Ed Koch Campaign Commercials 1977

In 1977 New York was a city in crisis, teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, unable to borrow money on its own credit. Thousand of police officers, firefighters, teachers and other municipal workers had been laid off due to budget cuts. Crime was on the rise and a blackout on July 13-14, 1977 led to looting in many neighborhoods. In a crowded field of seven candidates, Congressman Ed Koch stood out by using television advertisements to attack the status quo and the municipal unions, which he claimed had become too powerful.His campaign tagline, "After eight years of charisma and four years of the clubhouse, why not try competence." was an effective attack on Mayors John Lindsay and Abe Beame and presented Koch as a fresh candidate who could pull the city out of its malaise. He rose from the bottom of a field of seven candidates to come in second in the Democratic primary on September 8th. He then defeated Mario Cuomo in the Democratic primary runoff on September 19th and in the general election on November 8th when Cuomo ran as the candidate of the Liberal Party.

"Koch Mayoral Campaign, 1977" photographs by Jerome Liebling, courtesy of the Liebling Family Trust