1959 Baltimore mayoral election

Baltimore mayoral election, 1959

May 5, 1959

Candidate J. Harold Grady Theodore McKeldin Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 155,001 72,745 Percentage 68.06% 31.94%

Mayor before election Thomas D'Alesandro Jr. Democratic Elected mayor J. Harold Grady Democratic

The 1959 Baltimore mayoral election was held on May 5, 1959, to elect the mayor of Baltimore. J. Harold Grady, the Democratic nominee and State's Attorney of Baltimore City, defeated Republican nominee Theodore McKeldin, a former mayor of Baltimore and two-term governor of Maryland. Contemporary complete returns reported 154,786 votes for Grady and 73,229 for McKeldin, giving Grady a majority of 81,557 votes.

The election followed a major upset in the Democratic primary, in which Grady defeated incumbent mayor Thomas D'Alesandro Jr., who had served since 1947 and was seeking a fourth consecutive term. Primary elections were held on March 3, 1959. The result ended D'Alesandro's twelve-year mayoralty and returned the office to a Democrat after the general election, although McKeldin later won the mayoralty again in 1963.

Background

Thomas D'Alesandro Jr., a former member of the United States House of Representatives, had been elected mayor in 1947 and reelected in 1951 and 1955. His mayoral papers at the University of Baltimore describe the 1950s as a period of extensive municipal building under his administration, including schools, recreation facilities, firehouses, hospitals and public pools. Before the 1959 mayoral race, D'Alesandro had been defeated in the 1958 United States Senate election by Republican incumbent J. Glenn Beall. The United States House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives biography of D'Alesandro lists his mayoral service from May 1947 to May 1959 and notes that he was defeated for renomination in the March 1959 primary.

Grady was born in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, in 1917, moved to Baltimore at an early age, and was educated at Loyola College and the University of Maryland School of Law. He served as a special agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation from 1942 to 1946, became an assistant state's attorney in 1947, and served as Baltimore City State's Attorney from 1956 to 1959. Contemporary news coverage emphasized that the 1959 campaign was only his second electoral contest; he had been unopposed in the 1958 election for state's attorney after earlier appointment to the office.

McKeldin had served as mayor of Baltimore from 1943 to 1947 and as governor of Maryland from 1951 to 1959. The University of Maryland's guide to his papers describes a political career spanning five decades and notes that he achieved national prominence when selected to place Dwight D. Eisenhower's name in nomination at the 1952 Republican National Convention. The National Governors Association biography states that McKeldin left the governorship in January 1959 and remained active in politics, later serving another mayoral term from 1963 to 1967.

The election took place amid changing postwar city politics. In Brown in Baltimore, Howell S. Baum describes west Baltimore Democratic boss Jack Pollack as having rewarded the growing African-American electorate with patronage and some elected positions after World War II, while noting that by the late 1950s African-American voters were gaining enough numbers and organization to operate more independently. Baum also places McKeldin and D'Alesandro within a line of liberal public executives in Baltimore and Maryland politics.

Democratic primary

The Democratic primary was contested by incumbent mayor Thomas D'Alesandro Jr., J. Harold Grady, Morgan L. Amaimo, Edgar N. Gayhardt and Francis X. McSweeney. Grady ran on a ticket with Philip H. Goodman for president of the City Council and incumbent comptroller R. Walter Graham Jr. D'Alesandro attacked what he called the "3G" ticket's large campaign expenditures and accused the Grady campaign of trying to "buy" the nomination. Grady denied the charge and said his campaign relied on volunteer assistance.

The primary also included disputes over ballot placement and minor candidacies. Grady said he was "extremely suspicious" of Edgar N. Gayhardt's candidacy, arguing that Gayhardt's name appeared on the ballot immediately before his own and moved Grady's name away from D'Alesandro's. Grady also noted that Gayhardt was a city employee working as a watchman in the Bureau of Building Inspection, assigned to the Municipal Building across from the mayor's office. Gayhardt could not be located by reporters for comment, and his father confirmed that he was a city worker but said he did not discuss politics with his son.

Taxation and municipal revenue were major issues in the primary. At a Baltimore League of Women Voters luncheon, D'Alesandro, Grady and McKeldin were each asked how they would find new revenue, but none gave a specific tax plan. D'Alesandro argued that the federal government would eventually have to relinquish some revenue sources to states and cities and said regional consolidation of services could create economies. Grady proposed an expert study of city government to find savings, opposed placing the burden on property owners through higher property taxes, and came close to endorsing a payroll tax by saying that users of city facilities should pay their fair share. McKeldin said he had no tax increase proposal at the time and favored a commission to study the issue after the next mayor took office.

Grady defeated D'Alesandro by more than 33,000 votes. He carried the Democratic primary with 103,358 votes to D'Alesandro's 70,341. Amaimo received 3,629 votes, Gayhardt 1,606 and McSweeney 1,285. The defeat was D'Alesandro's second electoral loss in a matter of months, following his 1958 Senate defeat.

Results

Democratic primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	J. Harold Grady	103,358	57.35
	Democratic	Thomas D'Alesandro Jr. (incumbent)	70,341	39.03
	Democratic	Morgan L. Amaimo	3,629	2.01
	Democratic	Edgar N. Gayhardt	1,606	0.89
	Democratic	Francis X. McSweeney	1,285	0.71
Total votes			180,219	100.00

Republican primary

McKeldin's eligibility to run for mayor was challenged before the primary because he had lived in Annapolis during his two terms as governor. Judge John T. Tucker ruled that McKeldin, who had previously served as mayor from 1943 to 1947, was eligible to seek the office. Francis X. Gallagher appealed the ruling, and Democratic candidate Morgan L. Amaimo also filed notice of appeal.

McKeldin won the Republican nomination easily over Dorothy B. Davis and Louis R. Milio. The Republican primary received far fewer votes than the Democratic primary, reflecting the city's Democratic advantage.

Results

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Theodore McKeldin	16,266	74.54
	Republican	Dorothy B. Davis	3,336	15.29
	Republican	Louis R. Milio	2,220	10.17
Total votes			21,822	100.00

General election

The general election campaign placed Grady, a newcomer identified with reform, against McKeldin, one of Maryland's most prominent Republicans. Time described the contest as part of an "itch for change" in Baltimore politics, noting that Grady had first defeated the three-term incumbent D'Alesandro and then defeated McKeldin, "equally seasoned" as a former mayor and governor.

Campaign issues included taxation, campaign finance, animal research, public services and race relations. In April, McKeldin challenged Grady to state publicly whether he supported repeal of Baltimore's law permitting medical researchers to use impounded dogs. McKeldin said he supported the existing law and argued that animal research was important to Baltimore's medical and surgical institutions, including Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland medical school.

In the same period, Grady announced a four-point fiscal and administrative program. He said the city should give priority to necessary expenditures, especially "essential human needs" such as education, health, fire and police protection, highways, sanitation and welfare; weigh new programs against future continuing costs; avoid overlapping and duplication among city, private, state and federal programs; and regularly reexamine programs to determine whether they had become obsolete or no longer justified their cost.

The campaign also featured a dispute over the Grady ticket's primary expense report. During a WCBM radio debate, McKeldin called parts of the report "shocking" but said he had not yet studied the charge made by defeated Democratic primary candidate Francis X. McSweeney that the report involved violations of the Corrupt Practices Act. McSweeney charged that large contributions had been reported improperly and that proceeds from a $100-a-plate fund-raising dinner had not been accounted for properly. Grady replied that the report represented the combined filing of himself, Graham and Goodman, and that "every cent" received and spent had been accounted for under proper names.

Civil rights also surfaced during the campaign. At the League of Women Voters luncheon, the major candidates were asked about the Dixon bill, which sought to bar racial discrimination in hotels, restaurants and other places of public assembly. Grady said he disliked the bill as drafted but supported its principle and would sign such a measure if elected. McKeldin said such matters should not be decided by legislation and should be accepted "without force," but added that he would favor a similar measure if necessary to advance civil rights. Later historical work on Baltimore school desegregation places McKeldin and D'Alesandro within a tradition of liberal executives associated with civil rights and school issues, although the city's racial politics continued to change rapidly during the following decade.

Results

Grady won the general election by a wide margin. Contemporary complete returns reported 154,786 votes for Grady and 73,229 for McKeldin. Another Associated Press report published on May 6, before all precincts had been counted, reported that Grady had led McKeldin 144,025 to 71,981 with returns from 567 of 572 polling places.

The election was also a Democratic sweep in city government. Contemporary reports stated that Democrats retained the offices of comptroller and City Council president and won all twenty seats on the City Council.

Baltimore mayoral general election, 1959

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	J. Harold Grady	154,786	67.88
	Republican	Theodore McKeldin	73,229	32.12
Total votes			228,015	100.00

Aftermath

Grady took office as mayor in May 1959. The Maryland State Archives lists him as mayor of Baltimore from 1959 to 1962, after which he became an associate judge of the Supreme Bench of Baltimore City and later chief judge. The beginning of his administration coincided with broader questions about urban services, schools, civil defense and redevelopment. A later study in Urban History uses Baltimore between 1957 and 1964 as a case study of federal-local conflict over civil defense policy.

McKeldin remained politically active after the defeat. He returned to the mayoralty in the 1963 Baltimore mayoral election, defeating Democratic incumbent Philip H. Goodman.