David Garth, Strategist to Four New York City Mayors, Dies at 84
David Garth, who advised and directed the election campaigns of the mayors, Democratic and Republican, who ruled New York City for 40 of the past 48 years, has died. He was 84.
He died today at his home in Manhattan following a long illness, his nephew, Jonathan Rosenbloom, said in a telephone interview.
A pioneer of political television advertising, Garth ran his own firm, the Garth Group Inc. He was political director for many elected officials, including governors of New Jersey, New York and Connecticut, and was a consultant to other politicians.
Starting with John Lindsay, a Republican, in 1965, Garth ran the campaigns of four successful New York mayoral candidates. His other winners were Ed Koch, a Democrat, Rudy Giuliani, a Republican, and Michael Bloomberg, who first ran as a Republican before becoming an independent. Bloomberg completed the last of his three terms in office in 2013.
Garth was known for combative, issue-oriented ads.
Koch, in his first run for mayor in 1977, challenged incumbent Abraham Beame, who was seeking a second term to finish the job. In a Garth-scripted ad, Koch shot back: Finish the job? Hasnt he done enough?
Koch went on to serve three terms as mayor.
In New Jersey, Garth was media manager for former Governor Brendan T. Byrne, a Democrat. In Pennsylvania, he was campaign manager for former U.S. Senator Arlen Specter when he was a Republican.
Others who sought his help included Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley and West Virginia Governor Jay Rockefeller, both Democrats, and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin.
Not all of Garths candidates won. John B. Anderson hired Garth as his national campaign manager but failed to find traction as a third-party presidential candidate in 1980. Walter Mondale hired him to design TV and radio ads but lost his 1984 challenge to President Ronald Reagan in a landslide.
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David Garth, Strategist to Four New York City Mayors, Dies at 84