1981 Allentown mayoral election
Allentown mayoral election
The 1981 Allentown mayoral election was a municipal election to determine the mayor of Allentown, the third largest city in Pennsylvania. Incumbent first-term Republican mayor Frank Fischl did not seek re-election, with the Republicans instead running local businessman and former city councilmen Robert E. Smith Jr. against the Democratic former mayor Joseph S. Daddona.
Campaign
Democratic Primary
The race gained media notoriety when local businessmen Dominic Falcone awarded $10,000 in his will for anyone who would run against former Mayor Joseph Daddona. Falcone, who died on May 12, 1981, claimed to have illegally made a $1,500 donation to Daddona's failed 1969 effort for mayor. Although the allegation was disproved after the election, the scandal was one of the deciding factors in Daddona's loss by 121 votes. Falcone meanwhile was arrested in 1977 for soliciting a prostitute.
There where two Democratic front runners during the election, city Controller Louis J. Hershman, and former mayor Joseph S. Daddona.
Republicans
Incumbent first-term Republican mayor Frank Fischl announced that he would not be seeking re-election to a second term, despite being popular with the city's Republican voters, who attempted to convince him to run. Fischl never gave an official reason for his refusal of re-election, but The Morning Call speculated that it had to do with the difficulty of passing an amendment to the city's property tax to cover the operation cost of the city's ambulances.
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