Council, published in the New York Daily News, November 1, 1937]]

{{ElectionsNY}}

Manhattan elected three Democrats, one Republican, one member of the City Fusion party, and one member of the American Labor Party.

Brooklyn elected nine councillors: five Democrats, two American Laborites, one City Fusionist and one Communist.Mccaffrey, George. “New York’s 1937 Election and Its Results.” National Municipal Review 27, no. 1 (January 1938)

Baruch Charney Vladeck of Manhattan, an American Laborite and former Alderman, was elected Majority Leader of an anti-Tammany coalition that included Laborites, Republicans, Fusionists and insurgent Democrats.{{cite web |author= |date=5 March 2021 |title=Vladeck, Baruch Charney |url=https://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=52301 |website=ourcampaigns.com |location= |publisher=Our Campaigns |access-date=29 January 2025}} John Cashmore of Brooklyn, who had served seven terms in the Board of Aldermen, was elected the Vice Chairman and consequently leader of the majority after the anti-Tammany coalition fell apart in September.{{cite news |last1=Morse |first1=Edward |title=Election of Cashmore To Head Council Bloc Shows Kelly Strength |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/543807888/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=May 5, 2019 |work=The Brooklyn Citizen |volume=101 |issue=152 |page=1 |date=December 29, 1937 |via=Newspapers.com}} The Board of Aldermen held its last meeting on December 21,{{cite news |title=The Board of Aldermen sang its Swan song |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/543806706/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=May 5, 2019 |work=The Brooklyn Citizen |date=December 22, 1937 |via=Newspapers.com}} and the new City Council met for the first time on January 3, 1938.{{cite news |last1=Donohue |first1=James |title=Council Elects John Cashmore Vice-Chairman |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/543587188/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=May 5, 2019 |work=The Brooklyn Citizen |volume=102 |issue=1 |page=1 |date=January 3, 1938 |via=Newspapers.com}} Proportional representation was abolished in 1947 as it allowed Communists to be elected to the Council.{{cite news |last1=Lee |first1=Dick |title=PR Called Costly to City; Voters to Decide Its Fate |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/411502960/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=May 5, 2019 |work=New York Daily News |date=October 27, 1947 |via=Newspapers.com}}

The electoral reform nonprofit organization FairVote says, of the New York council election results during that period: "The City’s first black candidates were elected (including Adam Clayton Powell Jr.) [in 1945], seats were won in close proportion to votes, and far more small party candidates and independent Democrats were elected."{{cite web

|url=http://archive.fairvote.org/rcv/brochures/NYC_Success_of_Choice_Voting.pdf

|title=Choice Voting in New York City Council Elections: 1937 - 1947

|website=FairVote

|access-date=1 March 2021}}

class="wikitable sortable" |+ New York City Council elections of 1937 {{cite journal |last1=Zeller |first1=Belle |last2=Bone |first2=Hugh A. |title=The Repeal of P.R. in New York City—Ten Years in Retrospect |journal=American Political Science Review |date=December 1948 |volume=42 |issue=6 |pages=1132, 1135 |doi=10.2307/1950618 |jstor=1950618 |s2cid=147652948 |access-date=1 March 2021 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-political-science-review/article/abs/repeal-of-pr-in-new-york-cityten-years-in-retrospect/DBF52A7878DD406E709DB0A9AB67DCFE#}}
colspan=2 | Party || Seats || % seats || % votes {{small|(last count)}} || % votes {{small|(1st preferences)}}
style="background-color:{{party color|Democratic Party (US)}};"|	Democratic	style="text-align:right;"| 13 |style="text-align:right;"| 50.0%	style="text-align:right;"| 47.0%	style="text-align:right;"| 31%
style="background-color:{{party color|Republican Party (US)}};"|	Republican	style="text-align:right;"| 3 |style="text-align:right;"| 11.5%	style="text-align:right;"| 8.5%	style="text-align:right;"| 9%
style="background-color:{{party color|Democratic Party (US)}};"|	Insurgent Democrats{{efn|The "Roe faction in Queens", according to Zeller & Bone (1948).}}	style="text-align:right;"| 2 |style="text-align:right;"| 8.0%	style="text-align:right;"| 7.0%	style="text-align:right;"| 5%
style="background-color:{{party color|American Labor Party}};"|	American Labor	style="text-align:right;"| 5 |style="text-align:right;"| 19.0%	style="text-align:right;"| 21.0%	style="text-align:right;"| 12%
style="background-color:{{party color|Independent}};"|	City Fusion	style="text-align:right;"| 3 |style="text-align:right;"| 11.5%	style="text-align:right;"| 10.5%	style="text-align:right;"| 11%
style="background-color:{{party color|Communist Party USA}};"|	Communist	style="text-align:right;"| – |style="text-align:right;"| –	style="text-align:right;"| –	style="text-align:right;"| 4%
style="background-color:{{party color|Independent}};"|	Others	style="text-align:right;"| 0 |style="text-align:right;"| –	style="text-align:right;"| –	style="text-align:right;"| 28%
colspan=2|Total ||style="text-align:right;"| 26 ||style="text-align:right;"| 100.0% ||style="text-align:right;"| 94.0% ||style="text-align:right;"| 100.0%