Jasper McLevy

Jasper McLevy (1878-20 November 1962) was an American politician who served as mayor of Bridgeport, Connecticut from 1933-1957. He was a member of the Socialist Party.

Born in Bridgeport in 1878, McLevy worked first as a roofer. After reading Edward Bellamy's futuristic, utopian novel "Looking Backward", he became a socialist, and joined the Socialist Party. He began running for mayor under the Socialist banner in 1901 and became a perennial candidate for local office.

Mayor of Bridgeport

In the early 1930s, Bridgeport, an industrial city in southern Connecticut, was plagued by corruption and hard hit by the Great Depression. In 1931, voters had ousted the incumbent Republican mayor for Democrat Edward Buckingham, but by 1933, dissatisfaction had spread to both parties. McLevy surprised the media and the public by winning the election, along with a Socialist majority on the Board of Aldermen, Bridgeport's city council. McLevy went on to be reelected eleven times.

While he was a Socialist, McLevy was known for his fiscal restraint. When asked, after a snow storm, when the City would begin plowing snow, McLevy allegedly replied, "God put the snow there, let him take it away." McLevy gained a reputation for balancing budgets, reducing spending and micromanaging city affairs. In the vernacular of the time, McLevy was referred to as a "sewer socialist", a pragmatist who focused on the details of running a city.

In 1957, after twenty-four years of service, McLevy was defeated for reelection. He died in 1962.

McLevy as Politician

In the shadow of McLevy's victory, Bridgeport elected several Socialists to the state legislature in 1934.

Even though he was now residing in the mayor's office, McLevy continued to be a perennial candidate for higher office. In a 1938 gubernatorial campaign, he was called a spoiler when his votes made the difference in Republican Raymond Baldwin's ouster of incumbent Democrat Wilbur Cross.

McLevy and the Socialists

McLevy was a member of the conservative wing of the Socialist Party. When more conservative Party members broke away from the Party to form the Social Democratic Federation in 1936, McLevy joined them and disaffiliated his state party from the national Socialists. This caused friction between McLevy and other local Socialists who stayed with the party, including journalist Devere Allen and state representative Jack Bergen.