| Election Name: | 1953 Los Angeles mayoral election |
| Country: | Los Angeles |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1949 Los Angeles mayoral election |
| Previous Year: | 1949 |
| Next Election: | 1957 Los Angeles mayoral election |
| Next Year: | 1957 |
| Election Date: | and |
| 1Blank: | First round vote |
| 2Blank: | First round percentage |
| 3Blank: | Runoff vote |
| 4Blank: | Runoff percentage |
| Image1: | NorrisPoulson.jpg |
| Color1: | c0c0c0 |
| Candidate1: | Norris Poulson |
| 1Data1: | 212,668 44.06% |
| 2Data1: | 287,619 53.23% |
| Color2: | c0c0c0 |
| Candidate2: | Fletcher Bowron |
| 1Data2: | 179,205 37.13% |
| 2Data2: | 252,721 46.77% |
| Image3: | Lloyd Aldrich, 1933.jpg |
| Color3: | c0c0c0 |
| Candidate3: | Lloyd Aldrich |
| 1Data3: | 70,823 14.67% |
| 2Data3: | Eliminated |
| Mayor | |
| Before Election: | Fletcher Bowron |
| After Election: | Norris Poulson |
The 1953 Los Angeles mayoral election took place on April 7, 1953, with a run-off election on May 26, 1953. Incumbent Fletcher Bowron was defeated by Norris Poulson, a U.S. Representative.
Municipal elections in California, including Mayor of Los Angeles, are officially nonpartisan; candidates' party affiliations do not appear on the ballot.[1]
Bowron had been the subject of various failed recall elections against him, including one in 1950 that said that Bowron was "guilty of 'false' representations or was 'grossly negligent' in his assurances [...] that he had rid the city of official corruption and organized crime."[2] Along with Poulson, three other candidates joined to challenge Bowron, including Lloyd Aldrich who failed to win the runoff against Bowron in the previous election.[3] In the primary, Poulson and Bowron advanced to the runoff election, with Poulson gaining more votes than Bowron.[4]
In the runoff election, Poulson defeated Bowron to become Mayor, ending Bowron's tenure of fourteen years.[5] [6]