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  Corning 2nd, Erastus
CANDIDATE DETAILS
AffiliationDemocratic  
 
NameErastus Corning 2nd
Address
Albany, New York , United States
EmailNone
WebsiteNone
Born October 07, 1909
DiedMay 28, 1983 (73 years)
Contributornystate63
Last ModifedRBH
May 28, 2020 01:18am
Tags
InfoErastus Corning 2nd, the longest serving mayor of a major American city, was born October 7, 1909 into a wealthy and politically experienced family.
Corning's great grand-father, Erastus Corning, served as Albany's mayor from 1834-1836. His father Edwin served as Lieutenant Governor of New York State under Alfred E. Smith from 1926-1928 and his uncle Parker Corning was a US congressman.

As a child Erastus was educated at the Albany Academy for Boys and Groton School before attending college at Yale.

After earning his college degree Corning started his own insurance company, but soon entered the political arena with his election to the New York State Assembly in 1935. In 1937 he was elected to the State Senate.

Corning won the first of his 11 terms as mayor in 1941 -- easily defeating his Republican opponent, Benjamin R. Hoff, by almost 46,000 votes. Corning would be re-elected by major landslides for the rest of his career, except in 1973 when a prominent businessman, Carl Touhey, ran a well-financed campaign and came within 3,200 votes of unseating the powerful mayor.

Touhey's campaign was not the first major challenge to Corning's administration. Shortly after his first term began, newly elected NYS Governor Thomas E. Dewey had the powerful Albany Democratic political machine, run by "Boss" Dan O'Connell, investigated. The investigations proved largely unsuccessful and left Corning and O'Connell unscathed. This political machine proved to be one of the most durable in American history, even outlasting the Daley machine in Chicago.

During Dewey's investigation, Corning was drafted into the US Army and he served his country during World War II. During his absence Frank Harris, a councilman, served as acting mayor.

Corning served ten full consecutive terms after his return from the war. His last mayoral re-election came in 1980. During his last term he began to show health problems and, on May 28, 1983, he died of heart failure at University Hospital in Boston.

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JOB APPROVAL POLLS

BOOKS
Title Purchase Contributor
Mayor Corning: Albany Icon, Albany Enigma  Purchase Juan Croniqueur 

EVENTS
Start Date End Date Type Title Contributor

NEWS
Date Category Headline Article Contributor

DISCUSSION
Importance? 8.50000 Average

FAMILY
Father Edwin Corning 1883-1934
Grandfather Erastus Corning 1827-1897
Great-Grandfather Erastus Corning 1794-1872
Uncle Parker Corning 1874-1943
Brother Edwin Corning, Jr. 1919-1964

INFORMATION LINKS
RACES
  11/03/1981 Albany NY Mayor Won 67.23% (+35.60%)
  11/08/1977 Albany NY Mayor Won 73.89% (+55.77%)
  09/08/1977 Albany NY Mayor - D Primary Won 63.66% (+27.32%)
  11/06/1973 Albany NY Mayor Won 53.50% (+7.48%)
  11/04/1969 Albany NY Mayor Won 70.61% (+42.51%)
  11/02/1965 Albany NY Mayor Won 80.56% (+61.12%)
  11/07/1961 Albany NY Mayor Won 75.79% (+51.59%)
  11/05/1957 Albany NY Mayor Won 85.97% (+71.93%)
  11/03/1953 Albany NY Mayor Won 75.54% (+51.24%)
  11/08/1949 Albany NY Mayor Won 76.77% (+54.11%)
  11/05/1946 NY Lt. Governor Lost 42.99% (-14.02%)
  11/06/1945 Albany NY Mayor Won 77.78% (+55.55%)
  11/04/1941 Albany NY Mayor Won 80.64% (+64.67%)
  11/05/1940 NY State Senate 30 Won 58.64% (+20.98%)
  11/08/1938 NY State Senate 30 Won 60.40% (+22.90%)
  11/03/1936 NY State Senate 30 Won 58.82% (+19.63%)
  11/05/1935 NY Assembly - Albany 1 Won 63.24% (+26.48%)
ENDORSEMENTS
NY US Senate - D Primary - Sep 09, 1980 D John J. Santucci
US President - D Convention - Jul 26, 1952 D Oscar R. Ewing