The 1894 New York state election was held on November 6, 1894, to elect the

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

, 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 ...

and a judge of the

New York Court of Appeals The New York Court of Appeals is the supreme court, highest court in the Judiciary of New York (state), Unified Court System of the New York (state), State of New York. It consists of seven judges: the Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeal ...

, 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 Ass ...

. Besides, a new State Constitution and four other constitutional amendments were proposed to the electorate, and were all accepted. Furthermore, the inhabitants of

New York County Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the smallest county by area in the U.S. state of New York. Located almost entire ...

and adjacent communities were asked if they wanted to join the proposed enlarged

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, a project known as The Consolidation. This was the first election since 1874 where the governor was elected to a two-year term rather than a 3-year term, a practice that was used in the 1876 to 1891 elections. The term of office later expanded to 4 years following the 1938 election.

Nominations

The

Socialist Labor 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, 192 ...

state convention met in June in

Syracuse Syracuse most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...

, and nominated

Charles H. Matchett Charles Horatio Matchett (May 15, 1843 – October 24, 1919) was an American socialist politician. He is best remembered as the first candidate of the Socialist Labor Party of America for Vice President of the United States in the 1892 United St ...

for Governor; William F. Steer for Lieutenant Governor; and Francis Gerau for the Court of Appeals. The

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...

state convention met on June 26 at Alhambra Hall in

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States. With a population of 148,620 and a Syracuse metropolitan area, metropolitan area of 662,057, it is the fifth-most populated city and 13 ...

. Rev. Stanley B. Roberts, of Utica, was Temporary and Permanent Chairman. The convention met again on June 27, and nominated Francis E. Baldwin, a lawyer from Elmira, for Governor; Justus Miller, a collar-and-cuff manufacturer from

Troy Troy (/; ; ) or Ilion (; ) was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlik, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek mythology, Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destina ...

, for Lieutenant Governor; and Zachariah P. Taylor, of Rochester, for the Court of Appeals. The People's Party state convention met on September 11 at the Town Hall in

Saratoga Springs, New York Saratoga Springs is a Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 28,491 at the United States Census 2020, 2020 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the ...

. De Myre S. Fero was Temporary Chairman until the choice of C. R. White, of Miller's Corners, as Permanent Chairman. Charles B. Matthews, manager of the

Buffalo Buffalo most commonly refers to: * True buffalo or Bubalina, a subtribe of wild cattle, including most "Old World" buffalo, such as water buffalo * Bison, a genus of wild cattle, including the American buffalo * Buffalo, New York, a city in the n ...

Refining Company and arch-enemy of the Standard Oil Company", was nominated for Governor; Robert C. Hewson, of Penn Yan for Lieutenant Governor, and Thaddeus B. Wakeman for the Court of Appeals. The Republican state convention met on September 18 at Saratoga Springs.

Lemuel E. Quigg Lemuel Ely Quigg (February 12, 1863 – July 1, 1919) was a United States representative from New York (state), New York. Biography He was born near Chestertown, Kent County, Maryland to a Methodist minister. He attended the public schools of ...

was Temporary Chairman until the choice of

Warner Miller Warner Miller (August 12, 1838March 21, 1918) was an American businessman and politician from Herkimer, New York. A Republican, he was most notable for his service as a U.S. Representative (1879-1881) and United States Senator (1881-1887). A na ...

as Permanent Chairman. Former

Vice President A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

Levi P. Morton Levi Parsons Morton (May 16, 1824 – May 16, 1920) was the 22nd vice president of the United States from 1889 to 1893. He also served as List of ambassadors of the United States to France, United States ambassador to France, as a United States H ...

(in office 1889–1893) was nominated for Governor on the first ballot (vote: Morton 532½, J. Sloat Fassett 69, Cornelius N. Bliss 40½, Stewart L. Woodford 40,

Daniel Butterfield Daniel Adams Butterfield (October 31, 1831 – July 17, 1901) was a New York businessman, a Union general in the American Civil War, and Assistant Treasurer of the United States. After working for American Express, co-founded by his father ...

29, Leslie W. Russell 20, James Arkell 1). Charles T. Saxton was nominated after receiving 340 votes on the first ballot (393 votes were cast for James W. Wadsworth,

George W. Aldridge George Washington Aldridge II (December 28, 1856 – June 13, 1922) was a prominent politician from New York state. After serving as the Mayor of Rochester, New York, he became the boss of the Republican Party in Rochester and was influential i ...

, George E. Green, Arthur C. Wade, Francis Hendricks, Henry J. Coggeshall, Albert D. Shaw and Azariah C. Brundage) and a few subsequent changes. Albert Haight was nominated for the Court of Appeals on the second ballot. The Democratic state convention met on September 26 at the Skating Rink in Saratoga Springs. U.S. Senator, and Ex-Governor, David B. Hill was Temporary and Permanent Chairman. After the McLaughlin delegates were seated from Kings County, the Anti-McLaughlin delegation, led by

Edward M. Shepard Edward Morse Shepard (July 23, 1850 – July 28, 1911) was an American lawyer and politician from New York. Early life and education Edward M. Shepard was the son of Lorenzo B. Shepard (1821–1856) and Lucy (Morse) Shepard (1821–1890). Aft ...

, walked out of this convention. Hill for Governor, Daniel N. Lockwood for Lieutenant Governor, and

William J. Gaynor William Jay Gaynor (February 2, 1849 – September 10, 1913) was an American politician from New York City, associated with the Tammany Hall political machine. He served as the 94th mayor of the City of New York from 1910 to 1913, and previously ...

for the Court of Appeals, were nominated by acclamation. Gaynor declined to run, and the Democratic State Committee met on October 6 at the Park Avenue Hotel in

, and substituted Charles F. Brown on the ticket. The "Democratic Party Reform Organization" of

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, led by

, met on October 9 at Shepard's office at 111, Broadway, and nominated Everett P. Wheeler for Governor and endorsed the other two Democratic candidates. Charles S. Fairchild was chosen Chairman of the Campaign Committee. The "State Democracy", one of the Anti-

Tammany Tamanend ("the Affable"; ), historically also known as Taminent, Tammany, Saint Tammany or King Tammany, was the Chief of Chiefs and Chief of the Turtle Clan of the Lenape, Lenni-Lenape nation in the Delaware Valley signing the founding peace t ...

Democratic organizations in New York City, led by Ex-Mayor

William R. Grace William Russell Grace (May 10, 1832 – March 21, 1904) was an American politician, the first Roman Catholic mayor of New York City, and the founder of W. R. Grace and Company. Early life Grace was born in Ireland in Riverstown near the Cove of ...

, met on October 27, at

Cooper Union The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, commonly known as Cooper Union, is a private college on Cooper Square in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-s ...

, and endorsed the Democratic ticket.

Result

The whole Republican ticket was elected. None of the incumbents ran for re-election. Obs.: For candidates nominated on more than one ticket, the numbers are the total votes on all tickets.

Amendments

*The Constitution of 1894: 410,697 For and 327,402 Against *Amendment on Legislative Apportionment: 404,335 For and 350,625 Against *Amendment on Canal Improvement: 442,988 For and 327,645 Against *Amendment relating to County Judges and Court of Sessions in

Kings County Kings County or King's County may refer to: Places Canada *Kings County, New Brunswick *Kings County, Nova Scotia * Kings County, Prince Edward Island ** King's County (electoral district), abolished in 1892 Ireland * County Offaly, formerly call ...

: 391,350 For and 332,505 Against *Amendment relating to the Election of Additional Justices of the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

: 395,233 For and 341,713 Against

The Consolidation

Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, East Chester and Pelham voted for Consolidation, Mount Vernon and Westchester rejected it, the latter by a single vote. *

(Manhattan): 96,938 For and 59,959 Against *

(Brooklyn): 64,744 For and 64,467 Against * Queens County (Queens): 7,712 For and 4,741 Against * Richmond County (Staten Island): 5,531 For and 1,505 Against * City of Mount Vernon: 873 For and 1,603 Against * Town of East Chester: 374 For and 260 Against * Town of Westchester: 620 For and 621 Against * Town of Pelham: 251 For and 153 Against

Notes

Sources

*The tickets
''A GREAT STACK OF BALLOTS''
in NYT on October 22, 1894 *Result
''THE STATE VOTE CANVASSED''
in NYT on December 15, 1894 *Result
''The Tribune Almanac 1895''
*Result in New York City
''THE CITY'S OFFICIAL VOTE''
in NYT on November 24, 1894 *The Republican candidates
''THE NEW STATE OFFICERS; SKETCHES OF THE REPUBLICANS ELECTED IN NEW-YORK''
in NYT on November 7, 1894 *The Democratic candidates
''CAREERS OF CANDIDATES; THE MEN SELECTED BY THE NEW-YORK DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION''
in NYT on September 27, 1894 *The New York Red Book 1895 {{New York state elections

1894 Events January * January 4 – A military alliance is established between the French Third Republic and the Russian Empire. * January 7 – William Kennedy Dickson receives a patent for motion picture film in the United States. * Ja ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

New York (state) gubernatorial elections Levi P. Morton