The 1936 New York state election was held on November 3, 1936, to elect the

governor 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 ...

, the

lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

, the state comptroller, the

attorney general In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

, a judge of the

New York Court of Appeals The New York Court of Appeals is the highest court in the Unified Court System of the State of New York. The Court of Appeals consists of seven judges: the Chief Judge and six Associate Judges who are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by t ...

and two U.S. Representatives-at-large, as well as all members of 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 ...

and 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 ...

Nominations

The

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

state convention met on June 14, and nominated Robert Minor for Governor; Julian S. Sawyer, of Buffalo, for Lieutenant Governor; and Irving Schwab, of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, for the Court of Appeals. The

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 ...

state convention met on June 27 at the Hotel Delano in

, and nominated Dr.

Harry W. Laidler Harry Wellington Laidler (February 18, 1884 – July 14, 1970) was an American socialist writer, magazine editor, and politician. He is best remembered as executive director of the League for Industrial Democracy, successor to the Intercollegiate ...

for Governor; the Rev. Herman J. Hahn for Lieutenant Governor; Edward Marks of Freeport for Attorney General; and Coleman B. Cheney for Comptroller. The Democratic state convention met on September 29 at

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffa ...

, and re-nominated the incumbents Lehman, Bray, Tremaine and Bennett; and completed the ticket with Harlan W. Rippey for the Court of Appeals. The

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

state convention met on September 29 at

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...

, and nominated

New York Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the trial-level court of general jurisdiction in the New York State Unified Court System. (Its Appellate Division is also the highest intermediate appellate court.) It is vested with unlimited civ ...

Justice William F. Bleakley, of

Yonkers Yonkers () is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. Developed along the Hudson River, it is the third most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City and Buffalo. The population of Yonkers was 211,569 as enu ...

, for Governor on the first ballot (vote: Bleakley 680, George R. Fearon 348).

Frank Gannett Frank Ernest Gannett (September 15, 1876 – December 3, 1957) was an American publisher who founded the media corporation Gannett Company. He began his career in 1906 as half owner of the ''Elmira Gazette''. He soon added newspapers in Ithaca, ...

and Joe R. Hanley were also contenders for the nomination. Also nominated were Col. Ralph K. Robertson for Lieutenant Governor; John A. May for Comptroller;

Nathan D. Perlman Nathan David Perlman (August 2, 1887 – June 29, 1952) was an American lawyer and politician from New York. Life Born in Prusice, Poland, Perlman immigrated to the United States in 1891 with his mother where they settled in New York City. A ...

for Attorney General; and James P. Hill for the Court of Appeals. The

American Labor Party The American Labor Party (ALP) was a political party in the United States established in 1936 that was active almost exclusively in the state of New York. The organization was founded by labor leaders and former members of the Socialist Party of ...

filed on October 6 a petition to nominate only two candidates: Franklin D. Roosevelt for U.S. President and Herbert H. Lehman for Governor.''LABOR PARTY FILES PETITION AT ALBANY''
in NYT on October 7, 1936 (subscription required)

Result

The whole Democratic ticket was elected. The incumbents Lehman, Bray, Tremaine, Bennett, Merritt and O'Day were re-elected. This was the last election in which the Governor was elected every two years Obs.: The vote for Governor is used to define

ballot access Elections in the United States refers to the rules and procedures regulating the conditions under which a candidate, political party, or ballot measure is entitled to appear on voters' ballots. As the nation's election process is decentralized b ...

Notes

Sources

*Official Result
''ROOSEVELT MARGIN 1,112,552 IN STATE; Official Canvass Gives Him 13 Counties, of Which 8 Were Outside New York City.; LEHMAN VOTE 2,970,595 Bleakley Was 520,491 Behind; Socialists Got 86,897; and the Communists 35,609''
in NYT in December 1936 (subscription required) Vote Totals-New York Red Book 1937

Nominations

Result

Notes

Sources

See also