The 165th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 3, 1945, to March 26, 1946, during the third and fourth years of

Thomas E. Dewey Thomas Edmund Dewey (March 24, 1902 – March 16, 1971) was an American lawyer, prosecutor, and politician who served as the 47th governor of New York from 1943 to 1954. He was the Republican candidate for president in 1944 and 1948: although ...

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

In 1943, the Legislature re-apportioned the Senate and Assembly districts. The total number of state senators was increased to 56. Chautauqua, Dutchess, Monroe, Oneida, Rensselaer, St. Lawrence, Schenectady and Steuben counties lost one Assembly seat each; and New York County lost seven seats. Kings and Westchester counties gained one seat each; Nassau County gained two; Bronx County gained five; and Queens County gained six seats. Thus, 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 1938, re-apportioned in 1943, 56 Senators and 150 assemblymen were elected in single-seat districts for two-year terms. The senatorial districts consisted either of one or more entire counties; or a contiguous area within a single county. The counties which were divided into more than one senatorial district were Kings (nine districts), New York (six), Bronx (five), Queens (four), Erie (three), Westchester (three), Monroe (two) and Nassau (two). The Assembly districts consisted either of a single entire county (except Hamilton Co.), or of contiguous area within one county. 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

American Labor Party The American Labor Party (ALP) was a political party in the United States established in 1936 that was active almost exclusively in the state of New York. The organization was founded by labor leaders and former members of the Socialist Party of A ...

, the newly organized

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. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

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 ...

(running under the name of "Industrial Government Party") also nominated tickets.

Elections

The

New York state election, 1944 The 1944 New York state election was held on November 7, 1944, to elect a judge of the New York Court of Appeals and a U.S. senator, as well as all members of the New York State Assembly and the New York State Senate. Nominations The Socialist ...

, was held on November 7. The two statewide elective offices up for election were carried by Democrats with American Labor and Liberal endorsement. The approximate party strength at this election, as expressed by the average vote for U.S. Senator and Judge of the Court of Appeals, was: Republicans 2,913,000; Democrats 2,432,000; American Labor 476,000; Liberals 320,000; and Industrial Government 16,000. Two of the four women members of the previous legislature—State Senator Rhoda Fox Graves (Rep.), of Gouverneur; and Assemblywoman Mary A. Gillen (Dem.), of

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

—were re-elected. Gladys E. Banks (Rep.), of

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

; and Genesta M. Strong (Rep.), of Plandome Heights, were also elected to the Assembly. The New York state election, 1945, was held on November 6. No statewide elective offices were up for election. Three vacancies in the State Senate and five vacancies in the Assembly were filled.''Republicans Gain Single Seat in N. Y. State Senate''
in the ''Geneva Daily Times'', of

Geneva , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...

, on November 7, 1945

Sessions

The Legislature met for the first regular session (the 168th) at the State Capitol in Albany on January 3, 1945; and adjourned on March 24. Oswald D. Heck (Rep.) 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 ...

. Benjamin F. Feinberg (Rep.) was re-elected Temporary President of the State Senate. The Legislature met for the second regular session (the 169th) at the State Capitol in Albany on January 2, 1946; and adjourned on March 26.

State Senate

Districts

Members

The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued in office as members of this Legislature. John D. Bennett, William S. Hults Jr, Roy H. Rudd, Fred G. Moritt, Louis L. Friedman, Isidore Dollinger and Mortimer A. Cullen changed from the Assembly to the Senate at the beginning of this Legislature. Assemblymen Arthur Wachtel and Fred S. Hollowell were elected to fill vacancies in the Senate. Note: For brevity, the chairmanships omit the words "...the Committee on (the)..."

Employees

* Clerk: William S. King * Assistant Clerk: Pat E. Provenzano

State Assembly

Assemblymen

Note: For brevity, the chairmanships omit the words "...the Committee on (the)..."

Employees

* Clerk: Ansley B. Borkowski

Notes

Sources

''Know Your Legislature''
in ''The State Employee'' (January 1945, Vol. 14, No. 1, pg. 20ff)

at Political Graveyard

at Political Graveyard {{NYLegislatures

165 Year 165 ( CLXV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Orfitus and Pudens (or, less frequently, year 918 ''Ab urbe condita'' ...

1945 in New York (state) 1946 in New York (state) 1945 U.S. legislative sessions 1946 U.S. legislative sessions