The 1958 New York state election was held on November 4, 1958, to elect the governor, 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 a

U.S. Senator 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 powe ...

, 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 ...

Background

In January 1957,

Jacob K. Javits Jacob Koppel Javits ( ; May 18, 1904 – March 7, 1986) was an American lawyer and politician. During his time in politics, he represented the state of New York in both houses of the United States Congress. A member of the Republican Party, he a ...

took his seat in the U.S. Senate and thus vacated the office of New York State Attorney General. On January 9, the New York State Legislature elected Louis J. Lefkowitz to the office for the unexpired term. Marvin R. Dye had been elected to the Court of Appeals in 1944, thus his 14-year term would expire at the end of the year.

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, 1924 ...

state convention met on March 23 and nominated Eric Hass for governor; John Emanuel for lieutenant governor; Milton Herder for state comptroller; and Stephen Emery for U.S. Senator. The ticket was ruled off the ballot, but Hass and his fellow nominees continued to campaign as write-in candidates. The "United Independent Socialist Campaign Committee" met on July 17 and selected

John T. McManus John Thomas McManus (1904 – November 1961) was an American journalist active in progressive politics in the 1950s and 1960s best known as co-founder of the ''National Guardian'', a left-leaning newspaper. Background McManus was born in New Yor ...

for governor; and Dr. Annette T. Rubinstein for lieutenant governor. The Independent-Socialist Party filed a petition to nominate candidates to five offices on September 9 with the Secretary of State. The

Democratic Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

state convention met on August 25 at Buffalo, New York, and re-nominated Governor

W. Averell Harriman William Averell Harriman (November 15, 1891July 26, 1986), better known as Averell Harriman, was an American Democratic politician, businessman, and diplomat. The son of railroad baron E. H. Harriman, he served as Secretary of Commerce un ...

and Lt. Gov.

George B. DeLuca George Benjamin DeLuca (September 20, 1889 – May 2, 1983) was an American lawyer, banker and politician. He was Lieutenant Governor of New York from 1955 to 1958. Life He was the son of Mariano DeLuca and Catherine (Bonetti) DeLuca. His pa ...

. The convention continued on August 26 and into the early hours of August 27. They nominated D.A. of New York

Frank S. Hogan Frank Smithwick Hogan (January 17, 1902 – April 2, 1974) was an American lawyer and politician from New York. He served as New York County District Attorney for more than 30 years, during which he achieved a reputation for professionalism and ...

for the U.S. Senate after a roll call (vote: Hogan 772, Thomas E. Murray 304). The Republican state convention met on August 26 at Rochester, New York, and nominated

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 ...

for governor. The Liberal Party met on August 26, and endorsed the Democratic nominees Harriman, DeLuca and Levitt; and nominated Thomas K. Finletter for the U.S. Senate. On August 28, Finletter declined to run, and urged the Liberals to back Hogan. On September 4, the Liberals substituted Democrat Hogan for Finletter on the ticket, but rejected the endorsement of Crotty. They completed the ticket with Edward Goodell for attorney general.''Liberals Pick Edward Goodell For State's Attorney General''
in NYT on September 9, 1958 (subscription required)

Result

Despite a good year for the Democratic Party nationwide almost the whole Republican ticket was elected; only the Democratic Comptroller Arthur Levitt managed to stay in office. The incumbents Levitt, Lefkowitz, and Dye were re-elected. The incumbents Harriman and DeLuca were defeated. As of 2019, this is the last time the Republicans won the state's Class 1 Senate seat. (

James L. Buckley James Lane Buckley (born March 9, 1923) is an American politician, jurist, and lawyer who currently serves as a senior judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Buckley served in the United States Senat ...

was elected Senator for this seat in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

on the Conservative Party line, defeating appointed incumbent Republican Charles Goodell. Buckley caucused with Republicans in the Senate and ran for re-election as a Republican in

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

, but was defeated.) Note: The vote for governor is used to define ballot access, for automatic access are necessary 50,000 votes.

References

Sources

* Vote totals in the ''New York Red Book'' (1959)

Background

Nominations

Result

References

Sources

See also