The 130th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 2 to July 26, 1907, during the first year of

Charles Evans Hughes Charles Evans Hughes Sr. (April 11, 1862 – August 27, 1948) was an American statesman, politician and jurist who served as the 11th Chief Justice of the United States from 1930 to 1941. A member of the Republican Party, he previously was the ...

governorship 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 ...

, in Albany.

Background

Under the provisions of the

New York Constitution The Constitution of the State of New York establishes the structure of the government of the State of New York, and enumerates the basic rights of the citizens of New York. Like most state constitutions in the United States, New York's constitut ...

of 1894, re-apportioned in 1906, 51 Senators and 150 assemblymen were elected in single-seat districts; senators for a two-year term, assemblymen for a one-year term. The senatorial districts were made up of entire counties, except New York County (twelve districts), Kings County (eight districts), Erie County (three districts) and Monroe County (two districts). The Assembly districts were made up of contiguous area, all within the same county. On April 27, 1906, the Legislature re-apportioned the Senate districts, increasing the number to 51. The apportionment was then contested in the courts. The Legislature also re-apportioned the number of assemblymen per county. Nassau County was separated from the remainder of Queens County; Albany, Broome, Cattaraugus, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oswego and Rensselaer counties lost one seat each; Erie, Monroe and Westchester gained one each; and Kings and Queens counties gained two each. On August 13, 1906, the new Senate apportionment was upheld by Supreme Court Justice Howard. At this time there were two major political parties: the Republican Party and the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

. The Democrats and the

Independence League The Independence Party, established as the Independence League, was a short-lived minor American political party sponsored by newspaper publisher and politician William Randolph Hearst in 1906. The organization was the successor to the Munici ...

nominated a fusion ticket headed by

William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst Sr. (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American businessman, newspaper publisher, and politician known for developing the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His flamboya ...

. The

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of t ...

, the Prohibition Party and 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 ...

also nominated tickets.

Elections

The New York state election, 1906, was held on November 6. Republican

was elected Governor with about 749,000 votes against 691,000 for Hearst. The other six statewide elective offices were carried by the nominees on the Democratic/Independence League fusion ticket with about 720,000 votes against 710,000 for the Republican candidates. The approximate strength of the other parties was: Socialist 22,000; Prohibition 16,000; and Socialist Labor 5,000.

Sessions

The Legislature met for the regular session at the State Capitol in Albany on January 2, 1907; and adjourned on June 26. James Wolcott Wadsworth, Jr. (R) was re-elected

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: ** I ...

. On April 3, 1907, the new Senate and Assembly apportionment was declared unconstitutional by the New York Court of Appeals. The Legislature met for a special session at the State Capitol in Albany on July 8, 1907; and adjourned on July 26. This session was called to enact a new legislative apportionment. The Legislature re-apportioned the Senate districts, and re-enacted the 1906 Assembly apportionment.

State Senate

Districts

Members

The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued in office as members of this Legislature. Dennis J. Harte, Otto G. Foelker, James A. Thompson, George B. Agnew, John P. Cohalan, William J. Grattan, H. Wallace Knapp, William W. Wemple, S. Percy Hooker changed from the Assembly to the Senate.

Employees

* Clerk: Lafayette B. Gleason * Sergeant-at-Arms: Charles R. Hotaling * Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms:

Everett Brown Everett G. Brown (January 1, 1902 – October 14, 1953) was an American actor. Biography Born in Texas, Brown appeared in about 40 Hollywood films between 1927 and 1953. His roles were small most of the time and most of his film appearances were ...

* Principal Doorkeeper: Christopher Warren * First Assistant Doorkeeper: Fred S. Maine * Stenographer: James C. Marriott

State Assembly

Assemblymen

Employees

* Clerk:

Archie E. Baxter Archibald Easton Baxter (December 16, 1844 – October 6, 1925) was a Scottish-American lawyer and politician from New York. Life Baxter was born on December 16, 1844, in Port Glasgow, Scotland. In 1850, his father Duncan brought the family to ...

* Assistant Clerk: Ray B. Smith * Sergeant-at-Arms: * Stenographer:

Notes

Sources

''Official New York from Cleveland to Hughes''
by Charles Elliott Fitch (Hurd Publishing Co., New York and Buffalo, 1911, Vol. IV; see pg. 353f for assemblymen; and 366 for senators)
''Journal of the Senate'' (130th Session)
(1907, Vol. I)
''STATE LEGISLATURE STILL REPUBLICAN''
in NYT on November 7, 1906
''JIMMY OLIVER LEADER OF ASSEMBLY MINORITY''
in NYT on January 2, 1907
''MURPHY'S WAR ON MAYOR IS STARTED AT ALBANY''
in NYT on January 3, 1907 {{NYLegislatures 130 1907 in New York (state) 1907 U.S. legislative sessions