The 148th 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 7 to June 26, 1925, during the third year of

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 ...

's second tenure as

Governor of New York The governor of New York is the head of government of the U.S. state of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has ...

, 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 1917, 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 consisted either of one or more entire counties; or a contiguous area within a single county. The counties which were divided into more than one senatorial district were New York (nine districts), Kings (eight), Bronx (three), Erie (three), Monroe (two), Queens (two) and Westchester (two). 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 ...

. 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 th ...

, the Workers 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, 1924 The 1924 New York state election was held on November 4, 1924, 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 ...

, was held on November 4. Governor

(Dem.) was re-elected, but the other six incumbent Democratic state officers were defeated by their Republican challengers. State Senator

Seymour Lowman Seymour Lowman (October 7, 1868 – March 13, 1940) was an American lawyer and politician from the state of New York. He was also Lieutenant Governor of New York from 1925 to 1926. Life Seymor Lowman was born in Chemung, New York on October 7 ...

(Rep.) was elected Lieutenant Governor, the last time in New York history that the governor and the lieutenant governor were elected from opposing tickets. The approximate party strength at this election, as expressed by the vote for Governor, was: Democrats 1,627,000; Republicans 1,519,000; Socialists 100,000; Workers 6,000; and Socialist Labor 5,000. For the first time, a woman was elected to a statewide elective office:

Florence E. S. Knapp Florence Elizabeth Smith Knapp (March 25, 1875 – October 26, 1949) was an American politician who was the first woman elected to a state cabinet office in New York state. Biography She was born March 25, 1875, in Syracuse, New York, as Florenc ...

was elected

Secretary of State of New York The secretary of state of New York is a cabinet officer in the government of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York who leads the New York State Department of State, Department of State (NYSDOS). The current secretary of state of New York ...

. At the end of her term she was accused of maladministration, and was convicted of

grand larceny Larceny is a crime involving the unlawful taking or theft of the personal property of another person or business. It was an offence under the common law of England and became an offence in jurisdictions which incorporated the common law of Engla ...

in office in 1928. After the re-organisation of the state administration in 1926, the office became appointive, and has remained so ever since. Knapp remained the only woman elected to a statewide elective office in New York for fifty years, until the election of

Mary Anne Krupsak Mary Anne Krupsak (born March 26, 1932) is an American lawyer and politician from New York. She was Lieutenant Governor of New York from 1975 to 1978. She was the first woman to hold the office. Early life She was born on March 26, 1932, in S ...

Lieutenant Governor of New York The lieutenant governor of New York is a constitutional office in the executive branch of the Government of the State of New York. It is the second highest-ranking official in state government. The lieutenant governor is elected on a ticket wit ...

in 1974. Only one woman was elected to the State Assembly:

Rhoda Fox Graves Rhoda Fox Graves (July 2, 1877 – January 25, 1950) was a suffragist, women's rights activist, and early female Republican party politician from St. Lawrence County, New York in the United States. Graves was the first woman to serve in the Ne ...

(Rep.), of Gouverneur, a former school teacher who after her marriage became active in women's organisations and politics.

Sessions

The Legislature met for the regular session at the State Capitol in Albany on January 7, 1925; and adjourned on March 27. Joseph A. McGinnies (Rep.) 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 ...

. John Knight (Rep.) was elected Temporary President of the State Senate. In his annual message, Gov.

proposed a thorough reconstruction of the state administration. During the next two years, many state departments were abolished, merged or created. Most notably, of three offices which had been statewide elective since 1847, one (the Secretary of State) was made appointive, and two (the State Engineer and the

State Treasurer In the state governments of the United States, 48 of the 50 states have the executive position of treasurer. New York abolished the position in 1926; duties were transferred to New York State Comptroller. Texas abolished the position of Texas ...

) were abolished, the duties being taken over by other departments. The Legislature met for a special session at the State Capitol in Albany on June 22, 1925; and adjourned on June 26.''SMITH EXCORIATES WESTCHESTER GROUP FOR PARK DESERTION''
in NYT on June 26, 1925 (subscription required) This session was called by Gov. Al Smith to reconsider the state park legislation passed during the regular session.

State Senate

Districts

Members

The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued in office as members of this Legislature. Thomas F. Burchill, William J. Hickey and Leigh G. Kirkland changed from the Assembly to the Senate. Note: For brevity, the chairmanships omit the words "...the Committee on (the)..."

Employees

* Clerk: Ernest A. Fay * Sergeant-at-Arms: Charles R. Hotaling * Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms: * Principal Doorkeeper: * First Assistant Doorkeeper: * Stenographer:

State Assembly

Assemblymen

148th New York Assembly in New York City

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

Employees

* Clerk: Fred W. Hammond

Notes

Sources

Members of the New York Senate (1920s)
at Political Graveyard

at Political Graveyard {{NYLegislatures

148 148 may refer to: *148 (number), a natural number *AD 148, a year in the 2nd century AD *148 BC, a year in the 2nd century BC *148 (album), an album by C418 *148 (Meiktila) Battery Royal Artillery *148 (New Jersey bus) 148 may refer to: *148 (numb ...

1925 in New York (state) 1925 U.S. legislative sessions