1861 New York City mayoral election

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

1861 New York City mayoral election

The election was held on December 3, 1861. Incumbent mayor Fernando Wood, a Democrat backed by Mozart Hall, ran for a second consecutive term. He faced two opponents: George Opdyke, a Republican banker and former Assemblyman, and C. Godfrey Gunther, a Democrat aligned with Tammany Hall.

In a close three-way race, Opdyke won with 25,380 votes (34.15%), Gunther received 24,767 votes (33.33%), and Wood got 24,167 votes (32.52%). The total votes were 74,314. Opdyke’s victory made him the first Republican mayor of New York City.

Background: Wood had been politically sidelined after losing the 1857 election, then built new political strength with Mozart Hall and briefly returned to office in 1859. In 1861 he sought another term but lost to Opdyke. The election reflected shifting political support in the city during the 1860s.