The 1938 New York state election was held on November 8, 1938, 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 ...

, two

U.S. Senators The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and power ...

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 ...

. The 1938 election was the first election where the Governor of New York was elected to a four-year term, rather than a two-year term.

History

The Republican state convention met on September 29,

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: ** In ...

Oswald D. Heck presided. They nominated D.A. of New York Thomas E. Dewey for Governor. Also nominated were Frederic H. Bontecou for Lieutenant Governor; Julius Rothstein for Comptroller; Col. Arthur V. McDermott for Attorney General; and

John Lord O'Brian John Lord O'Brian (October 14, 1874 – April 11, 1973) was an American lawyer who held public offices in the administrations of five U.S. presidents between 1909 and 1945. O'Brian has been recognized by scholars for his commitment to civil liberti ...

and Edward Corsi for the U.S. Senate. The Democratic state convention met on October 1, and re-nominated the incumbents Lehman, Tremaine, Bennett and Wagner; and completed the ticket with Supreme Court Justice Charles Poletti for Lieutenant Governor; and John M. Mead for short term in the U.S. Senate. 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 October 1, and nominated again Norman Thomas for Governor; and Dr. George W. Hartmann for Lieutenant Governor; Coleman B. Cheney for Comptroller; and Miss Marion L. Severn for Attorney General. The American Labor state convention met on October 3 at the Manhattan Opera House in

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 ...

and nominated the Democratic incumbent Herbert H. Lehman for Governor. They also endorsed Democrats Poletti, Wagner, Mead, Merritt and O'Day; and completed the ticket with Langdon W. Post for Comptroller and Joseph V. O'Leary for Attorney-General. Lehman was only able to win reelection due to the votes he received on the American Labor ballot line. Dewey received more votes on the Republican ballot line than Lehman had on the Democratic ballot line. The "Independent Progressive" Party filed a petition to nominate a ticket headed by Republican Thomas E. Dewey. This was done to have a second ballot line, like Gov. Lehman who ran on two lines also. 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 ...

changed its name and filed a petition to nominate candidates as the "Industrial Government Party.""INDUSTRIAL PARTY LISTS CANDIDATES"
''The New York Times'', November 6, 1938 (subscription required)

Result

The whole Democratic ticket was elected. The incumbents Lehman, Tremaine, Bennett, Wagner, Merritt and O'Day were re-elected. This was the first election where governors were elected to four year terms. Obs.: *"Blank, void and scattering" votes: 75,047 (Governor) *The vote for Governor is used to define ballot access, for all other offices numbers are totals on all tickets for candidates nominated on more than one.

Notes

References

Sources

*Official Result
"LEHMAN PLURALITY OFFICIALLY 64,394; State Board Puts His Vote Finally at 2,391,286, With 2,326,892 for Dewey LABOR'S POLL AT 419,979 Blank, Void and Scattered Ballots Totaled 75,047; Poletti Won by 229,361"
''The New York Times'', December 8, 1938 (subscription required) New York Red Book

History

Result

Notes

References

Sources

See also