New York state election, 1938

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.

History

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 L. O'Brian and Edward Corsi for the U.S. Senate.^[1]

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.^[2]

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.^[3]

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,^[4] Merritt and O'Day; and completed the ticket with Langdon W. Post for Comptroller and Joseph V. O'Leary for Attorney-General.^[5]

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.^[6]

The Socialist Labor Party changed its name and filed a petition to nominate candidates as the "Industrial Government Party.^[7]

Result

The whole Democratic ticket was elected.

The incumbents Lehman, Tremaine, Bennett, Wagner, Merritt and O'Day were re-elected.

1938 state election results

Office	Democratic ticket		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)		Norman Thomas	24,980	Thomas E. Dewey	24,387	Aaron M. Orange	3,516
Lieutenant Governor	Charles Poletti		Frederic H. Bontecou[8]		Charles Poletti				George W. Hartmann[9]		Frederic H. Bontecou		Jacob Berlin
Comptroller	Morris S. Tremaine		Julius Rothstein		Langdon W. Post[10]				Coleman B. Cheney[11]
Attorney General	John J. Bennett, Jr.		Arthur V. McDermott[12]		Joseph V. O'Leary				Marion L. Severn[13]
U.S. Senator (full term)	Robert F. Wagner		John Lord O'Brian		Robert F. Wagner				Herman J. Hahn[14]		John Lord O'Brian		O. Martin Olson[15]
U.S. Senator (short term)[16]	James M. Mead		Edward F. Corsi		James M. Mead				Harry W. Laidler		Edward F. Corsi
U.S. Representative-at-large	Matthew J. Merritt		Richard B. Scandrett, Jr.	1,990,455	Matthew J. Merritt		Israel Amter	105,601	Brendan Sexton	24,990			Jeremiah D. Crowley[17]	5,080
U.S. Representative-at-large	Caroline O'Day		Helen Z. M. Rodgers	2,011,507	Caroline O'Day				Edna Mitchell Blue[18]	25,214

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

1. ^ DEWEY NOMINATED BY REPUBLICANS in NYT on September 30, 1938 (subscription required)
2. ^ LEHMAN IS DRAFTED FOR FOURTH TERM in NYT on October 1, 1938 (subscription required)
3. ^ SOCIALISTS ASSAIL 'DEALS' BY LABOR; ...THOMAS IS NOMINATED in NYT on October 2, 1938 (subscription required)
4. ^ LABORITES NAME LEHMAN WAGNER in NYT on October 4, 1938 (subscription required)
5. ^ LABOR NAMES MEAD AS SESSIONS CLOSE; Convention Also Nominates Post, O'Leary, Mrs. O'Day and Merritt to Fill Ticket in NYT on October 5, 1938 (subscription required)
6. ^ MAJOR PARTIES GET 2D LINES ON BALLOT in NYT on October 12, 1938 (subscription required)
7. ^ INDUSTRIAL PARTY LISTS CANDIDATES in NYT on November 6, 1938 (subscription required)
8. ^ Frederic Holdrege Bontecou (1894-1959), of Poughkeepsie, state senator, BONTECOU IS DEAD; EX-LEGISLATOR, 65 in NYT on September 18, 1859 (subscription required)
9. ^ Dr. George Wilfried Hartmann (1904-1955), psychologist, of Columbia University, editor of The Social Frontier, ran also for Mayor of New York in 1941
10. ^ Langdon W. Post (1899-1981), Harvard graduate, Dem. assemblyman 1929-32, Chairman of the New York City Housing Authority under Mayor La Guardia, LANGDON W. POST, 82, DEAD; HOUSING AND LABOR ADVISOR in NYT on September 5, 1981 (subscription required)
11. ^ Coleman B. Cheney, of Saratoga Springs, ran also for Comptroller in 1936; and for Governor in 1942
12. ^ Col. Arthur V. McDermott, of Brooklyn, lawyer, during World War II New York City Director of the Selective Service Administration
13. ^ Marion L. Severn, lawyer, of Manhattan, ran also for the Court of Appeals in 1937
14. ^ Rev. Herman J. Hahn, of Buffalo, ran also for Lieutenant Governor in 1928 and 1936
15. ^ O. Martin Olson, of Jamestown, ran also for Comptroller in 1934
16. ^ to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Royal S. Copeland
17. ^ Jeremiah D. Crowley, of Marcellus, ran also for State Engineer in 1910; for Lieutenant Governor in 1912, 1914 and 1920; for Governor in 1916, 1922, 1926 and 1930; for the U.S. Senate in 1932; and for Congress at-large in 1934
18. ^ Edna Mitchell Blue, wife of Lewi Tonks, ran also in 1938

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 in NYT on December 8, 1938 (subscription required)

See also

• New York gubernatorial elections
• New York state elections