Dinkins Ends Koch’s Long Run as N.Y. Mayor : Manhattan Borough Chief Hopes to Beat Giuliani in November, Become First Black to Head City

Manhattan Borough President David N. Dinkins Tuesday shattered Mayor Edward I. Koch’s hope of a historic fourth term in office, winning the Democratic primary and taking a major step toward becoming New York City’s first black mayor.

Dinkins will face former U.S. Atty. Rudolph W. Giuliani, who gained a national reputation fighting white collar crime and drugs, in November’s general election. Giuliani trounced cosmetics millionaire and former ambassador to Austria Ronald Lauder in the Republican primary.

With all precincts reporting, Dinkins, the Manhattan borough president, had 537,313 votes, or 51%, to 445,816, or 42%, for Koch. The other two Democratic candidates, businessman Richard Ravitch and Comptroller Harrison Goldin, trailed far behind with 48,289 votes, or 4%, and 28,790 votes, or 3%, respectively.

Giuliani had 75,720 votes, or 67%, to 36,905, or 33%, for Lauder.

“I want to thank the people of New York,” Dinkins told cheering supporters. “You gave me your votes and even more in a tough time, you gave me your trust. You voted your hopes and not your fears, and in so doing, you said something profound about the soul and character of this town.”

After a campaign that had threatened to polarize the city along racial lines, Dinkins reached out to Koch.

At one point Tuesday night when he mentioned Koch’s name, some backers booed. But Dinkins, who received 1/3 of the white vote, cut the catcalls short.

“Remember me,” he said with a smile, “I am the guy who brings people together.”

And in a preemptive strike against his Republican rival, he pledged: “I will be the toughest mayor on crime the city has ever seen.”

In his victory speech, Giuliani, 45, who was congratulated by telephone by President Bush Tuesday night, urged all voters “to join our crusade to save the city. . . . I intend to go on in November and win.”

Koch, 64, congratulated Dinkins and agreed to appear with him and the other Democratic contenders as a show of unity on the steps of City Hall this morning.

“He won the race fairly and squarely and by a large margin,” the mayor said. “ . . . This is my 24th election, and I lost three including this one tonight, and this means I won 21.

‘12 Glorious Years’

“I have had 12 glorious years as mayor,” he added, looking tired from the long campaign. “I want you to not feel sorry for me. There is life after the mayoralty.”

Dinkins, 62, viewed the election results with a group of advisers including the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who campaigned on his behalf, helping energize support in New York’s black communities.

“Dave Dinkins’ victory sends a good message to all of America,” Jackson said. “Yesterday, national Democrats had a conference in Washington looking for a message in 1992. The message is in New York--hope, healing and fairness.”

Dinkins, the son of a barber and who sold shopping bags on the streets of Harlem when he was only 8 years old, fashioned his winning coalition with solid black support, backing from Latino voters and a higher-than-expected share of the anti-Koch white vote.

A New York Newsday/WNBC-TV Poll conducted by the Los Angeles Times showed that the Democratic nominee received close to 100% of the black vote. Koch won about 60% of white voters, both Jews and Catholics.

Key Statistics

But Dinkins ran especially strongly among younger and more liberal white Democrats. One meaningful statistic in the exit poll: Fully one third of white Democrats had an unfavorable opinion of Mayor Koch, and they voted for Dinkins 16 to 1.

This enabled him to carry the Democratic primary with an overall electorate that was less than 40% black and Latino.

Voters who cast their ballots for Dinkins gave as their top reason: “He will bring people together.”

Throughout his campaign, Dinkins appealed to voters as the candidate of reconciliation--a theme the often-outspoken Koch unsuccessfully tried to adopt in the closing days of the Democratic primary.

According to the New York Newsday/WNBC-TV Poll, Dinkins could face difficulties gaining the loyalty of some of Koch’s Democratic supporters, even though the mayor pledged in advance to support Dinkins if he won.

The poll showed that roughly a third of Koch’s voters had a favorable opinion of Giuliani.

Several factors may complicate the November race. Lauder--who spent almost $13 million of his own fortune, or more than $350 a vote, futilely courting Republicans--will remain as the Conservative Party nominee. Lauder, 45, is not given much chance of winning, but he could siphon key votes from Giuliani.

Liberal Party Candidate

On the other hand, Giuliani will appear on the ballot as both the Republican and the Liberal Party candidate. This will enable him to appeal to anti-Dinkins Democrats, who would otherwise be reluctant to vote for a Republican.

Although registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans by 5 to 1 in the city, Republican candidates for mayor have won twice in this century with the help of an independent line on the ballot.

Koch had hoped to better the record of one fusion candidate, his hero Fiorello La Guardia, who also served three terms at City Hall.

Dinkins watched the results from the presidential suite of a Mid-Manhattan hotel. He was calm even when his victory was apparent. This low-key style enabled him to attract his critical mass of white voters in the primary--support he must retain and broaden if he is to win in November.

Dinkins, who was born in Trenton, N.J., grew up in Harlem. He wanted to join the Marine Corps in World War II, and when told the quota for his race was filled, he went back four times. When he was drafted, he was assigned to the Marines. He graduated cum laude from Howard University in 1950 and six years later received his law degree from Brooklyn Law School.

Elected Borough President

Dinkins served one term in the New York State Assembly, was appointed president of the Board of Elections, and later served as New York City Clerk. But he withdrew as a deputy mayor in the administration of Democratic Mayor Abraham D. Beame after revealing he had failed to pay his income taxes for three years. He was elected Manhattan Borough president on his third attempt.

The city’s highest black office-holder, Dinkins has stuck to a middle-of-the road approach throughout his career. “He has been careful to the point of timidity and his indecision sometimes frustrates his colleagues,” the New York Times said of Dinkins when it endorsed Koch.

Koch had made a strong comeback in the polls until the character of the campaign changed dramatically after a 16-year-old black youth was killed after being confronted by a white gang in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bensonhurst. That event and the hostile reception that subsequently greeted minority demonstrators in the predominately Italian-American neighborhood, helped solidify Dinkins’ support among black Democrats.

Join Other Cities

Three-quarters of the Democrats surveyed for WNBC-TV and New York Newsday said that New York was ready to join such cities as Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Detroit and Atlanta in electing a black mayor. Among Koch’s supporters, about half expressed that sentiment.

A majority of voters said they believed things had gotten worse in New York City over the last year, and in a clear message for the November election, they considered crime and drugs the city’s chief problems.

New York correspondents Karen Tumulty and David Treadwell and Washington Bureau staff writer Michael J. Yabarra also contributed to this article.

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