The 1973 New York state election was held on November 6, 1973, to elect the Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals. Besides, a $3,500,000,000 transit-bond issue was proposed by Governor

Nelson A. Rockefeller Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979), sometimes referred to by his nickname Rocky, was an American businessman and politician who served as the 41st vice president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. A member of t ...

, and rejected by the voters with 1,593,531 votes For and 2,210,907 votes Against it.

Background

Chief Judge

Stanley H. Fuld Stanley Howells Fuld (August 23, 1903 – July 22, 2003) was an American lawyer and politician from New York. He was Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals from 1967 to 1973. Life Born in Manhattan, New York City, Fuld was the son of Eman ...

would reach the constitutional age limit of 70 years at the end of the year. For the first time since the election of Frank H. Hiscock over Almet F. Jenks in 1916, the election for Chief judge was contested. For almost 60 years, all Chief Judges had been cross-endorsed by the two major parties.

Nominations

Democratic primary

The Democratic State Committee met on March 12. No candidate received a majority, and the three contenders who polled more than 25% of the vote,

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York The United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (in case citations, E.D.N.Y.) is the federal district court whose territorial jurisdiction spans five counties in New York State: the four Long Island counties of Nassau, Su ...

Judge Jack B. Weinstein,

Appellate In law, an appeal is the process in which cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of clarifying and ...

Justice Francis T. Murphy and

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

Justice Irwin R. Brownstein, were designated to run in a

primary election Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...

for Chief Judge. Trial lawyer Lawrence D. Fuchsberg filed a petition to challenge the designees. The primary was held on June 5. The result was so narrow that the winner was known only after the release of the official result on June 21, Fuchsberg winning by a plurality of 755 votes.

Other parties

The

Republicans 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 ...

met on March 7, and nominated Charles D. Breitel. The Liberals met on March 10, and endorsed the Republican nominee Charles D. Breitel.''Breitel Wins Bipartisan Support as Liberal Party Endorses Him for Appeals Court Post''
in NYT on March 11, 1973 (subscription required) The Conservatives nominated Supreme Court Justice James J. Leff, a registered Democrat, for Chief Judge.

Result

The Republican/Liberal candidate was elected.

Notes

Sources

*Official result
''Metropolitan Briefs; New York Certifies Transit-Bond Vote''
in NYT on December 13, 1973 (subscription required)