Committee, led by Representative William J. Green Jr., endorsed Tate, but the opinion was not universal. Former mayor Clark, now a United States Senator, endorsed the primary challenge by a slate of Democratic candidates proposed by the Americans for Democratic Action, a left-leaning group of which he was a member. For mayor, the ADA and Clark pushed Walter M. Phillips, a former city representative and one of the architects of the Democrats' reform measures of the early 1950s. The contrast between Tate and Phillips was highlighted in the primary campaign. Tate, the self-made son of Irish-American factory workers, charged that Phillips saw government service as "a hobby" and claimed he was "too inexperienced and does not know enough to deal with the problems" of running a large city. Phillips in turn charged Tate with permitting corruption in city government, failing to improve schools, and driving out qualified city employees in favor of partisan patronage hires. In a low-turnout primary, the Democratic electorate sided with Tate, who tallied 128,840 votes to Phillips's 40,931 and perennial candidate H. Jerome Jaspan's 13,165. Tate's victory over Phillips, Clark later wrote, "marked the end of the 'independent' good-government influence in City Hall." The Republican nomination was also easily won by the party organization's favored candidate, James T. McDermott. McDermott, who had lost a special election for city council in 1962, was a lawyer who had previously served as an assistant U.S. attorney. During the general election campaign, McDermott tried to take on the reform mantle, saying that Tate had worked to sabotage the good-government reforms of the Clark and Dilworth administrations. Tate, for his part, contrasted his experience with McDermott's and touted his endorsement by the AFL–CIO. McDermott said that Tate "has never been off the public payroll in twenty-five years" and criticized the mayor's refusal to debate him. As the election neared, McDermott's attacks appeared to be working and political observers predicted a close race, possibly within 20,000 votes. While it was the closest race in years, the actual results were more solidly in favor of Tate, who won by nine percentage points. After a day of heavier-than-expected voter turnout, McDermott conceded that the mayor had won "fair and square." Tate thanked labor leaders, ex-Mayor Dilworth, and chairman Green for their efforts, while extending a special thanks to President John F. Kennedy, who campaigned for Tate the previous week. Although the campaign focused on