In 1917 a hard fought mayorial race in New York City pitted the incumbent,
John Purroy Mitchel of the Fusion Party (a coalition of Republicans, Jewish and Protestant reformers) against the Democrat candidate
John Francis Hylan and Socialist candidate
Morris Hillquit. Eighty-eight years ago Hillquit's campaign was deemed controversial more so over his anti-war stance (against the backdrop of WWI) than because of his adherence to Socialism.
Mayor Mitchel's stategy was to paint both Hylan and Hillquit as seditious and pro-German. It was a potent message, given that 116,516 Americans would be killed "making the world safe for Democracy" in the span of seventeen months.
Mitchel and his supporters, including those at the New York Times, claimed that a vote cast against him was a vote for treason. His platform also asserted as much:
NYT 10/02/1917
There was also a state referendum in NY on women's suffrage, which was considered a long shot because an identical referendum had been defeated by a margin of 200,000 (male) votes just two years prior. Conservatives invoked patriotism here as well, arguing that war time was not the time to extend the vote to the wives of German immigrants.
Some other things you may not know about November 6, 1917....
For starters, according to the NY Times, the weather was good:
So how did political junkies and diehard partisans in Manhattan find out election results before the age of television?
NYT 11/04/1917, 11/05/1917
Bookmakers and speculators were also likely checking the night sky to find out who won the mayoral race or if women won the franchise in New York, because betting on elections was legal:
And finally, how much did it cost to run for Mayor of New York in 1917?
NYT 11/17/1917
Take that to the bank, Michael Bloomberg.
So the World was at War in 1917. The draft in full effect, and 116,516 Americans would die in the trenches of Europe in a year and a half. Crazy ass radical suffragists are picketing the President at the White House, comparing him to Kaiser Wilhelm. The question then: did the flag-flailing work in 1917 for Mayor Mitchel? Is it even possible that voters almost ninety years ago were more savvy than today's voters, even while they bet the milk money on the outcome and watched the night sky for results?
Anyone?