1942 New York state election

Nominations

The Industrial Government state convention met on April 5, and nominated again Aaron M. Orange for governor. They also nominated Bronko Papadopolis, of Buffalo, for lieutenant governor; O. Martin Olson for comptroller; and Eric Hass for attorney general.

The Socialist state convention met on June 21 at 303 Fourth Avenue in New York City, and nominated Prof. Coleman B. Cheney for governor; Samuel H. Friedman for lieutenant governor; Joseph G. Glass for attorney general; the Rev. Herman J. Hahn for comptroller; and Miss Layle Lane, an African-American teacher, writer and lecturer, and Amicus Most, an engineer of New Rochelle, for the at-large Congress seats. The petition to nominate these candidates was filed on August 31 with the Secretary of State.

The Democratic state convention met on August 20. Influenced by James A. Farley, the convention nominated State Attorney General John J. Bennett Jr., for governor on the first ballot with 623 votes against 393 for U.S. Senator James M. Mead, the candidate favored by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. They re-nominated three incumbents: Lieutenant Governor Charles Poletti, Comptroller Joseph V. O'Leary, and Representative at-large Matthew J. Merritt; and completed the ticket with State Solicitor General Henry Epstein for attorney general; and Flora D. Johnson for the other at-large House seat.

The American Labor state convention met on August 22, but instead of Bennett (or Mead), they nominated Tammany man Dean Alfange for governor. They re-nominated Comptroller O'Leary, an American Laborite who had been appointed by Governor Herbert H. Lehman to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Morris S. Tremaine. They endorsed Democrats Poletti, Merritt, and Johnson; and completed the ticket with Alexander Kahn for attorney general.

The Republican state convention met on August 24 at Saratoga Springs, New York. They nominated 1938 candidate Thomas E. Dewey for Governor again, and adjourned. On August 25 they nominated Thomas W. Wallace for lieutenant governor; Frank C. Moore for comptroller; Nathaniel L. Goldstein for attorney general; and Charles Muzzicato and Winifred C. Stanley for Representative at-large.

The Communist Party filed a nominating petition for their candidates on August 28. They nominated Israel Amter for governor; Frank Herron, of Buffalo, for lieutenant governor; Benjamin J. Davis Jr., of New York City, for attorney general; Fred Briehl, a dairy farmer of Wallkill, for comptroller; and Elizabeth Gurley Flynn and Robert Minor for Representative at-large. Herron, Briehl, Davis, and Minor withdrew from the ticket, and Davis was then nominated for Representative at-large, leaving three gaps on the ticket.

Result

Republicans won almost all statewide elective offices, only the incumbent Democratic Congressman Merritt was re-elected. The incumbents Poletti and O'Leary were defeated. Dewey beat the Democrat John J. Bennett Jr. by 647,628 votes while Lt. Governor Thomas W. Wallace beat Charles Poletti by only 54,303. The primary difference in the two races was that Poletti, like Matthew J. Merritt who won his race as well as Flora D. Johnson and Joseph V. O'Leary, who each lost by a slightly wider margin than Poletti, had the support of approximately 400,000 voters on the American Labor ticket while Bennett lost these votes to Dean Alfange, the American Labor nominee for governor.

This was the last election of U.S. Representatives at-large from New York. In 1944 New York's Congressional district map was redrawn to add two more districts. All U.S. Representatives from New York have been elected in individual districts ever since.

Obs.:

• The vote for governor is used to define ballot access, for automatic access are necessary 50,000 votes.

Notes

Sources

• Official Result: DEWEY'S PLURALITY OFFICIALLY 647,628; State Board of Canvassers Certifies Election Results at Meeting in Albany; RECORD FOR REPUBLICAN; Up-State Margin Also Party Peak in Governorship Race; Poletti Lost by 54,303 in NYT on December 15, 1942 (subscription required) New York Red Book 1943 with correction in Epstein Attorney General total for misprint in Richmond County total. Correction consistent with total reported by NYV Board of Elections. Correction added 18,000 votes to Epstein total

References

1. [https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0E12FE3C5E167B93C4A9178FD85F468485F9 ''STATE TICKET NOMINATED; Socialist Labor Party Names A.M. Orange for Governor''] in NYT on April 6, 1942 (subscription required)
2. [https://www.nytimes.com/1942/06/22/archives/socialists-nominate-cheney-for-governor-state-party-drops.html ''SOCIALISTS NOMINATE CHENEY FOR GOVERNOR''] in NYT on June 22, 1942 (subscription required)
3. [https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0812FC3D581B7B93C3A91782D85F468485F9 ''Socialist Ticket Filed''] in NYT on September 1, 1942 (subscription required)
4. [https://www.nytimes.com/1942/08/21/archives/bennett-wins-nomination-on-first-ballot-623393-poletti-oleary.html ''BENNETT WINS NOMINATION ON FIRST BALLOT, 623-393''] in NYT on August 21, 1942 (subscription required)
5. [https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0B13FE3558167B93C1AB1783D85F468485F9 ''ALFANGE IS NAMED BY A. L. P. TO RUN FOR GOVERNORSHIP''] in NYT on August 23, 1942 (subscription required)
6. [https://www.nytimes.com/1942/08/25/archives/republicans-name-dewey-unanimously-for-governor-willkie-pledge-in.html ''REPUBLICANS NAME DEWEY UNANIMOUSLY FOR GOVERNOR''] in NYT on August 25, 1942 (subscription required)
7. [https://www.nytimes.com/1942/08/26/archives/ticket-is-selected-to-support-dewey-in-a-dull-session-republicans.html ''TICKET IS SELECTED TO SUPPORT DEWEY''] in NYT on August 26, 1942 (subscription required)
8. [https://www.nytimes.com/1942/08/29/archives/communists-file-ticket-at-albany-petitions-said-to-bear-50000.html ''COMMUNISTS FILE TICKET AT ALBANY''] in NYT on August 29, 1942 (subscription required)
9. [https://www.nytimes.com/1942/09/05/archives/amter-to-remain-in-race-in-state-to-continue-campaign-despite.html ''AMTER TO REMAIN IN RACE IN STATE; To Continue Campaign Despite Withdrawal of Four Others From Communist Ticket''] in NYT on September 5, 1942 (subscription required)
10. [https://www.nytimes.com/1942/09/08/archives/communists-leave-3-gaps-on-ticket-committee-names-bj-davis-jr-to-be.html ''COMMUNISTS LEAVE 3 GAPS ON TICKET''] in NYT on September 8, 1942 (subscription required)
11. (1942-12-15). "TimesMachine: Tuesday December 15, 1942".
12. Coleman B. Cheney, Professor of Economics at [[Skidmore College]] in [[Saratoga Springs, New York. Saratoga Springs]], ran also for comptroller in 1936 and 1938
13. Aaron M. Orange, of [[The Bronx]], public school teacher, ran also for governor in 1932, 1934 and 1938; and for U.S. Vice President in 1940
14. [[Samuel H. Friedman]], editor of ''The Call'', the Socialist Party's paper
15. Rev. Herman J. Hahn, of [[Buffalo, New York. Buffalo]], ran also for lieutenant governor in 1928 and 1936; and for the U.S. Senate in 1938
16. O. Martin Olson, of [[Jamestown, New York. Jamestown]], ran also for comptroller in 1934; and for the U.S. Senate in 1938
17. Henry Epstein (died 1961), New York State Solicitor General, later [[New York Supreme Court Justice]] and Deputy Mayor of New York, ran also for the Court of Appeals in 1946, [https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0F10FF345912738DDDA80B94DA415B818AF1D3 ''HENRY EPSTEIN, JUSTICE IS DEAD''] in NYT on December 31, 1961 (subscription required)
18. Alexander Kahn, general manager of the ''[[The Forward. Jewish Daily Forward]]''
19. Flora D. Johnson, of [[Syracuse, New York. Syracuse]]