Word: addonizio
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Gibson is visible now, having confirmed for himself, his people and his city that the system works. In a runoff election with Mayor Hugh Addonizio -himself the political product of Newark's now diminishing Italian voting bloc-Gibson took a surprising 56% of the vote in what had been considered a close race. He won by 55,097 to 43,086, getting 95% of the black vote and almost 20% of the white vote. Among the whites who supported him were hundreds in Italian residential districts and thousands in areas where voters had supported a white candidate, John Caufield...
Just Frightened. Addonizio headquarters were understandably dispirited, but the defeated incumbent issued a calm and constructive concession statement. He congratulated Gibson on his "splendid victory," called on the city to support him, and offered his own help in the transfer of power. Two days after the election, the two men had a cordial meeting...
There was lingering bitterness too. Before Addonizio's statement, militant anti-blacks who had placed their hopes on him attacked newsmen covering his headquarters. No one was seriously hurt, but cameras were smashed and TV cables ripped out. For some white voters, Gibson's triumph was a nightmare. Said one white man: "Harry Belafonte came in last week, and then there are those young Jewish lawyers from Paterson coming up here. It's all outsiders and Communists." Outside a polling place, Mrs. Josephine Heinze demanded: "Are we prejudiced because we voted for Addonizio?" Her daughter replied...
...Like Addonizio, the voters make clear that race is for many the principal issue. Says Jean Damidio, a white housewife: "It's a battle for survival." Adds Helen Reichenbacher, the wife of a city policeman: "I've got a $35,000 house. If we get a black mayor, it isn't worth a quarter." Addonizio's trial? "Everyone's corrupt in a job like that," says the policeman's wife. On the other side, Housewife Jennie Smith says: "I'm voting for Gibson because he's black...
...substandard. More than 15% of the population receive some sort of public assistance. Crime rates are among the nation's highest. Burned out and abandoned buildings stare from the ghetto in memoriam to the devastation of the 1967 riot. The mayoralty is thus a doubtful honor. If Hugh Addonizio wins it while he sits in a courtroom, he will match the record of Boston's classic rogue, James Michael Curley, who also won re-election as mayor while under criminal indictment...