1959 Boston mayoral election

The Boston mayoral election of 1959 occurred on Tuesday, November 3, 1959, between former Boston City Council member John Frederick Collins and President of the Massachusetts Senate John E. Powers. Collins was elected to his first term, and was inaugurated on Monday, January 4, 1960.[1]

1959 Boston mayoral election

November 3, 1959
 
Candidate John F. Collins John E. Powers
Party Nonpartisan Nonpartisan
Popular vote 114,210 90,142
Percentage 55.89% 44.11%

Results by ward
Collins:      50–60%      60–70%
Powers:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

Mayor before election

John B. Hynes

Elected Mayor

John F. Collins

The nonpartisan municipal preliminary election was held on Tuesday, September 22, 1959.

Collins' victory was considered the biggest upset in city politics in decades.[2] Boston University political scientist Murray Levin wrote a book on the race, titled The Alienated Voter: Politics in Boston, which attributed Collins' victory to the voters' cynicism and resentment of the city's political elite.[3] Collins had been widely viewed as the underdog in the race[4] and Powers had been regarded as the front-runner, making Collins' victory a political surprise.[5] Collins had run on the slogan "stop power politics", and was widely seen as independent of any political machine.[4][6]

Candidates

Candidates eliminated in preliminary

Results

Candidates Preliminary Election[7] General Election[8]
Votes % Votes %
John F. Collins 28,489 21.87 114,210 55.89
John E. Powers 44,079 33.84 90,142 44.11
Gabriel F. Piemonte 25,850 19.85
James W. Hennigan, Jr. 19,742 15.16
John P. McMorrow 12,100 9.29

See also

References

  1. "Collins Will Take Oath Today". The Boston Globe. January 4, 1960. p. 1. Retrieved March 17, 2018 via pqarchiver.com.
  2. Lupo, Alan (December 3, 1995). "The Collins legacy: A changed Boston". The Boston Globe. p. 12.
  3. Tinder, Glenn (January 1961). "Reviews". The Review of Politics. 23 (1): 100. doi:10.1017/s0034670500007774. S2CID 163621125.
  4. O'Connor, T.H. (1997). Boston Irish: A Political History. New York: Back Bay Books.
  5. Girard, Christopher (November 7, 2010). "Mary P. Cunniff Collins, 90, provided support to husband as Boston mayor". Boston.com. The Boston Globe. Retrieved October 30, 2022.
  6. Nolan, Martin (November 24, 1995). "Ex-Mayor Collins dead at 76 Fought to restore city's pride, image". The Boston Globe. p. 1.
  7. Annual Report of the Election Department. Boston [Election Dept.] 1960. p. 46.
  8. Annual Report of the Election Department. Boston [Election Dept.] 1960. p. 110.

Further reading

  • Nolan, Martin F. (October 16, 2009). "Power couplings and mayoral elections". The Boston Globe. p. A.15. Retrieved March 9, 2018 via pqarchiver.com. John B. Hynes, after serving as mayor 10 years, longer than anyone in the city's history, said he would not run again; the battle to become Boston's 44th mayor began.


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