The 135th New York State Legislature, consisting of the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate. Partisan com ...

and the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assem ...

, met from January 3 to March 29, 1912, during the second year of

John Alden Dix John Alden Dix (December 25, 1860 – April 9, 1928) was an American businessman and politician who served as 38th Governor of New York from January 1911 to January 1913. A native of Glens Falls, New York, Dix attended Cornell University befo ...

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 constituti ...

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 (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. 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 ...

Elections

The New York state election, 1911, was held on November 7. No statewide elective offices were up for election. For the first time, a

Socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

was elected to the Assembly.

Sessions

The Legislature met for the regular session at the State Capitol in Albany on January 3, 1912; and adjourned on March 29. Edwin A. Merritt, Jr. (R) was 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 ...

with 95 votes against 45 for

Al Smith Alfred Emanuel Smith (December 30, 1873 – October 4, 1944) was an American politician who served four terms as Governor of New York and was the Democratic Party's candidate for president in 1928. The son of an Irish-American mother and a C ...

(D). On April 19,

Bronx County The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New York ...

was created by the Legislature, to be effectively separated from New York County on January 1, 1914. To date, this was the last county created in the State of New York.

State Senate

Districts

Members

The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued in office as members of this Legislature.

Employees

* Clerk: Patrick E. McCabe * Sergeant-at-Arms: Harry E. Oxford * Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms: John J. Dillon * Principal Doorkeeper: Fred W. Theobold * Assistant Doorkeeper: Thomas Nolan * Stenographer: William E. Reynolds

State Assembly

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

Assemblymen

Employees

* Clerk: Fred W. Hammond * Sergeant-at-Arms:

Harry W. Haines Harry may refer to: TV shows * ''Harry'' (American TV series), a 1987 American comedy series starring Alan Arkin * ''Harry'' (British TV series), a 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons * ''Harry'' (talk show), a 2016 American daytime talk show ...

* Principal Doorkeeper: Michael Kehoe * First Assistant Doorkeeper: James B. Hulse * Second Assistant Doorkeeper: D. C. Easton * Stenographer: Henry C. Lammert *Postmaster: James H. Underwood

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. 367 for senators)
''Journal of the Senate'' (135th Session)
(1912; Vol. I)
''Journal of the Assembly'' (135th Session)
(1912; Vol. I; from January 3 to March 20)
''Journal of the Assembly'' (135th Session)
(1912; Vol. II; from March 20 to 29)
''REPUBLICANS SEE BIG GAINS AHEAD''
in NYT on October 29, 1911
''COMMITTEE PLUMS GO TO MERRITT BACKERS''
in NYT on January 11, 1912 {{NYLegislatures

135 135 may refer to: * 135 (number) * AD 135 * 135 BC * 135 film, better known as 35 mm film, is a format of photographic film used for still photography *135 (New Jersey bus) 135 may refer to: * 135 (number) * AD 135 * 135 BC * 135 film, better know ...

1912 in the United States 1912 in New York (state) 1912 U.S. legislative sessions