The New York Times has this article, discussing the ongoing discussion on whether to make New York city elections non-partisan. Over three-fourths of the twenty largest cities in the U.S. have non-partisan elections, including Los Angeles, Chicago, and Houston. The largest city to have partisan elections, other than New York city, is Philadelphia.
Chicago is non-partisan? When did that happen?
Chicago’s first nonpartisan elections were in 2003.
Interesting that some who opposed the NYC referendum in 2003, including Al Sharpton, are now reconsidering their positions. It seems to make a difference that Mayor Bloomberg, who strongly favors nonpartisan elections, was a first-term Republican in 2003, whereas he’s now an independent and presumably serving his last term.
P.R. legislative and nonpartisan A.V. executive/judicial — even in local regimes.
Maybe the DOJ won’t give preclearance for nonpartisan elections (Bronx, Manhattan, and Brooklyn boroughs are covered jurisdictions).
#4: I didn’t know that any NY jurisdictions were covered by the VRA.
I seem to recall that all of NY’s congressional delegation voted for the ’65 Voting Rights Act.
NY’s senators were then Bobby Kennedy (D) and Jacob Javits (R).
Different topic: I came across this tidbit: In 1940, when FDR was seeking a third term, Joseph Kennedy Jr. was a Massachusetts delegate to the Democratic National Convention. He voted for James Farley of NY, who had been FDR’s campaign manager and postmaster general. Farley and VP John Nance Garner, a Texas segregationist and prohibitionist, together got only a few votes.
New York had a literacy test, and the three boroughs had less than 50% participation in the 1968 presidential election.