1981 New York City mayoral election

← 1977 November 3, 1981 1985 →

Candidate Ed Koch Frank J. Barbaro Party Democratic Unity Alliance Republican Popular vote 912,622 162,719 Percentage 74.6% 13.3%

Borough results Koch:      60–70%      70–80%

Mayor before election Ed Koch Democratic Elected Mayor Ed Koch Democratic

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v t e

The New York City mayoral election of 1981 occurred on Tuesday, November 3, 1981, with Democratic incumbent Mayor Ed Koch being re-elected to a second term by a landslide margin.

Koch won both the Democratic and Republican nominations and appeared on the ballot with both of their lines. He only faced opposition from third parties in the election.^[1]

Koch received an overwhelming 74.64% of the vote citywide. Koch also swept all five boroughs by landslide margins, breaking 60% of the vote in Manhattan and breaking 70% of the vote in Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens and Staten Island.^[2] Koch's closest competitor was the short-lived New York Unity Party nominee Frank J. Barbaro, who received 13.31%. Finishing in a distant third and fourth were the Conservative Party nominee, John A. Esposito, who received 4.92%, and Liberal Party nominee, Mary T. Codd, who received 3.41%.

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Frank J. Barbaro, Assemblyman from Bensonhurst
• Melvin Klenetsky
• Ed Koch, incumbent mayor

Koch won the Democratic Primary with 347,351 votes (59.8%), defeating Barbaro who had 209,369 votes (36.0%) and Melvin Klenetsky who had 24,352 votes (4.2%).

Republican primary

Candidates

• John Esposito
• Ed Koch, incumbent Democratic mayor

Koch also won the Republican Primary, defeating Esposito by 44,724 to 22,354.

General election

Candidates

• Frank J. Barbaro, Assemblyman from Bensonhurst (Unity)
• Mary Codd (Liberal)
• Jeronimo Dominguez, Roman Catholic activist, physician, and candidate for Bronx Borough President in 1979 (Right to Life)
• John Esposito (Conservative)
• Judith Jones (Libertarian)
• Ed Koch, incumbent Mayor (Democratic–Republican)
• Wells Todd (Socialist Workers)

Results

Koch had 738,288 Democratic votes and 174,334 Republican votes. Others = 45,485. Jeronimo Dominguez – Right to Life – 32,790 2.7%; Judith Jones – Libertarian – 6,902 0.6%; Wells Todd – Socialist Workers – 5,793 0.5%