# 1901 New York City mayoral election

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vte :
An election for Mayor of New York City was held in November 1901.
Incumbent mayor Robert A. Van Wyck was not a candidate for re-election to a second term in office. Former mayor of Brooklyn Seth Low, running on a reformist platform, defeated by Democratic U.S. representative George B. McClellan Jr. Republicans would not win a mayoral election in New York City again until 1933.

## Background

In the 1897 mayoral election, held in connection with the consolidation of the five boroughs of Greater New York, Robert Anderson Van Wyck was elected to a four-year term in office with the support of Tammany Hall. Van Wyck was initially quite popular as the result of his reversal of various reversals of reforms instituted by his reformist predecessor, William Lafayette Strong.
The Van Wyck administration was brought down in 1900 following a proposed doubling in the price of ice by the American Ice Company from 30 cents per hundred pounds to 60 cents. Before the invention of commercial refrigeration, ice was the only preservative available for food, milk, and necessary medicines; therefore, the proposed increase had potentially fatal implications.
In response to public outcry, a public investigation revealed that American Ice had secured a monopoly over the product through Tammany Hall maneuvering and that Van Wyck had been gifted over $680,000 ($20,478,719 in 2023) in company stock. The scandal destroyed Van Wyck's reputation and dramatically worsened the public standing of Tammany Hall, although a state investigation initiated by Governor Theodore Roosevelt later absolved Van Wyck of personal wrongdoing.

## General election
### Candidates

* Ben Hanford, printer (Social Democratic)
* Benjamin F. Keinard (Socialist Labor)
* Seth Low, president of Columbia University, former mayor of Brooklyn, and Citizens' Union nominee for mayor in 1897 (Republican-Fusion)
* Edward M. Shepard, attorney and political reformer (Democratic)
* Alfred L. Manierre (Prohibition)

#### Results by borough

1901 New York City mayoral election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Seth Low | 296,813 | 51.2% |
| | Democratic | Edward M. Shepard | 265,177 | 45.8% |
| | Social Democratic | Ben Hanford | 9,834 | 1.7% |
| | Socialist Labor | Benjamin F. Keinard | 6,213 | 1.1% |
| | Prohibition | Alfred L. Manierre | 1,264 | 0.2% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 579,301 | 100.00% |
| | Republican gain from Democratic | Republican gain from Democratic | Republican gain from Democratic | Republican gain from Democratic |

#### Results by borough

| 1901 | Party | The Bronx and Manhattan | Brooklyn | Queens | Richmond [Staten Is.] | Total | % |
| Seth Low | Fusion | 162,298 | 114,625 | 13,118 | 6,772 | 296,813 | 51.2% |
| Seth Low | Fusion | 49.1% | 55.0% | 47.4% | 51.9% | 296,813 | 51.2% |
| Edward M. Shepard | Democratic | 156,631 | 88,858 | 13,679 | 6,009 | 265,177 | 45.8% |
| Edward M. Shepard | Democratic | 47.4% | 42.7% | 49.4% | 46.1% | 265,177 | 45.8% |
| Benjamin Hanford | Social Democratic | 6,409 | 2,692 | 613 | 120 | 9,834 | 1.7% |
| Benjamin F. Keinard | Socialist Labor | 4,323 | 1,638 | 181 | 71 | 6,213 | 1.1% |
| Alfred L. Manierre | Prohibition | 617 | 501 | 74 | 72 | 1,264 | 0.2% |
| TOTAL | | 330,278 | 208,314 | 27,665 | 13,044 | 579,301 | |