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 formerly elected by single-member district district.
The change to PR had been done in response to the large seat majorities the Democrats had often been receiving in the Board of Aldermen. Formerly Democrats would fill almost the entire city council although thousands of voters voted for Republican and other candidates. The change to PR in borough districts was intended to free the candidates from control by party machines, produce both representation of the largest parties and less popular minority parties, and make fair the distribution of seats to each borough."PR in NYC 1936-1947", p. 12 https://fairvote.org/report/proportion_representation_in_new_york_city_1936_1947/
New York City's new STV election system used a uniform quota and biproportional apportionment. 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. And each party that achieved quota in a borough would elect a seat.
Due to voter turnout, in 1937 Brooklyn elected nine members of the council, Manhattan six, Queens and The Bronx five each, and Richmond one. Five parties and others elected one or more seats in more or less proportional amounts.
Owing to the novelty and complexity of proportional representation, the announcement of the results of the election were expected to be significantly slowed down, and were not available until later in the month.
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. 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. The Board of Aldermen held its last meeting on December 21, and the new City Council met for the first time on January 3, 1938. Proportional representation was abolished in 1947 as it allowed Communists to be elected to the council.
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."
+ New York City Council elections of 1937 Party Seats % seats % votes % votes Democratic 13 50.0% 47.0% 31% Republican 3 11.5% 8.5% 9% Insurgent Democrats 2 8.0% 7.0% 5% American Labor 5 19.0% 21.0% 12% City Fusion 3 11.5% 10.5% 11% Communist – – – 4% Others 0 – – 28%Total 26 100.0% 94.0% 100.0%
References
External links Our Campaigns - New York City Council - Bronx At-Large Our Campaigns - New York City Council - Brooklyn At-Large Our Campaigns - New York City Council - Manhattan At-Large Our Campaigns - New York City Council - Queens At-Large Our Campaigns - New York City Council - Staten Island At-Large TimesMachine: November 3, 1937 - NYTimes.com -- Initial election results
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