Ins Ousted

Early election morning a swart, chunky little man accompanied by the plain, efficient woman who for eleven years was his secretary and four years ago became his wife, marched into a polling place in Manhattan's upper East Side. He entered a voting machine, closed the green curtain behind him, pulled down a row of small levers over a row of names headed by his own. Emerging, he refused to smile for photographers. "I'll do that tonight," he said. His prediction was correct. By nightfall, Fiorello Henry LaGuardia had become the 101st Mayor of New York City, elected on the first victorious Fusion ticket since 1913.

Never in the history of the city had so many citizens (2,100,000) voted in a Mayoral election. When he heard that some of his party were not being allowed to vote in his neighborhood, scrappy little Candidate LaGuardia rushed out of his house without an overcoat, stormed into a polling place which was being held by 20 Tammanyites. The small Wartime aviator tore the red Tammany badge off the first man he saw, barked: "You're thugs. Get out!" Another man advanced on him. Major LaGuardia doubled up his fists to do battle. Police restrained him. Candidate LaGuardia promised to kick the interfering officers off the force the day he took office.

By the time Mayor-elect LaGuardia climbed happily, theatrically but wearily up to the marquee of the Astor Hotel to show himself to roaring thousands in Times Square, the votes stood: LaGuardia, 858,551; Joseph Vincent McKee, onetime acting mayor and Recovery (independent Democratic) candidate, 604,045; Mayor John Patrick O'Brien, Tammany's bumbling standard bearer, 586,100. LaGuardia carried every borough. Fusion won three of the five borough presidencies, the Comptrollership, an overwhelming majority in the Board of Estimate. Recovery candidates, in a surprisingly poor showing got only the Bronx borough presidency. Tammany retained control of the Board of Aldermen, won the Manhattan borough presidency. To the amazement of many an observer, Tammany also won the New York county district attorneyship for William Copeland Dodge, an obscure lower court judge. Ferdinand Pecora, the U. S. Senate's bank inquisitor and the Recovery candidate, ran a poor third.

At Foggia, Italy, where Candidate LaGuardia's father was born and where the Major trained for flying on the Italian front, news of the Fusion victory was pasted on the town hall. Elsewhere in Italy, newspapers exultantly recalled that LaGuardia is "typically Italian," "a Napoleonic figure." Italians would have been well within their rights in comparing their hero also to Caruso, so operatic are his posturings, grimacings and emotional up-whoopings on the political platform. Even in private conversation, as with his backer Judge Seabury (see cut), "Napoleon" La-Guardia's mobile features resemble those of an actor with the plot at its thickest.

Mayor-elect LaGuardia & wife sailed away to rest in Panama, accompanied by his backer, Publisher Frank E. Tichenor of Editor Al Smith's New Outlook. Before sailing Mr. LaGuardia forswore any part in the movement to make Fusion a permanent New York party.

The New York overturn was not last week's only one. In many another U. S. town and city, restless and dissatisfied voters marched in record crowds to the polls, smashed through traditional party lines, ousted the ins of both major parties.

Philadelphia turned its back on the G. O. P. for the first time in 20 years. In an election which did not involve the mayoralty, Democrats and Pinchot Republicans routed the Vare machine, elected a Democratic Comptroller, Treasurer, Register of Wills, Coroner, three judges, leaving Republican Mayor Joseph Hampton Moore at the head of an unsympathetic city government. Way was paved for insurgent Governor Gifford Pinchot to run for the U. S. Senate next year. The traditionally Republican Inquirer hotly demanded that "William S. Vare should resign from the national committee and remove himself from politics." Simultaneously, Philadelphia voted 5-to-1 to end some 1794 Blue Laws which prohibited Sunday baseball.

As in New York Cleveland Democrats squabbled among themselves. After the primary, Mayor Ray Thomas Miller, backed by Newton Diehl Baker and the regular Democratic organization which had only been in power one year, fell out with Representative Martin L. Sweeney, who had also sought the mayoral nomination. In a huff, Mr. Sweeney switched his allegiance to Harry Lyman Davis, the Republican nominee. Davis, a seamed, greyhaired old-line Republican, won by 10,000 votes. Thrice (1915, 1917, 1919) elected Mayor of Cleveland, once (1920) Ohio's Governor, Mayor-elect Davis at once closeted himself with aggressive young Publisher Dan R. Hanna of the Cleveland News to choose his cabinet.

Pittsburgh compensated the Democracy for Cleveland's loss. Accustomed to crediting the Democrats with not more than 5,000 votes, tabulators were amazed when Democratic voters piled in 100,000 strong, swept a young political novice named William N. McNair, who accented the New Deal heavily, into the mayor's office by a 26,000 majority. Not in the memory of the oldest Western Pennsylvanian had Andrew William Mellon's town gone Democratic. Malfeasance charges proved against the late Mayor Charles Howard Kline (TIME, May 23, 1932) provided potent Democratic ammunition.

Boston-Three riot calls and complaints that pretty girls were flirting for votes marked staid Boston's six-cornered mayoral election. The first three candidates finished within 9,000 votes of each other. Top man was Frederick William Mansfield, prominent Democratic lawyer who had the endorsement of the potent Good Government Association ("Goo Goos"). Democratic Mayor James Michael Curley's man. District Attorney William J. Foley, ran third.

Scranton and Lancaster, Pa. ousted longlived Republican machines. So did Buffalo and Rochester, N. Y. In Hartford, Conn., however, a Democratic administration was swept out by resurgent Republicans.

Detroit retained Acting Mayor Frank Couzens, 31-year-old son of richest Senator James Couzens, by a vote of 2-to-1. The election was nonpartisan.

In the Dearborn mayoralty election, Henry Ford's Cousin Clyde won easily over Socialist David Jones, who had pledged himself to end what he called the domination of Ford Co. in municipal affairs. Jasper McLevy, 55-year-old roofer, fared far better at Bridgeport, Conn, where, as Socialist candidate for Mayor, he whipped the Democratic machine by 6,070 votes, the Republican machine of Connecticut's Boss John Henry Rora back by 15,124. Nine times in 28 years had Jasper McLevy run for Mayor and been defeated. This year not only Bridgeport's large foreign population rallied to Candidate McLevy, but many a socialite and businessman as well. "Industrialists," explained he, "are sick of being milked by grafters." Socialist McLevy promised to pattern his administration after that of Daniel Webster Hoan, Socialist Mayor of Milwaukee since 1916, who went to Bridgeport to campaign for him.

While Ferdinand Pecora was losing his race for district attorney of New York County, his Democrat brother Michael across the Hudson River in Tenafly, N. J. was being beaten in his race for Mayor.

Two candidates who had nothing to worry about were Virginia's Harry Flood Byrd, running to succeed himself as U. S. Senator, and George C. Peery, candidate for Governor. Democrats, each won hands down.

Most luckless candidate of the day was Victor E. Hillman, running for alderman-at-large of "Worcester, Mass. Candidate Hillman was declared winner. Then the city clerk declared that there had been an error of 100 votes in tabulating the returns, awarded the office to Mr. Hillman's opponent. Simultaneously, Mr. Hillman's wife filed suit for divorce.

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