The 170th New York State Legislature, consisting of 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 ...

and 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 ...

, met from January 5, 1955, to March 23, 1956, during the first and second years of W. Averell Harriman's

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 constituti ...

of 1938, re-apportioned in 1953, 58 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), Queens (five), Bronx (four), Erie (three), Nassau (three), Westchester (three), Monroe (two) and Onondaga (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

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 ...

, 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 ...

, the Socialist Workers 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 ...

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

Elections

The

New York state election, 1954 The 1954 New York state election was held on November 2, 1954, to elect the governor, the lieutenant governor, the state comptroller, the attorney general, the chief judge and three associate judges of the New York Court of Appeals, as well as ...

, was held on November 2. Ambassador W. Averell Harriman was elected Governor, and D.A. of Bronx County

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 ...

was elected Lieutenant Governor, both Democrats with Liberal endorsement. The elections of the other six statewide elective offices resulted in a Democratic State Comptroller with Liberal endorsement, a Republican Attorney General, a Democratic Chief Judge with Liberal and Republican endorsement, a Democratic Court of Appeals judge with Liberal and Republican endorsement, a Democratic Court of Appeals judge with Liberal endorsement, and a Republican Court of Appeals judge with Democratic endorsement. The approximate party strength at this election, as expressed by the vote for Governor/Lieutenant Governor, was: Republicans 2,550,000; Democrats 2,297,000; Liberals 264,000; American Labor 47,000; Socialist Workers 2,600; and Industrial Government 1,700. Five of the seven women members of the previous legislature—Assemblywomen

Mary A. Gillen Mary A. Gillen (October 8, 1894 – September 14, 1963) was an American politician from New York (state), New York. Life She was born Mary Agnes Burke on October 8, 1894, the daughter of Michael Burke (1856–1912) and Anne Bridget (O'Gara) Burke ...

(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 ...

;

Janet Hill Gordon Janet Hill Gordon (January 11, 1915 – September 17, 1990) was an American lawyer and politician. Life She was born Janet Hill on January 11, 1915 in Manhattan, the daughter of James P. Hill (1878–1950) and Florine Hill. Her father was Presidin ...

(Rep.), a lawyer of

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

; Frances K. Marlatt (Rep.), a lawyer of

Mount Vernon Mount Vernon is an American landmark and former plantation of Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States George Washington and his wife, Martha. The estate is on ...

; Genesta M. Strong (Rep.), of

Plandome Heights Plandome Heights is a village in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. It is considered part of the Greater Manhasset area, which is anchored by Manhasset. The population was 1,005 at the 2010 census. The ...

; and

Mildred F. Taylor Mildred F. Taylor (April 21, 1905 – January 4, 1981) was an American politician from New York. Life She was born Mildred Frick on April 21, 1905, in Lyons, Wayne County, New York, the daughter of Louis Frick and Belle (Everhart) Frick (1874–1 ...

(Rep.), a coal dealer of

Lyons Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of th ...

—were re-elected.

Bessie A. Buchanan Bessie Allison Buchanan (March 7, 1902 – September 7, 1980), of Manhattan in New York City, became the first African-American woman to hold a seat in the New York State Legislature when she was elected to the New York State Assembly in 1954. Fa ...

(Dem.), a retired musical actress and dancer of

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

, was also elected to the Assembly. The New York state election, 1955, was held on November 8. No statewide elective offices were up for election. Three vacancies in the State Senate and three vacancies in the Assembly were filled.

Sessions

The Legislature met for the first regular session (the 178th) at the State Capitol in Albany on January 5, 1955; and adjourned on April 2. 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 ...

. Walter J. Mahoney (Rep.) was re-elected Temporary President of the State Senate. The Legislature met for the second regular session (the 179th) at the State Capitol in Albany on January 4, 1956; and adjourned on March 23.''LEGISLATURE ENDS SESSION IN RUSH''
in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' on March 24, 1956 (subscription required)

State Senate

Districts

Senators

The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued in office as members of this Legislature. Searles G. Shultz changed from the Assembly to the Senate at the beginning of this Legislature. Assemblyman Frank J. Pino was elected to fill a vacancy in the Senate. Note: For brevity, the chairmanships omit the words "...the Committee on (the)..."

Employees

* Secretary: William S. King

State Assembly

Assemblymen

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

Employees

* Clerk:

Ansley B. Borkowski Ansley Bernard Borkowski (January 15, 1898 – December 1, 1992) was an American lawyer and politician from New York (state), New York. Life He was born on January 15, 1898, in Buffalo, New York. He attended Canisius High School and Canisius Coll ...

* Sergeant-at-Arms: Herbert A. Bartholomew (1955) **Raymond J. Roche (1956) * Deputy Journal Clerk: Maude E. Ten Eyck

Notes

Sources

''Where to Reach Your State Senator Or Assemblyman''
in ''Civil Service Leader'' (January 18, 1955, Vol. XVI, No. 19, pg. 3 and 14)

at Political Graveyard

at Political Graveyard {{New York State Legislatures 170 1955 in New York (state) 1956 in New York (state) 1955 U.S. legislative sessions 1956 U.S. legislative sessions