# 1981 New York City mayoral election

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vte :
The New York City mayoral election of 1981 occurred on Tuesday, November 3, 1981, with Democratic incumbent Mayor Ed Koch being re-elected to a second term by a landslide margin.
Koch won both the Democratic and Republican nominations and appeared on the ballot with both of their lines. He only faced opposition from third parties in the election.
Koch received an overwhelming 74.64% of the vote citywide. Koch also swept all five boroughs by landslide margins, breaking 60% of the vote in Manhattan and breaking 70% of the vote in Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens and Staten Island. Koch's closest competitor was the short-lived New York Unity Party nominee Frank J. Barbaro, who received 13.31%. Finishing in a distant third and fourth were the Conservative Party nominee, John A. Esposito, who received 4.92%, and Liberal Party nominee, Mary T. Codd, who received 3.41%.

## Democratic primary
### Candidates

* Frank J. Barbaro, Assemblyman from Bensonhurst
* Melvin Klenetsky
* Ed Koch, incumbent mayor
Koch won the Democratic Primary with 347,351 votes (59.8%), defeating Barbaro who had 209,369 votes (36.0%) and Melvin Klenetsky who had 24,352 votes (4.2%).

## Republican primary
### Candidates

* John Esposito
* Ed Koch, incumbent Democratic mayor
Koch also won the Republican Primary, defeating Esposito by 44,724 to 22,354.

## General election
### Candidates

* Frank J. Barbaro, Assemblyman from Bensonhurst (Unity)
* Mary Codd (Liberal)
* Jeronimo Dominguez, Roman Catholic activist, physician, and candidate for Bronx Borough President in 1979 (Right to Life)
* John Esposito (Conservative)
* Judith Jones (Libertarian)
* Ed Koch, incumbent Mayor (Democratic–Republican)
* Wells Todd (Socialist Workers)

### Results

1981 New York City mayoral election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Democratic | Ed Koch (incumbent) | 738,288 | 60.38% | 10.39 |
| | Republican | Ed Koch (incumbent) | 174,334 | 14.26% | 10.18 |
| | Total | Ed Koch (incumbent) | 912,622 | 74.64% | 24.65 |
| | Unity | Frank J. Barbaro | 162,719 | 13.31% | N/A |
| | Conservative | John Esposito | 60,100 | 4.92% | 0.92 |
| | Liberal | Mary Codd | 41,718 | 3.41% | 37.56 |
| | Right to Life | Jeronimo Dominguez | 32,790 | 2.68% | N/A |
| | Libertarian | Judith Jones | 6,902 | 0.56% | 0.49 |
| | Socialist Workers | Wells Todd | 5,793 | 0.47% | 0.24 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 1,222,644 | 100.00% | |

#### Results by borough

General El :
| | | Manhattan | The Bronx | Brooklyn | Queens | Staten Island | Total |
| Democratic – Republican | Edward I. Koch | 189,631 | 132,421 | 261,292 | 275,812 | 53,466 | 912,622 |
| Unity | Frank J. Barbaro | 56,702 | 22,074 | 48,812 | 31,225 | 3,906 | 162,719 |
| Conservative | John Esposito | 6,682 | 7,634 | 15,388 | 26,515 | 3,881 | 60,100 |
| Liberal | Mary Codd | 14,228 | 5,902 | 7,958 | 8,795 | 4,835 | 41,718 |
| | | | | | | | 1,222,644 |