Gibson finished first in a primary election on May 12 but did not receive a majority of the vote. He defeated Addonizio in the run-off with 55.88% of the vote and record turnout.
Gibson would remain in office until 1986; he ran two unsuccessful campaigns for Governor of New Jersey in 1981 and 1985.
Background
Race
By 1970, Newark was one of the United States' first majority-black cities. However, city government, the police department, and political representation at the state and federal level were still overwhelmingly white, possibly due in part to the black population skewing below the voting age.[3]
In the summer of 1967, Newark was the site of race riots, one of 159 throughout the country that summer. Beginning with the arrest, beating, and jailing of a black taxicab driver by two white police officers,[4] the city descended into violent chaos for six days. From July 12 to 17, violence in the city left a total of 16 civilian bystanders, 8 criminal suspects, a police officer, and a firefighter dead; 353 civilians, 214 suspects, 67 police officers, 55 firefighters, and 38 military personnel injured; and 689 civilians and 811 suspects arrested. Property damage is estimated to have exceeded $10 million ($141,026,528 in 2023).[5]
Addonizio corruption investigation
In December 1969, stemming from federal investigations into the cause and handling of the riots, Mayor Addonizio and nine current or former municipal officials were indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of extortion and tax evasion. Five other persons were also indicted, including reputed mafioso Anthony Boiardo.[6]
Gibson went on to serve four terms as mayor until he was defeated for re-election by Sharpe James in 1986. While mayor, he ran twice for Governor of New Jersey in 1981 and 1985, but failed to win the Democratic nomination. He returned to politics in 1998, when he narrowly lost a race for Essex County Executive to Republican James Treffinger. In 2002, he pleaded guilty to tax evasion.
Imperiale represented the East Ward as an independent member of the state legislature from 1972 to 1978. He challenged Gibson unsuccessfully in the 1974 mayoral election. He served one more term in the Assembly as a Republican from 1980 to 1982 but left office to run for governor in the 1981 election. He finished sixth in the Republican primary.
^Brady, Thomas F. "Addonizio and 4 Convicted Of Extortion by U.S. Jury", The New York Times, July 23, 1970. Accessed November 13, 2016. "Hugh J. Addonizio, former Mayor of Newark, and four other defendants were found guilty by federal jury tonight on 64 counts each, one of conspiracy and 63 of extortion."
^Sullivan, Ronald. "Addonizio Given a 10-Year Term", The New York Times, September 23, 1970. Accessed November 13, 2016. "Former Mayor Hugh J. Addonizio of Newark was sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined $25,000 in Federal Court here today for conspiracy and extortion. Convicted of sharing in the proceeds of extorted kickbacks totaling $1.5 million from contractors on city water and sewer lines, Addonizio stood impassively with his head bowed as Judge George H. Barlow declared that his crimes were of 'monumental proportion' that 'tore at the very heart of our civilized society and our form of representative government.'"
^Barbanel, Josh. "HUGH J. ADDONIZIO, 67, EX-MAYOR OF NEWARK JAILED 5 YEARS, DEAD", The New York Times, February 2, 1981. Accessed April 7, 2015. "Hugh J. Addonizio, a former Congressman and two-term Mayor of Newark who was sentenced to 10 years in Federal prison and fined $25,000 for conspiracy and extortion died early this morning at Riverview Hospital in Red Bank, N.J."
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