Aug. 21, 1964 - New York Mayor Robert Wagner endorsed Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy for the Senate today, giving as one reason “the dazzling magic of his name.”
The Mayor’s statement all but guaranteed that Kennedy would be nominated at the Democratic state convention on Sept. 1. His probable Republican opponent is Senator Kenneth Keating, who announced his candidacy for reelection on Tuesday.
Kennedy said through a spokesman in Washington that he was “very grateful” for the Mayor’s support. He arranged with Wagner to fly to New York on Monday or Tuesday to issue a public declaration of his candidacy at Gracie Mansion.
It was learned today that a recent New York State poll, conducted for the White House by Oliver Quayle of Bronxville, showed Kennedy running ahead of Keating by a margin of 57 to 43%.
After two weeks of hesitation and dozens of strategy meetings, the Mayor walked into his reception room at City Hall at 3:06 p.m., sat down under a portrait of James Monroe, and read an eight-minute statement.
Wagner praised the Attorney General as a man of “personal eminence” and “great achievements.” He described Kennedy as a “heroic” advocate of civil rights causes.
On the question of the Attorney General’s residence, Wagner said: “All Americans are at home in New York. It is also a fact that the Attorney General has many ties of association and interest in New York. A part of his education was in New York.”
Wagner described Kennedy as a “high bridge” between the Kennedy and Johnson Administrations, and said: “I consider Bob Kennedy capable of a major contribution to the national welfare in the U.S. Senate. I believe that if he measures up to his capacities, he will brilliantly represent the people of New York State in their varied needs and interests.”
The Attorney General intends to resign this weekend as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, which begins in Atlantic City on Monday. He will be replaced by Mrs. Joan Kennedy, wife of the Attorney General’s brother, a Senator from Massachusetts.
According to a spokesman for the Attorney General, he will not quit his Cabinet post until after the state convention.
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