User:Shakescene/Bronx politics

Government and politics

[before this section was abridged on Dec. 10, 2022 to remove outdated lists of officials and districts — with hopes of eventually publishing more current ones.]

Local government

Main article: Government of New York City

Since New York City's consolidation in 1898, the New York City Charter that provides for a "strong" mayor–council system has governed the Bronx. The centralized New York City government is responsible for public education, correctional institutions, libraries, public safety, recreational facilities, sanitation, water supply, and welfare services in the Bronx.

Borough Presidents of the Bronx
Name	Party	Term †
Louis F. Haffen	Democratic	1898 – Aug. 1909
John F. Murray	Democratic	Aug. 1909–1910
Cyrus C. Miller	Democratic	1910–1914
Douglas Mathewson	Republican- Fusion	1914–1918
Henry Bruckner	Democratic	1918–1934
James J. Lyons	Democratic	1934–1962
Joseph F. Periconi	Republican- Liberal	1962–1966
Herman Badillo	Democratic	1966–1970
Robert Abrams	Democratic	1970–1979
Stanley Simon	Democratic	1979 – April 1987
Fernando Ferrer	Democratic	April 1987 – 2002
Adolfo Carrión, Jr.	Democratic	2002 – March 2009
Rubén Díaz, Jr.	Democratic	May 2009 – 2021
Vanessa Gibson	Democratic	2022 –
† Terms begin and end in January where the month is not specified.

The office of Borough President was created in the consolidation of 1898 to balance centralization with local authority. Each borough president had a powerful administrative role derived from having a vote on the New York City Board of Estimate, which was responsible for creating and approving the city's budget and proposals for land use. In 1989 the Supreme Court of the United States declared the Board of Estimate unconstitutional on the grounds that Brooklyn, the most populous borough, had no greater effective representation on the Board than Staten Island, the least populous borough, a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause pursuant to the high court's 1964 "one man, one vote" decision.

Since 1990 the Borough President has acted as an advocate for the borough at the mayoral agencies, the City Council, the New York state government, and corporations.

Until March 1, 2009, the Borough President of the Bronx was Adolfo Carrión Jr., elected as a Democrat in 2001 and 2005 before retiring early to direct the White House Office of Urban Affairs Policy. His successor, Democratic New York State Assembly member Rubén Díaz, Jr. — after winning a special election on April 21, 2009 by a vote of 86.3% (29,420) on the "Bronx Unity" line to 13.3% (4,646) for the Republican district leader Anthony Ribustello on the "People First" line, — became Borough President on May 1, 2009. In 2021, Rubén Díaz's Democratic successor, Vanessa Gibson was elected (to begin serving in 2022) with 79.9% of the vote against 13.4% for Janell King (Republican) and 6.5% for Sammy Ravelo (Conservative).

All of the Bronx's currently elected public officials have first won the nomination of the Democratic Party (in addition to any other endorsements). Local party platforms center on affordable housing, education and economic development. Controversial political issues in the Bronx include environmental issues, the cost of housing, and annexation of parkland for new Yankee Stadium.

Since its separation from New York County on January 1, 1914, the Bronx, has had, like each of the other 61 counties of New York State, its own criminal court system and District Attorney, the chief public prosecutor who is directly elected by popular vote. Darcel D. Clark has been the Bronx County District Attorney since 2016. Her predecessor was Robert T. Johnson, was the District Attorney from 1989 to 2015. He was the first African-American District Attorney in New York State.

Eight members of the New York City Council represent districts wholly within the Bronx (11–18), while a ninth represents a district (8) which includes a small area of the Bronx and part of Manhattan.

The Bronx also has twelve Community Boards, appointed bodies that advise on land use and municipal facilities and services for local residents, businesses and institutions.

Representatives in the U.S. Congress

Candidates winning non-judicial elections in the Bronx since 2004
Year	Office	Winner of the Bronx † (failed to win overall contest)	Bronx %	Over- all %
Borough-wide votes
2004	U.S. President & V.P.	† John Kerry–John Edwards, D-WF	81.8%	48.3%
2005	Mayor of New York	† Fernando Ferrer, D	59.8%	39.0%
	Public Advocate	Betsy Gotbaum, D	93.8%	90.0%
	City Comptroller	William C. Thompson, Jr., D-WF	95.5%	92.6%
	Borough President	Adolfo Carrión, Jr., D	83.8%
2006	U.S. Senator	Hillary Clinton, D-WF-Independence	89.5%	67.0%
	Governor & Lt Gov.	Eliot Spitzer–David Paterson, D-WF-Indpce	88.8%	69.0%
	State Comptroller	Alan G. Hevesi, D-WF-Independence	84.5%	56.8%
	NY Attorney-General	Andrew M. Cuomo, D-Working Families	82.6%	58.3%
2007	Bronx Dist. Attorney	Robert T. Johnson, D-R-Conservative	100–%
2008	Democratic Pres.	† Hillary Clinton	61.2%	48.0%
	Republican Pres.	John McCain	54.4%	46.6%
	U.S. President & V.P.	Barack Obama–Joe Biden, D-WF	87.8%	52.9%
2009	Borough President	Ruben Diaz, Jr., Bronx Unity	86.3%
Individual legislative districts
2005	New York City Council
	Council District 8	Melissa Mark Viverito, D-WF	100.%	100.%
	Council District 11	G. Oliver Koppell, D	81.1%
	Council District 12	Larry B. Seabrook, D	87.2%
	Council District 13	James Vacca, D	64.4%
	Council District 14	María Baez, D	94.7%
	Council District 15	Joel Rivera, D (majority leader)	91.0%
	Council District 16	Helen D. Foster, D-R-Working Families	98.6%
	Council District 17	María Del Carmen Arroyo, D-Indep'ce	98.3%
	Council District 18	Annabel Palma, D-WF	89.1%
2006	U.S. House of Representatives
	Cong. District 7	Joseph Crowley, D-WF	84.9%	84.0%
	Cong. District 16	José E. Serrano, D-WF	95.3%
	Cong. District 17	Eliot L. Engel, D-WF	89.3%	76.4%
	New York State Senate
	Senate District 28	José M. Serrano, D-WF	100.%	100.%
	Senate District 31	Eric T. Schneiderman, D-WF	88.8%	92.3%
	Senate District 32	Rubén Díaz, D	92.5%
	Senate District 33	Efraín González, Jr., D	96.9%
	Senate District 34	Jeffrey D. Klein, D-WF	64.8%	61.2%
	Senate District 36	Ruth Hassell-Thompson, D-WF	95.4%	95.4%
	New York State Assembly
	Assembly District 76	Peter M. Rivera, D-WF	91.8%
	Assembly District 77	Aurelia Greene, D-WF	94.9%
	Assembly District 78	José Rivera, D	89.7%
	Assembly District 79	Michael A. Benjamin, D	95.1%
	Assembly District 80	Naomi Rivera, D	74.6%
	Assembly District 81	Jeffrey Dinowitz, D-WF	95.1%
	Assembly District 82	Michael R. Benedetto, D-WF	81.4%
	Assembly District 83	Carl E. Heastie, D-WF	94.1%
	Assembly District 84	Carmen E. Arroyo, D	92.7%
	Assembly District 85	Rubén Díaz, Jr., D	94.8%
	Assembly District 86	Luís M. Diaz, D	94.6%
D = Democratic Party; R = Republican Party; WF = Working Families Party; Indpce = Independence Party of New York

In 2018, four Democrats represented all of the Bronx in the United States House of Representatives.

• Adriano Espaillat (first elected in 2016) represents New York's 13th congressional district, which includes the northwest Bronx neighborhoods of Norwood, Bedford Park and Kingsbridge, as well as upper Manhattan.
• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (first elected in 2018) represents New York's 14th congressional district, which includes the East Bronx neighborhoods of Co-op City, Pelham Bay, Morris Park, Pelham Parkway, Parkchester, Castle Hill and Throgs Neck, as well as the Rikers Island jail complex and parts of northwest Queens.
• Ritchie Torres (first elected in November 2020) represents New York's 15th congressional district, which includes neighborhoods in the South Bronx.
• Jamaal Bowman (first elected in 2020) represents New York's 16th congressional district which includes the northwest Bronx neighborhoods of Bedford Park, Spuyten Duyvil, and Riverdale as well as parts of Westchester and Rockland counties.

National Journal's neutral rating system placed all of their voting records in 2005 and 2006 somewhere between very liberal and extremely liberal.

11 out of 150 members of the New York State Assembly (the lower house of the state legislature) represent districts wholly within the Bronx. Six State Senators out of 62 represent Bronx districts, half of them wholly within the county, and half straddling other counties. All these legislators are Democrats who won between 65% and 100% of their districts' vote in 2006.

Votes for other offices

In the 2004 presidential election, Senator John Kerry received 81.8% of the vote in the Bronx (79.8% on the Democratic line plus 2% on the Working Families Party's line) while President George W. Bush received 16.3% (15.5% Republican plus 0.85% Conservative).

In the 2008 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama improved on Kerry's showing, and took 88.7% of the vote in the Bronx to Republican John McCain's 10.9%.

In 2005, the Democratic former Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer won 59.8% of the borough's vote against 38.8% (35.3% Republican, 3.5% Independence Party) for Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who carried every other borough in his winning campaign for re-election.

In 2006, successfully reelected Senator Hillary Clinton won 89.5% of the Bronx's vote (82.8% Dem. + 4.1% Working Families + 2.6% Independence) against Yonkers ex-Mayor John Spencer's 9.6% (8.2% Republican + 1.4% Cons.), while Eliot Spitzer won 88.8% of the Borough's vote (82.1% Dem. + 4.1% Working Families + 2.5% Independence Party) in winning the Governorship against John Faso, who received 9.7% of the Bronx's vote (8.2% Republican + 1.5% Cons.)

In the Democratic Presidential primary election of February 5, 2008, Sen. Clinton won 61.2% of the Bronx's 148,636 Democratic votes against 37.8% for Barack Obama and 1.0% for the other four candidates combined (John Edwards, Dennis Kucinich, Bill Richardson and Joe Biden). In the Republican primary held on the same day, John McCain won 54.4% of the borough's 5,643 Republican votes, Mitt Romney 20.8%, Mike Huckabee 8.2%, Ron Paul 7.4%, Rudy Giuliani 5.6%, and the other candidates (Fred Thompson, Duncan Hunter and Alan Keyes) 3.6% between them.

After becoming a separate county in 1914, the Bronx has supported only two Republican presidential candidates. It voted heavily for the winning Republican Warren G. Harding in 1920, but much more narrowly on a split vote for his victorious Republican successor Calvin Coolidge in 1924 (Coolidge 79,562; John W. Davis, Dem., 72,834; Robert La Follette, 62,202 equally divided between the Progressive and Socialist lines).

Since then, the Bronx has always supported the Democratic Party's nominee for president, starting with a vote of 2–1 for the unsuccessful Al Smith in 1928, followed by four 2–1 votes for the successful Franklin D. Roosevelt. (Both had been Governors of New York, but Republican former Gov. Thomas E. Dewey won only 28% of the Bronx's vote in 1948 against 55% for Pres. Harry Truman, the winning Democrat, and 17% for Henry A. Wallace of the Progressives. It was only 32 years earlier, by contrast, that another Republican former Governor who narrowly lost the Presidency, Charles Evans Hughes, had won 42.6% of the Bronx's 1916 vote against Democratic President Woodrow Wilson's 49.8% and Socialist candidate Allan Benson's 7.3%.)

The Bronx has often shown striking differences from other boroughs in elections for Mayor. The only Republican to carry the Bronx since 1914 was Fiorello La Guardia in 1933, 1937 and 1941 (and in the latter two elections, only because his 30% to 32% vote on the American Labor Party line was added to 22% to 23% as a Republican). The Bronx was thus the only borough not carried by the successful Republican re-election campaigns of Mayors Rudolph Giuliani in 1997 and Michael Bloomberg in 2005. The anti-war Socialist campaign of Morris Hillquit in the 1917 mayoral election won over 31% of the Bronx's vote, putting him second and well ahead of the 20% won by the incumbent pro-war Fusion Mayor John P. Mitchel, who came in second (ahead of Hillquit) everywhere else and outpolled Hillquit citywide by 23.2% to 21.7%.

The Bronx County vote for President and Mayor since 1952
President and Vice President of the United States					Mayor of the City of New York
Year	Republican, Conservative & Independence	Democratic, Liberal & Working Families	Won the Bronx	Elected President	Year	Candidate carrying the Bronx	Elected Mayor
2020	15.9% 67,740	83.4% 355,374	Joe Biden	Joe Biden	2021	Eric Adams, D	Eric Adams, D
2016	9.5%   37,797	88.5% 353,646	Hillary Clinton	Donald Trump	2017	Bill de Blasio, D-Working Families	Bill de Blasio, D-Working Families
2012	8.1% 29,967	91.5% 339,211	Barack Obama	Barack Obama	2013	Bill de Blasio, D-Working Families	Bill de Blasio, D-Working Families
2008	10.9% 41,683	88.7% 338,261	Barack Obama	Barack Obama	2009	William C. Thompson, Jr, D-Working Families	Michael Bloomberg, R–Indep'ce/Jobs & Educ'n
2004	16.3%   56,701	81.8% 283,994	John Kerry	George W. Bush	2005	Fernando Ferrer, D	Mike Bloomberg, R/Lib-Indep'ce
2000	11.8%   36,245	86.3% 265,801	Al Gore	George W. Bush	2001	Mark Green, D-Working Families	Michael Bloomberg, R-Independence
1996	10.5%   30,435	85.8% 248,276	Bill Clinton	Bill Clinton	1997	Ruth Messinger, D	Rudolph Giuliani, R-Liberal
1992	20.7%   63,310	73.7% 225,038	Bill Clinton	Bill Clinton	1993	David Dinkins, D	Rudolph Giuliani, R-Liberal
1988	25.5% 76,043	73.2% 218,245	Michael Dukakis	George H. W. Bush	1989	David Dinkins, D	David Dinkins, D
1984	32.8% 109,308	66.9% 223,112	Walter Mondale	Ronald Reagan	1985	Edward Koch, D-Indep.	Edward Koch, D-Independent
1980	30.7% 86,843'	64.0% 181,090	Jimmy Carter	Ronald Reagan	1981	Edward Koch, D-R	Edward Koch, D-R
1976	28.7% 96,842	70.8% 238,786	Jimmy Carter	Jimmy Carter	1977	Edward Koch, D	Edward Koch, D
1972	44.6% 196,756	55.2% 243,345	George McGovern	Richard Nixon	1973	Abraham Beame, D	Abraham Beame, D
1968	32.0% 142,314	62.4% 277,385	Hubert Humphrey	Richard Nixon	1969	Mario Procaccino, D-Nonpartisan-Civil Svce Ind.	John V. Lindsay, Liberal
1964	25.2% 135,780	74.7% 403,014	Lyndon B. Johnson	Lyndon B. Johnson	1965	Abraham Beame, D-Civil Service Fusion	John Lindsay, R-Liberal-Independent Citizens
1960	31.8% 182,393	67.9% 389,818	John F. Kennedy	John F. Kennedy	1961	Robert F. Wagner, Jr., D-Liberal-Brotherhood	Robert F. Wagner, Jr., D-Liberal-Brotherhood
1956	42.8% 256,909	57.2% 343,656	Adlai Stevenson II	Dwight D. Eisenhower	1957	Robert F. Wagner, Jr., D-Liberal-Fusion	Robert F. Wagner, Jr., D-Liberal-Fusion
1952	37.3% 241,898	60.6% 309,482	Adlai Stevenson II	Dwight D. Eisenhower	1953	Robert F. Wagner, Jr., D	Robert F. Wagner, Jr., D

• Republican and Democratic columns for presidential elections also include their candidates' votes on other lines, such as the New York State Right to Life Party and the Working Families Party.
• For details of votes and parties in a particular election, click the year or see New York City mayoral elections.

United States presidential election results for Bronx County, New York

Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2020	67,740	15.88%	355,374	83.29%	3,579	0.84%
2016	37,797	9.46%	353,646	88.52%	8,079	2.02%
2012	29,967	8.08%	339,211	91.45%	1,760	0.47%
2008	41,683	10.93%	338,261	88.71%	1,378	0.36%
2004	56,701	16.53%	283,994	82.80%	2,284	0.67%
2000	36,245	11.77%	265,801	86.28%	6,017	1.95%
1996	30,435	10.52%	248,276	85.80%	10,639	3.68%
1992	63,310	20.73%	225,038	73.67%	17,112	5.60%
1988	76,043	25.51%	218,245	73.22%	3,793	1.27%
1984	109,308	32.76%	223,112	66.86%	1,263	0.38%
1980	86,843	30.70%	181,090	64.02%	14,914	5.27%
1976	96,842	28.70%	238,786	70.77%	1,763	0.52%
1972	196,754	44.60%	243,345	55.16%	1,075	0.24%
1968	142,314	32.02%	277,385	62.40%	24,818	5.58%
1964	135,780	25.16%	403,014	74.69%	800	0.15%
1960	182,393	31.76%	389,818	67.88%	2,071	0.36%
1956	257,382	42.81%	343,823	57.19%	0	0.00%
1952	241,898	37.34%	392,477	60.59%	13,420	2.07%
1948	173,044	27.80%	337,129	54.17%	112,182	18.03%
1944	211,158	31.75%	450,525	67.74%	3,352	0.50%
1940	198,293	31.77%	418,931	67.11%	6,980	1.12%
1936	93,151	17.61%	419,625	79.35%	16,042	3.03%
1932	76,587	19.15%	281,330	70.35%	42,002	10.50%
1928	98,636	28.68%	232,766	67.67%	12,545	3.65%
1924	79,583	36.73%	72,840	33.62%	64,234	29.65%
1920	106,050	56.61%	45,741	24.42%	35,538	18.97%
1916	40,938	42.55%	47,870	49.76%	7,396	7.69%

Bronx immigration, 1930 & 2000

Foreign or overseas birthplaces of Bronx residents, 1930 and 2000
1930 United States Census			2000 United States Census
Total population of the Bronx	1,265,258		Total population of the Bronx	1,332,650
			All born abroad or overseas ‡	524,410	39.4%
			Puerto Rico	126,649	9.5%
Foreign-born Whites	477,342	37.7%	All foreign-born	385,827	29.0%
Whites born in Russia	135,210	10.7%	all born in the Dominican Republic	124,032	9.3%
Italy	67,732	5.4%	Jamaica	51,120	3.8%
Poland	55,969	4.4%	Mexico	20,962	1.6%
Germany	43,349	3.4%	Guyana	14,868	1.1%
Irish Free State †	34,538	2.7%	Ecuador	14,800	1.1%
Other foreign birthplaces	140,544	11.1%	Other foreign birthplaces	160,045	12.0%
† now the Republic of Ireland			‡ beyond the 50 states & District of Columbia

New York demographic comparison table

New York City compared
2010 Census Data	New York City	Los Angeles	Chicago	New York State	United States
Total population	8,175,133	3,792,820	2,695,598	19,378,102	308,745,538
Population, percent change, 2000 to 2010	+2.1%	+2.6%	-6.9%	+2.1%	+9.7%
Population density	27,012 /sq. mi.	8,092 /sq. mi.	11,864 /sq. mi.	408.7 /sq. mi.	87.4 /sq. mi.
Median household income (1999)	$38,293	$36,687	$38,625	$43,393	$41,994
Per capita income (1999)	$22,402	$20,671	$20,175	$23,389	$21,587
Bachelor's degree or higher	27%	26%	26%	27%	24%
Foreign born	36%	41%	21.7%	20%	13%
White	44.6%	49.8%	45.0%	66.4%	72.4%
Black	25.1%	9.6%	32.9%	15.5%	12.6%
Hispanic (any race)	27.5%	48.5%	28.9%	17.3%	16.3%
Asian	11.8%	11.3%	5.5%	5.9%	4.8%