The 1973 Allentown mayoral election was a municipal election in Allentown, the third largest city in Pennsylvania. Incumbent Republicanmayor Clifford S. Bartholomew was defeated in the Republican primaries by Leroy S. Bogert, who would lose to two-term Democratic city councilman Joseph S. Daddona.
In 1970 the city of Allentown voted to replace their 56-year-old municipal charter to create a strong mayor government.[1] Prior to this the city operated under a commission system, where voters would elect the mayor, who would then appoint four city councilors to run departments where the strong mayor's executive would be totally separate from the city council.[1]
In this election Clifford S. Bartholomew, a long time educator and school administrator from 1927 to 1969 would be elected the city's first Strong Mayor in what was seen as a major upset.[1] The Republican Bartholomew, who had no political experience, had upset Democrat city-councilman Joseph Daddona.[1] The Republicans also swept the election for the four seats in the city council being contested that year.[1] Daddona was infamously so sure he was going to win, that he had cast his vote for Bartholomew.[1]
Campaigns
Republican primary
Incumbent Republican Mayor Clifford S. Bartholomew (pictured) would be defeated by primary challenger Leroy S. Bogert
Mayor Bartholomew was given the task of reorganizing the municipal government from the ground up to accommodate the new city charter.[1] To this end he created a 911 line, a K-9 Corps, a citywide newspaper recycling program, the Allentown Drug Commission and the Allentown Council of Youth.[1] However, to finance these expansions, the city's budget ballooned, with Bartholomew needing to levy more taxes, which was deeply unpopular with the fiscal-conservative establishment of the Allentown Republican Party.[1]
Bartholomew would face a primary challenge from local perennial candidate Leroy S. Bogert, who was the president of the "South Side Republican Club" and would run for the Republican nomination eight separate times between 1951 and 1977.[2] Bogert opposed public institutionalized housing, waging a grassroots NIMBY campaign against the Cumberland Gardens Project.[2] Bogert also campaigned against fluoridation, not due to health concerns, but due to the shear cost, as well as opposing the city administration's high salaries.[2] Bogert also supported a spur route linking routes 22 and 309, and tax relief for senior citizens.[2]
Bogert would shockingly win the primary by just 216 votes, thanks in part due to a late endorsement by the WLVT-TV, the first time they had endorsed any political candidate.[3][4]
Democratic primary
There was no serious Democratic primary, as the city's party coalesced around Joseph Daddona, then a two-term city councilmen, and the party's candidate in 1969 when he lost to Bartholomew.[5]
General election
Many had expected the election to be a rematch of 1969, with Bartholomew facing off against Daddona again, however, Bogert's surprise upset dampened the effort by the city's Republican party to campaign as Bartholomew's supporters weren't enthusiastic about Bogert.[5]
Mayor of Allentown, general election, November 6, 1973.[6]
Bogert would stand for one more election, being defeated in the 1977 primaries, after-which he would continue work as a general contractor until his death in 1987 at the age of 75.[2] Although not the rematch people where expecting, Daddona would go on to revitalize his political career with his victory.[5] Despite his loss in the subsequent election, he would go on to be elected mayor three more times in 1981, 1985, and 1989.[5]
Despite the rivalry between Daddona and Bartholomew, Daddona would go on to say that Bartholomew was not only his favorite principle, but his favorite mayor, having gone to school under him.[1] During the transition of power Bartholomew left an envelope in the mayoral desk with instructions to Daddona to not open until a political crisis.[1] A few months into his term, when Daddona opened the letter, all it contained was a note reading "blame me."[1] Bartholomew would go on to serve as the educational director of the Lehigh County Historical Society before his death in 1999 at the age of 94.[1]
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Government