The 132nd New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 6 to April 30, 1909, during the third year of

Charles Evans Hughes Charles Evans Hughes Sr. (April 11, 1862 – August 27, 1948) was an American statesman, politician and jurist who served as the 11th Chief Justice of the United States from 1930 to 1941. A member of the Republican Party, he previously was the ...

governorship A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

, in Albany.

Background

Under the provisions of the

New York Constitution The Constitution of the State of New York establishes the structure of the government of the State of New York, and enumerates the basic rights of the citizens of New York. Like most state constitutions in the United States, New York's constitut ...

of 1894, re-apportioned in 1906 and 1907, 51 Senators and 150 assemblymen were elected in single-seat districts; senators for a two-year term, assemblymen for a one-year term. The senatorial districts were made up of entire counties, except

New York County Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

(twelve districts), Kings County (eight districts), Erie County (three districts) and Monroe County (two districts). The Assembly districts were made up of contiguous area, all within the same county. On April 27, 1906, the Legislature re-apportioned the Senate districts, increasing the number to 51. The apportionment was then contested in the courts. The Legislature also re-apportioned the number of assemblymen per county. Nassau County was separated from the remainder of Queens County; Albany, Broome, Cattaraugus, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oswego and Rensselaer counties lost one seat each; Erie, Monroe and Westchester gained one each; and Kings and Queens counties gained two each. On April 3, 1907, the new Senate and Assembly apportionment was declared unconstitutional by the New York Court of Appeals. On July 26, 1907, the Legislature again re-apportioned the Senate districts, and re-enacted the 1906 Assembly apportionment. At this time there were two major political parties: the Republican Party and the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

. The

Independence League The Independence Party, established as the Independence League, was a short-lived minor American political party sponsored by newspaper publisher and politician William Randolph Hearst in 1906. The organization was the successor to the Munici ...

, the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of t ...

, the Prohibition Party and the

Socialist Labor Party The Socialist Labor Party (SLP)"The name of this organization shall be Socialist Labor Party". Art. I, Sec. 1 of thadopted at the Eleventh National Convention (New York, July 1904; amended at the National Conventions 1908, 1912, 1916, 1920, 1924 ...

also nominated tickets.

Elections

The New York state election, 1908, was held on November 3. Gov.

was re-elected; and State Senator

Horace White Horace White (October 7, 1865 – November 27, 1943) was an American lawyer and politician from New York. He was the 37th Governor of New York from October 6, 1910 to December 31, 1910. Life He attended Syracuse Central High School, Cornell Un ...

was elected Lieutenant Governor; both Republicans. The other six statewide elective offices up for election were also carried by the Republicans. The approximate party strength at this election, as expressed by the vote for Governor, was: Republican 805,000; Democratic 735,000; Independence League 43,000; Socialists 34,000; Prohibition 19,000; and Socialist Labor 4,000.

Sessions

The Legislature met for the regular session at the State Capitol in Albany on January 6, 1909; and adjourned on April 30. James Wolcott Wadsworth, Jr. (R) was re-elected

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

. John Raines (R) was re-elected President pro tempore of the State Senate. On January 19, the Legislature elected

U.S. Secretary of State The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's Ca ...

Elihu Root (R) to succeed Thomas C. Platt (R) as

U.S. Senator from New York Below is a list of U.S. senators who have represented the State of New York in the United States Senate since 1789. The date of the start of the tenure is either the first day of the legislative term (Senators who were elected regularly before th ...

for a six-year term beginning on March 4, 1909.''ROOT IS CHOSEN SENATOR''
in NYT on January 20, 1909

State Senate

Districts

Members

The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued in office as members of this Legislature. Orlando Hubbs, Robert F. Wagner, George M. S. Schulz, J. Mayhew Wainwright, George L. Meade and Charles Mann Hamilton changed from the Assembly to the Senate. Note: For brevity, the chairmanships omit the words "...the Committee on (the)..."

Employees

* Clerk: Lafayette B. Gleason * Sergeant-at-Arms: Charles R. Hotaling *General Committee Clerk: William S. Coffey

State Assembly

Assemblymen

Note: For brevity, the chairmanships omit the words "...the Committee on (the)..."

Employees

* Clerk: Ray B. Smith * Sergeant-at-Arms: Bernard J. Haggarty

Notes

Sources

''Official New York from Cleveland to Hughes''
by Charles Elliott Fitch (Hurd Publishing Co., New York and Buffalo, 1911, Vol. IV; see pg. 356ff for assemblymen; and 366f for senators)
''REPUBLICANS GAIN IN LEGISLATURE''
in NYT on November 4, 1908
''Manual of Rules and Practice of the Senate''
(1909)
''REPUBLICAN CAUCUS NAMES WADSWORTH''
in NYT on January 6, 1909
''COMMITTEES ARE NAMED''
in NYT on January 14, 1909 {{NYLegislatures 132 1909 in New York (state) 1909 U.S. legislative sessions