The 1958 New York state election was held on November 4, 1958, 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 ...

, the state comptroller, the

attorney general In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

, 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 ...

and a

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

, 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 ...

and the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature, while the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Established in 1777 by the Constitution of New York, its members are elected to two-year terms with no term l ...

Background

In January 1957, Jacob K. Javits took his seat in the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

and thus vacated the office of

New York State Attorney General The attorney general of New York is the chief legal officer of the U.S. state of New York and head of the Department of Law of the state government. The office has existed in various forms since 1626, originally established under the Dutch c ...

. On January 9, the

New York State Legislature The New York State Legislature consists of the Bicameralism, two houses that act as the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York: the New York State Senate and the New York State Assem ...

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, 192 ...

state convention met on March 23 and nominated

Eric Hass Eric Hass (March 4, 1905 – October 2, 1980) was a four-time Socialist Labor candidate for President of the United States. Life Hass was of German and Danish ancestry, and was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, in 1905. He died of a heart attack ...

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 candidate A write-in candidate is a candidate whose name does not appear on the ballot but seeks election by asking voters to cast a vote for the candidate by physically writing in the person's name on the ballot. Depending on electoral law it may be poss ...

s. 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 John Thomas McManus was bo ...

for governor; and Dr. Annette T. Rubinstein for lieutenant governor. The

Independent-Socialist Party 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 John Thomas McManus was bo ...

filed a petition to nominate candidates to five offices on September 9 with the Secretary of State. The Democratic state convention met on August 25 at

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

, and re-nominated Governor

W. Averell Harriman William Averell Harriman (November 15, 1891July 26, 1986) was an American politician, businessman, and diplomat. He was a founder of Harriman & Co. which merged with the older Brown Brothers to form the Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. investment ...

and Lt. Gov. George B. DeLuca. The convention continued on August 26 and into the early hours of August 27. They nominated D.A. of New York Frank S. Hogan 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 Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

, and nominated Nelson A. Rockefeller for governor. The

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

met on August 26, and endorsed the Democratic nominees Harriman, DeLuca and Levitt; and nominated

Thomas K. Finletter Thomas Knight Finletter (November 11, 1893 – April 24, 1980) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman. Early life Finletter was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Thomas Dickson Finletter and Helen Grill Finletter. He was ...

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 Arthur Levitt Jr. (born February 3, 1931) is the former chairman of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). He served from 1993 to 2001 as the twenty-fifth and longest-serving chairman of the commission. Widely hailed as a ...

managed to stay in office. The incumbents Levitt, Lefkowitz, and Dye were re-elected. The incumbents Harriman and DeLuca were defeated. As of 2023, this is the last time the Republicans won the state's Class 1 Senate seat. ( James L. Buckley 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 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

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 2 – 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 18 – Full diplomatic ...

, but was defeated.) Note: The vote for governor is used to define

ballot access Ballot access is rules and procedures regulating the right to candidacy, the conditions under which a candidate, political party, or ballot measure is entitled to appear on voters' ballots in elections in the United States. The jurisprudence o ...

, for automatic access are necessary 50,000 votes.

References

Sources

* Vote totals in the ''New York Red Book'' (1959) {{1958 United States elections

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the thir ...

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 * ...

Background

Nominations

Result

See also

References

Sources