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

governor 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 ...

, the lieutenant governor, the state comptroller, the attorney general, 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.

Background

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

U.S. Senate 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 pow ...

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 been in existence in some form since 1626, under the Dutch colonial government o ...

. On January 9, the

New York State Legislature The New York State Legislature consists of the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York: The New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly. The Constitution of New York does not designate an officia ...

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 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 in ...

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 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 McManus was born in New Yo ...

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 the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

, and re-nominated Governor W. Averell Harriman 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 Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

state convention met on August 26 at

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, and Yonkers, with a population of 211,328 at the 2020 United States census. Located in W ...

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

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 wa ...

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 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 of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and ...

on the Conservative Party line, defeating appointed incumbent Republican

Charles Goodell Charles Ellsworth Goodell Jr. (March 16, 1926January 21, 1987) was an American politician who represented New York in the United States House of Representatives from 1959 to 1968 and the United States Senate from 1968 to 1971. In both cases ...

. 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 ...

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

ballot access Elections in the United States refers to the rules and procedures regulating the conditions under which a candidate, political party, or ballot measure is entitled to appear on voters' ballots. As the nation's election process is decentralized b ...

, 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