New York state election, 1918

The 1918 New York state election was held on November 5, 1918, to elect the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, the Secretary of State, the State Comptroller, the Attorney General, the State Treasurer and the State Engineer, as well as all members of the New York State Assembly and the New York State Senate.

History

This was the first state election following women's suffrage.

The primaries were held on September 3.

Republican primary

1918 Republican primary results

Office
Governor	Charles S. Whitman	295,471	Merton E. Lewis	118,879
Lieutenant Governor	Edward Schoeneck		William M. Bennett[1]		Seth C. Heacock
Secretary of State	Francis M. Hugo	354,066	(unopposed)
Comptroller	Eugene M. Travis		Samuel Frazer		John Kissel
Attorney General	Charles D. Newton		Alfred L. Becker
Treasurer	James L. Wells		Theodore T. Baylor
State Engineer	Frank M. Williams	342,571	(unopposed)

Democratic primary

1918 Democratic primary results

Office
Governor	Alfred E. Smith	199,752	William Church Osborn	32,761
Lieutenant Governor	Harry C. Walker		(unopposed)
Secretary of State	Franklin E. Bard		(unopposed)
Comptroller	Bird S. Coler		(unopposed)
Attorney General	Charles Morschauser		(unopposed)
Treasurer	Jacob G. Cohen		(unopposed)
State Engineer	Dwight B. LaDu		(unopposed)

Prohibition primary

The Prohibition state conference in July had designated State Chairman Olin S. Bishop to run in the primary for Governor, but on August 31 the enrolled party members received a circular from Bishop urging them to vote for the incumbent Republican Governor Charles S. Whitman by writing his name in the ballot. The friends of the incumbent Republican Comptroller Eugene M. Travis gathered enough signatures to put him on the Prohibition primary ballot, and the regular candidate Claude V. Stowell also urged the party members to vote for Travis.^[2]

1918 Prohibition primary results

Office
Governor	Charles S. Whitman		Olin S. Bishop
Lieutenant Governor	Mamie W. Colvin		(unopposed)
Secretary of State	Ella L. McCarthy		(unopposed)
Comptroller	Eugene M. Travis		Claude V. Stowell[3]
Attorney General	Clarence Z. Spriggs		(unopposed)
Treasurer	George B. Humphrey		(unopposed)
State Engineer	David B. Passage		(unopposed)

All the Socialist candidates were nominated unopposed in the Socialist primary.

Result

The Democratic candidates for Governor and Lieutenant Governor were elected with the remainder of the Republican ticket.

The incumbents Whitman and Schoeneck were defeated. The incumbents Hugo, Travis, Wells and Williams were re-elected.

1918 state election results

Office	Democratic ticket		Republican ticket		Socialist ticket		Prohibition ticket		Socialist Labor ticket
Governor	Alfred E. Smith	1,009,936	Charles S. Whitman	956,034	Charles W. Ervin[4]	121,705	Charles S. Whitman	38,794	Olive M. Johnson	5,183
Lieutenant Governor	Harry C. Walker	965,471	Edward Schoeneck	930,066	Ella Reeve Bloor		Mamie W. Colvin	48,142	August Gillhaus
Secretary of State	Franklin E. Bard	886,306	Francis M. Hugo	1,004,526	Jessie W. Hughan		Ella L. McCarthy	40,072	Edmund Moonelis[5]
Comptroller	Bird S. Coler	909,255	Eugene M. Travis	1,007,483	James C. Sheahan		Eugene M. Travis		Charles E. Berns[6]
Attorney General	Charles Morschauser	878,309	Charles D. Newton	990,863	Hezekiah D. Wilcox[7]		Clarence Z. Spriggs[8]	43,229	John Donahue
Treasurer	Jacob G. Cohen	839,777	James L. Wells	1,028,752	Charles W. Noonan[9]		George B. Humphrey	44,606	Nadina Kavinoky
State Engineer	Dwight B. LaDu	865,573	Frank M. Williams	991,521	Raymond Wilcox		David B. Passage	40,628	Joseph Galotta

Obs.:

• "Blank, void and scattering" votes: 61,052 (Governor)
• The number for Travis is total on Republican and Prohibition tickets. The votes given for Governor were used to define the ballot access, and are given separately.^[10]

Notes

1. ^ William M. Bennett, also ran in the 1916 primary for Governor
2. ^ DRY' MEN GIVE AID TO WHITMAN in NYT on September 1, 1918
3. ^ Claude V. Stowell, of Corning, also ran for Comptroller in 1916
4. ^ Charles Wesley Ervin, of Jamaica, Queens
5. ^ Edmund Moonelis, ran also in 1912 and 1914
6. ^ Charles E. Berns, ran also in 1914
7. ^ Hezekiah D. Wilcox, of Elmira, ran also for the Court of Appeals in 1916 and 1917
8. ^ Clarence Z. Spriggs, of Syracuse, ran also for Lieutenant Governor in 1916
9. ^ Charles W. Noonan, ran also for Comptroller in 1914 and 1916
10. ^ The total number of votes for Whitman, given by the NYT as "995,094" is more than the total of the separate votes stated here, given by the New York Red Book for Republican and Prohibition tickets, because it was possible to vote for any candidate writing the name in the "no-party" column. To define the winner of the election, all votes were counted; to define ballot access, only the votes received on the party's ticket.

Sources

• Early primary returns: WHITMAN NAMED TO FIGHT SMITH FOR GOVERNORSHIP in NYT on September 4, 1918
• Primary results: WHITMAN'S VOTE 295,471 in NYT on September 13, 1918
• Result in Westchester County: WHITMAN GAINS ONE VOTE IN THIS CITY in NYT on November 14, 1918
• Soldiers' vote in New York City: SOLDIERS ADD 7,419 TO SMITH PLURALITY in NYT on December 18, 1918
• Result: SMITH IS SWORN IN AS GOVERNOR in NYT on December 31, 1918

See also

New York gubernatorial elections