The 1949 New York's 20th congressional district special election was held on May 17, 1949, to elect the

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

from

New York's 20th congressional district New York's 20th congressional district is a congressional district for the United States House of Representatives in New York's Capital District. It includes all of Albany, Saratoga, and Schenectady counties, and portions of Montgomery an ...

. Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr. won the election as the nominee of the Liberal and

Four Freedoms The Four Freedoms were goals articulated by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt on Monday, January 6, 1941. In an address known as the Four Freedoms speech (technically the 1941 State of the Union address), he proposed four fundamental freed ...

parties.

Background

Sol Bloom Sol Bloom (March 9, 1870March 7, 1949) was an American song-writer and politician from New York City who began his career as an entertainment impresario and sheet music publisher in Chicago. He served fourteen terms in the United States House of ...

, a member of

Tammany Hall Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was an American political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789, as the Tammany Society. It became the main local ...

, was elected to the

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

in 1923, and served fourteen terms. He represented

at the time of his death on March 7, 1949. A majority of the district's residents were Jewish and a large amount were Irish. There wer 138,054 registered voters in the district.

Hugo Rogers Hugo E. Rogers (November 26, 1899 – December 14, 1974) was a New York politician who served as the 16th Borough President of Manhattan from 1946 to 1949 and was a leader of Tammany Hall. Early life and career Rogers was born in New York in 18 ...

, the borough president of Manhattan and a leader in Tammany Hall, hoped that Governor

Thomas Dewey Thomas Edmund Dewey (March 24, 1902 – March 16, 1971) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 47th Governor of New York from 1943 to 1954. He was the Republican Party's nominee for president of the United States in 1944 and ...

would not call a special election and would instead leave the seat vacant until the 1950 election. 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 ...

filed suit 28 days after Bloom's death for Dewey to schedule a special election. On April 7, Dewey called for an election to be held on May 17.

Nominations

American Labor

Annette Rubinstein Annette Teta Rubinstein (April 12, 1910 – June 20, 2007) was an American Marxist educator, literary critic, and activist. Biography Rubinstein was born on April 12, 1910, on the Lower East Side, in New York City. Both of her parents, Abraham ...

, a member of the

Communist Party USA The Communist Party USA (CPUSA), officially the Communist Party of the United States of America, also referred to as the American Communist Party mainly during the 20th century, is a communist party in the United States. It was established ...

, was nominated by the

. She announced her candidacy at a memorial in

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...

for the fourth anniversary of

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

's death.

Liberal

The

Liberal Party of New York The Liberal Party of New York is a political party in New York (state), New York. Its political platform, platform supports a standard set of socially liberal policies, including abortion rights, increased spending on education, and universal h ...

endorsed Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr. the same day of his announcement, formally gave him its nomination on April 13, and Roosevelt accepted it on April 19.

Marshall Field III Marshall Field III (September 28, 1893 – November 8, 1956) was an American investment banker, publisher, racehorse owner/breeder, philanthropist, grandson of businessman Marshall Field, heir to the Marshall Field's, Marshall Field departmen ...

, Joseph E. Davies,

Henry Morgenthau Jr. Henry Morgenthau Jr. (; May 11, 1891February 6, 1967) was the United States Secretary of the Treasury during most of the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt. He played the major role in designing and financing the New Deal. After 1937, whil ...

Tallulah Bankhead Tallulah Brockman Bankhead (January 31, 1902 – December 12, 1968) was an American actress. Primarily an actress of the stage, Bankhead also appeared in several films including an award-winning performance in Alfred Hitchcock's ''Lifeboat (194 ...

, and

Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Douglas Elton Fairbanks Jr. (December 9, 1909 – May 7, 2000) was an American actor, producer, and decorated naval officer of World War II. He is best-known for starring in such films as '' The Prisoner of Zenda'' (1937), '' Gunga Din'' (1939), ...

donated to his campaign. Roosevelt threatened to run as the nominee of the

Party if he lost the Democratic nomination. 3,000 signatures were required to place him onto the ballot and the Liberal Party claimed that it gathered 11,000-12,000 of the 26,000 signatures to give Roosevelt the Four Freedoms Party ballot line. On May 6, Tammany Hall filed a lawsuit to remove the Four Freedoms Party from the ballot, but withdrew it on May 9.

Democratic

*Owen McGivern, member 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 ...

* Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr., son of President

*Benjamin Shalleck Roosevelt, at the urging of Alex Rose, announced his campaign on March 15 despite living in Woodbury, which was outside of the district. Charles Horowitz, a former member of Tammany Hall, was Roosevelt's campaign manager. The Republican Party challenged Roosevelt's eligibilty to vote in the special election, although he would still be allowed to run, due to his residency, but the

New York Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the superior court in the Judiciary of New York. It is vested with unlimited civil and criminal jurisdiction, although in many counties outside New York City it acts primarily as a court of civil ju ...

ruled in Roosevelt's favor. Tammany Hall opposed Roosevelt and had Benjamin Shalleck run against him, believing that a Jew would fare better. Shalleck's campaign was managed by Abraham Kaplan. Mayor

Erastus Corning 2nd Erastus Corning 2nd (October 7, 1909 – May 28, 1983) was an American businessman and Democratic Party politician who served as the 72nd mayor of Albany, New York from 1942 to 1983, when Albany County was controlled by one of the last classi ...

attacked Roosevelt's candidacy as an attempt to start a

political dynasty A political family (also referred to as political dynasty) is a family in which multiple members are involved in politics — particularly electoral politics. Members may be related by blood or marriage; often several generations or multiple sibl ...

in control of the

New York State Democratic Party The New York State Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Its headquarters are in Manhattan, and it has an office in Albany, New York, Albany.

. Roosevelt claimed that

Frank Costello Frank Costello (; born Francesco Castiglia ; January 26, 1891 – February 18, 1973) was an Italian-American crime boss of the Luciano crime family. Born in Italy, he moved with his family to the United States as a child. As a youth he joined N ...

used his influence in Tammany Hall to stop him from receiving the Democratic nomination. Shalleck was given the nomination after a two hour session, far longer than the normal few minutes, on April 11, and district leader Robert B. Blaikie, who opposed him and supported Roosevelt, walked out in protest.

Republican

William McIntyre was nominated by the Republicans and Alexander Wolf managed his campaign.

Results

Roosevelt won the election with a majority of the vote. He raised $14,121 and spent $15,512 while Shalleck raised $2,465 and spent $439.

Endorsements

References

Works cited

* * * {{cite journal, last=Soyer , first=Daniel , title='Support the Fair Deal in the Nation; Abolish the Raw Deal in the City': The Liberal Party in 1949 , journal=New York History , publisher=

Cornell University Press The Cornell University Press is the university press of Cornell University, an Ivy League university in Ithaca, New York. It is currently housed in Sage House, the former residence of Henry William Sage. It was first established in 1869, maki ...

, date=2012 , volume=93 , issue=2 , pages=147–81 , jstor=23645398 , url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23645398 Special elections to the 81st United States Congress 1949 elections in the United States Roosevelt family