The 1938 New York state election was held on November 8, 1938, to elect the

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

, the

lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

, the state comptroller, the

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, two

U.S. Senators The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Bernie Sanders of ...

and two U.S. Representatives-at-large, as well as all members 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 ...

and the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature, while the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Established in 1777 by the Constitution of New York, its members are elected to two-year terms with no term l ...

. The 1938 election was the first election where the Governor of New York was elected to a four-year term, rather than a two-year term as was used since the 1894 election.

History

The Republican state convention met on September 29,

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Oswald D. Heck presided. They nominated D.A. of New York

Thomas E. 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 ...

for governor. Also nominated were Frederic H. Bontecou for lieutenant governor; Julius Rothstein for comptroller; Col. Arthur V. McDermott for attorney general; and John Lord O'Brian and Edward Corsi for the U.S. Senate. The Democratic state convention met on October 1, and re-nominated the incumbents Lehman, Tremaine, Bennett and Wagner; and completed the ticket with Supreme Court Justice Charles Poletti for lieutenant governor; and John M. Mead for short term in the U.S. Senate. The

Socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

state convention met on October 1, and nominated again Norman Thomas for governor; and Dr. George W. Hartmann for lieutenant governor; Coleman B. Cheney for Comptroller; and Miss Marion L. Severn for attorney general. The American Labor state convention met on October 3 at the

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and nominated the Democratic incumbent Herbert H. Lehman for governor. They also endorsed Democrats Poletti, Wagner, Mead, Merritt and O'Day; and completed the ticket with

Langdon W. Post Langdon Ward Post (April 10, 1899 – September 2, 1981) was an American politician and housing specialist who served in the New York State Assembly from 1929 to 1932, then as New York City tenement house commissioner and chairman of the newly-for ...

for Comptroller and Joseph V. O'Leary for Attorney-General. Lehman was only able to win reelection due to the votes he received on the American Labor ballot line. Dewey received more votes on the Republican ballot line than Lehman had on the Democratic ballot line. The "Independent Progressive" Party filed a petition to nominate a ticket headed by Republican Thomas E. Dewey. This was done to have a second ballot line, like Gov. Lehman who ran on two lines also. 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, 192 ...

changed its name and filed a petition to nominate candidates as the "Industrial Government Party.""INDUSTRIAL PARTY LISTS CANDIDATES"
''The New York Times'', November 6, 1938 (subscription required)

Result

The whole Democratic ticket was elected. The incumbents Lehman, Tremaine, Bennett, Wagner, Merritt and O'Day were re-elected. This was the first election where governors were elected to four year terms. Obs.: *"Blank, void and scattering" votes: 75,047 (Governor) *The vote for governor is used to define

ballot access Ballot access is rules and procedures regulating the right to candidacy, the conditions under which a candidate, political party, or ballot measure is entitled to appear on voters' ballots in elections in the United States. The jurisprudence o ...

, for all other offices numbers are totals on all tickets for candidates nominated on more than one.

Notes

References

Sources

*Official Result
"LEHMAN PLURALITY OFFICIALLY 64,394; State Board Puts His Vote Finally at 2,391,286, With 2,326,892 for Dewey LABOR'S POLL AT 419,979 Blank, Void and Scattered Ballots Totaled 75,047; Poletti Won by 229,361"
''The New York Times'', December 8, 1938 (subscription required) New York Red Book {{New York elections

1938 Events January * January 1 – state-owned enterprise, State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France (SNCF) and the Netherlands (Nederlandse Spoorwegen – NS). * January 20 – King Farouk of Egypt marries Saf ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

Thomas E. Dewey

History

Result

See also

Notes

References

Sources