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]
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 Results by ward Collins: 50–60% 60–70% Powers: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% | ||||||||||||||||
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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
- John F. Collins, Member of the Boston City Council from 1956 to 1957, member of the Massachusetts Senate from 1951 to 1955.
- John E. Powers, member of the Massachusetts Senate since 1940, Senate President since 1959.
Candidates eliminated in preliminary
- James W. Hennigan Jr., member of the Massachusetts Senate since 1955 and the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1953 to 1955.
- John P. McMorrow, member of the Boston School Committee.
- Gabriel F. Piemonte, member of the Boston City Council since 1952 to 1959.
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 | ||
References
- "Collins Will Take Oath Today". The Boston Globe. January 4, 1960. p. 1. Retrieved March 17, 2018 – via pqarchiver.com.
- Lupo, Alan (December 3, 1995). "The Collins legacy: A changed Boston". The Boston Globe. p. 12.
- Tinder, Glenn (January 1961). "Reviews". The Review of Politics. 23 (1): 100. doi:10.1017/s0034670500007774. S2CID 163621125.
- O'Connor, T.H. (1997). Boston Irish: A Political History. New York: Back Bay Books.
- 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.
- Nolan, Martin (November 24, 1995). "Ex-Mayor Collins dead at 76 Fought to restore city's pride, image". The Boston Globe. p. 1.
- Annual Report of the Election Department. Boston [Election Dept.] 1960. p. 46.
- 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.