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1938 New York state election

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Field	Value
election_date
election_name	1938 New York state election
country	New York
ongoing	No
previous_election	1937 New York state election
previous_year	1937
next_election	1939 New York state election
next_year	1939

The 1938 New York state election was held on November 8, 1938, to elect the governor, the lieutenant governor, the state comptroller, the attorney general, two U.S. Senators and two U.S. Representatives-at-large, as well as all members of the New York State Assembly and the New York State Senate. The 1938 election was the first election where the Governor of New York was elected to a four-year term, rather than a two-year term as had been used since the 1894 election.

Nominations

The Republican state convention met on September 29, Speaker Oswald D. Heck presided. They nominated D.A. of New York Thomas E. Dewey for governor. Also nominated were Frederic H. Bontecou for lieutenant governor; Julius Rothstein for comptroller; Col. Arthur V. McDermott for attorney general; and John Lord O'Brian and Edward Corsi for the U.S. Senate.

The Democratic state convention met on October 1, and re-nominated the incumbents Lehman, Tremaine, Bennett and Wagner; and completed the ticket with Supreme Court Justice Charles Poletti for lieutenant governor; and John M. Mead for short term in the U.S. Senate.

The Socialist state convention met on October 1, and nominated again Norman Thomas for governor; and Dr. George W. Hartmann for lieutenant governor; Coleman B. Cheney for Comptroller; and Miss Marion L. Severn for attorney general.

The American Labor state convention met on October 3 at the Manhattan Opera House in New York City and nominated the Democratic incumbent Herbert H. Lehman for governor. They also endorsed Democrats Poletti, Wagner, Mead, Merritt and O'Day; and completed the ticket with Langdon W. Post for Comptroller and Joseph V. O'Leary for Attorney-General. Lehman was only able to win reelection due to the votes he received on the American Labor ballot line. Dewey received more votes on the Republican ballot line than Lehman had on the Democratic ballot line.

The "Independent Progressive" Party filed a petition to nominate a ticket headed by Republican Thomas E. Dewey. This was done to have a second ballot line, like Gov. Lehman who ran on two lines also.

The Socialist Labor Party changed its name and filed a petition to nominate candidates as the "Industrial Government Party."

Result

The whole Democratic ticket was elected.

The incumbents Lehman, Tremaine, Bennett, Wagner, Merritt and O'Day were re-elected. This was the first election where governors were elected to four year terms.

Office	Republican ticket	American Labor ticket	Communist ticket	Socialist ticket	Independent Progressive ticket	Industrial Government ticket
Governor	Herbert H. Lehman	1,971,307	Thomas E. Dewey	2,302,505		Herbert H. Lehman	419,979	(none)
Lieutenant Governor	Charles Poletti	1,976,166	Frederic H. Bontecou	2,130,088		Charles Poletti	395,313
Comptroller	Morris S. Tremaine	2,220.931	Julius Rothstein	1,829,006	Langdon W. Post	413,234
Attorney General	John J. Bennett Jr.	2,151,831	Arthur V. McDermott	1,950,187	Joseph V. O'Leary	391,901
U.S. Senator (full term)	Robert F. Wagner	2,098,919	John Lord O'Brian	2,046,794		Robert F. Wagner	398,410
U.S. Senator (short term)	James M. Mead	2,060,876	Edward F. Corsi	2,083,666		James M. Mead	378,028
U.S. Representative-at-large	Matthew J. Merritt	2,023,131	Richard B. Scandrett Jr.	1,980,352		Matthew J. Merritt	329,029	Israel Amter
U.S. Representative-at-large	Caroline O'Day	2,024,135	Helen Z. M. Rodgers	2,000,814		Caroline O'Day	339,328

Obs.:

"Blank, void and scattering" votes: 75,047 (Governor)
The vote for governor is used to define ballot access, for all other offices numbers are totals on all tickets for candidates nominated on more than one.

Notes

References

Sources

Official Result: "LEHMAN PLURALITY OFFICIALLY 64,394; State Board Puts His Vote Finally at 2,391,286, With 2,326,892 for Dewey LABOR'S POLL AT 419,979 Blank, Void and Scattered Ballots Totaled 75,047; Poletti Won by 229,361", The New York Times, December 8, 1938 (subscription required) New York Red Book

References

[https://www.nytimes.com/1938/09/30/archives/dewey-nominated-by-republicans-attackes-tammany-choice-by.html "DEWEY NOMINATED BY REPUBLICANS"], ''The New York Times'', September 30, 1938 (subscription required)
[https://www.nytimes.com/1938/10/01/archives/lehman-is-drafted-for-fourth-term-he-attacks-dewey-poletti-on.html "LEHMAN IS DRAFTED FOR FOURTH TERM"], ''The New York Times'', October 1, 1938 (subscription required)
[https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0814FB3B581A7A93C0A9178BD95F4C8385F9 "SOCIALISTS ASSAIL 'DEALS' BY LABOR; ...THOMAS IS NOMINATED"], ''The New York Times'', October 2, 1938 (subscription required)
[https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0A10FE3955157A93C6A9178BD95F4C8385F9 "LABORITES NAME LEHMAN, WAGNER"], ''The New York Times'', October 4, 1938 (subscription required)
[https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0D12F8345C1B7A93C7A9178BD95F4C8385F9 "LABOR NAMES MEAD AS SESSIONS CLOSE; Convention Also Nominates Post, O'Leary, Mrs. O'Day and Merritt to Fill Ticket"], ''The New York Times'', October 5, 1938 (subscription required)
Murphy, Paul. (1974). "Political Parties In American History, Volume 3, 1890-present". [[G. P. Putnam's Sons]].
[https://www.nytimes.com/1938/10/12/archives/major-parties-get-2d-lines-on-ballot-backers-of-lehman-and-dewey.html "MAJOR PARTIES GET 2D LINES ON BALLOT"], ''The New York Times'', October 12, 1938 (subscription required)
[https://www.nytimes.com/1938/11/06/archives/industrial-party-lists-candidates-brief-sketches-given-of-slate-of.html "INDUSTRIAL PARTY LISTS CANDIDATES"], ''The New York Times'', November 6, 1938 (subscription required)

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