Koch was a lifelong Democrat who described himself as a "liberal with sanity". Bush for president in He was the first New York City mayor to win endorsement on both the Democratic and Republican party tickets. His third term was fraught with scandal regarding political associates although the scandal never touched him personally and with racial tensions, including the killings of Michael Griffith and Yusuf Hawkins.
In a close race, Koch lost the Democratic primary to his successor, David Dinkins. As a child, he worked as a hatcheck boy in a Newark dance hall. In , he was drafted into the United States Army.
After V-E Day, because he could speak German, Koch was sent to Bavaria to help remove Nazi public officials from their jobs and find non-Nazis to take their place. He was honorably discharged with the rank of sergeant in In Koch ran for office for the first time, unsuccessfully opposing incumbent William Passannante, a DeSapio ally, for the Democratic nomination for the State Assembly. In , Koch defeated DeSapio for the position of Democratic Party leader for the district which included Greenwich Village , and Koch won again in a rematch.
He defeated Republican Whitney Seymour Jr. Callahan, who partly split the conservative vote. In advance of the elections, Koch's district was redistricted into the 18th district. Koch briefly ran for mayor in , but garnered little support and dropped out before the Democratic primary. He threw his support to State Assemblyman Albert H.
Blumenthal , but Blumenthal's bid was derailed by a scandal and he came in third. Koch won reelection with career-best Republican, Drummond Conservative, 3. Koch was again reelected, this time with McConnell Conservative, 4. Koch announced his campaign for mayor of New York City against incumbent Beame.
