Thomas W. Wallace

Thomas W. Wallace (died July 17, 1943) was an American lawyer and politician. He was Lieutenant Governor of New York in 1943.

Life

He was Corporation Counsel of Schenectady, New York.

In 1942, he was elected Lieutenant Governor of New York on the Republican ticket with Governor Thomas E. Dewey, and took office on January 1, 1943. His death on July 17, 1943, raised the question if the new State Constitution, adopted in 1938, required a special election to choose a lieutenant governor for the remaining three and a half years. The New York Court of Appeals decided in the affirmative, meeting with harsh criticism from Governor Dewey. The Constitution of 1938 had increased the New York State Assemblymen's term to two years and the term of the State Senators had already before been two years, so that now in odd years there was no general election at all. Despite Dewey's objections, a statewide election was held in November 1943 with the lieutenant governorship as the only office at stake. On recommendation of Governor Dewey, the Legislature passed, and the voters approved, a constitutional amendment which prohibited any elections for lieutenant governor in any event except at the time of the election of a governor.

Wallace was buried at the Holy Redeemer Cemetery in Niskayuna, New York.

ources

* [http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/wallace.html] Political Graveyard
* [http://books.google.com/books?id=IzktT3nMoqwC&pg=PA271&dq=thomas+wallace+lieutenant+governor&hl=pt-BR&sig=ACfU3U0SYEE4AHasbNTVEyGjQknUwQOt_g#PPA271,M1 "Ordered Liberty: A Constitutional History of New York"] by Peter J. Galie (Fordham University Press, 1995, ISBN 0823216527 , ISBN 9780823216529 ; page 271)