1914 New York state election

The 1914 New York state election was held on November 3, 1914, to elect the governor, the lieutenant governor, the Secretary of State, the state comptroller, the attorney general, the state treasurer, the state engineer, a U.S. Senator and a judge[1] of the New York Court of Appeals, as well as all members of the New York State Assembly and the New York State Senate, and delegates-at-large to the New York State Constitutional Convention of 1915.

1914 New York gubernatorial election

← 1912November 3, 19141916 →
 
NomineeCharles S. WhitmanMartin GlynnWilliam Sulzer
PartyRepublicanDemocraticAmerican
AllianceIndependence
Independent
Prohibition
Independent
Popular vote686,701541,269126,270
Percentage47.69%37.59%8.77%

County results
Whitman:      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%
Glynn:      40–50%      50–60%
Sulzer:      30–40%

Governor before election

Martin Glynn
Democratic

Elected Governor

Charles S. Whitman
Republican

History

This was the first time that U.S. Senators from New York were elected by general ballot. Until 1911, the U.S. Senators had been elected by the New York State Legislature, but the lengthy stalemate between Tammany and a faction led by State Senator Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had decided to impede the election of William F. Sheehan or any other crony of Tammany boss Charles F. Murphy, led to a constitutional amendment. Since 1914, the U.S. Senators have been elected with the state officers on the state ticket, and selected in the party primaries.

The Socialist state convention met on July 5 at Rochester, New York. They nominated Charles Edward Russell for U.S. Senator; Gustave Adolph Strebel for governor; Stephen J. Mahoney, of Buffalo, for lieutenant governor; Mrs. Florence C. Kitchelt, of Rochester, for secretary of state; Charles W. Noonan, of Schenectady, for comptroller; James C. Sheehan, of Albany, for treasurer; Frederick O. Haller, of Buffalo, for attorney general; Prof. Vladimir Karapetoff, of Cornell University, for state engineer; and Louis B. Boudin for the Court of Appeals.[2]

The Prohibition State Committee met on August 15 at Syracuse, New York, and voted to nominate Ex-Governor William Sulzer for governor instead of the previously selected Charles E. Welch, who then ran for lieutenant governor.[3]

This was the first state election at which the parties with "party status" - at this time, the Democratic, Republican and Progressive parties - were required to hold primary elections to nominate candidates for state offices. The primaries were held on September 28.[4]

Republican primary

1914 Republican primary results
Office
GovernorCharles S. Whitman120,073Harvey D. Hinman61,952Job E. Hedges43,012
Lieutenant GovernorEdward Schoeneck78,563Seth G. Heacock68,303Frank A. Sidway57,348
Secretary of StateFrancis M. Hugo71,037William D. Cunningham[5]67,050Eugene H. Porter[6]58,845
ComptrollerEugene M. Travis88,765James Hooker62,414Samuel Strasburger48,519
Attorney GeneralEgburt E. Woodbury124,009Edward R. O'Malley72,467
TreasurerJames L. Wells184,043
State EngineerFrank M. Williams159,243Arthur O'Brien36,892
Judge of the Court of AppealsEmory A. Chase180,394
U.S. SenatorJames W. Wadsworth, Jr.89,960William M. Calder82,895David Jayne Hill37,102

Democratic primary

1914 Democratic primary results
Office
GovernorMartin H. Glynn175,772John A. Hennessy68,387
Lieutenant GovernorThomas B. Lockwood158,159William Gorham Rice57,305
Secretary of StateMitchell May167,198Sidney Newborg43,251
ComptrollerWilliam Sohmer158,309George G. Davidson, Jr.58,077
Attorney GeneralJames A. Parsons151,122John Larkin57,096
TreasurerAlbert C. Carp147,443Charles E. Sunderlin55,055
State EngineerJohn A. Bensel146,533Raleigh Bennett58,485
Judge of the Court of AppealsSamuel Seabury139,694John N. Carlisle65,820
U.S. SenatorJames W. Gerard138,815Franklin D. Roosevelt63,879James F. McDonough17,862

Progressive primary

1914 Progressive primary results
Office
GovernorFrederick M. Davenport18,643William Sulzer14,366

The other Progressive candidates were nominated unopposed.

The Socialist Labor ticket was filed with the Secretary of State on October 9, 1914.[7] They nominated a full ticket.[8]

Ex-Governor Sulzer's aim was to defeat Glynn whom he considered a back-stabber. For this purpose he organized the American Party, and accepted the nomination by the Prohibition Party. He also sought the nomination of the Progressive Party, but was defeated in their primary. The American Party Executive Committee also endorsed a full slate (Prohibitionists Welch and Clements; Progressives Call and Colby; Democrat Seabury; Charles Horowitz for comptroller; Charles Podsenick for attorney general; and Robert Butler for State Engineer) for the other offices, but did not file a petition to nominate them, so they did not appear on the ballot in the American column.[9]

Result

Almost the whole Republican ticket was elected; only Justice Seabury managed to defeat the Republican candidate Emory A. Chase.

The incumbents Glynn, May, Sohmer, Parsons, Call and Bensel were defeated.

The Republican, Democratic, Independence League, Progressive, Socialist and Prohibition parties maintained automatic ballot access (necessary 10,000 votes for governor), the American Party attained it, and the Socialist Labor Party did not re-attain it.

34 Republicans and 17 Democrats were elected to a two-year term (1915–16) in the New York State Senate.

100 Republicans, 49 Democrats and one Progressive[10] were elected for the session of 1915 to the New York State Assembly.

1914 state election results
OfficeRepublican ticketDemocratic ticketIndependence League ticketAmerican ticketProhibition ticketProgressive ticketSocialist ticketSocial Labor[11] ticket
GovernorCharles S. Whitman686,701Martin H. Glynn412,253Martin H. Glynn125,252William Sulzer70,655William Sulzer54,189Frederick M. Davenport45,686Gustave Adolph Strebel37,793James T. Hunter[12]2,350
Lieutenant GovernorEdward Schoeneck622,493Thomas B. Lockwood[13]534,660Edward Schoeneck(none)Charles E. Welch[14]44,484Chauncey J. Hamlin113,385Stephen J. Mahoney[15]51,304Jeremiah D. Crowley[16]3,566
Secretary of StateFrancis M. Hugo601,857Mitchell May561,429Mitchell May(none)John R. Clements68,049Sydney W. Stern72,371Florence Cross Kitchelt52,970Edmund Moonelis[17]3,490
ComptrollerEugene M. Travis657,373William Sohmer553,254William Sohmer(none)Neil D. Cranmer[18]29,373John B. Burnham68,111Charles W. Noonan[19]51,845Charles E. Berns3,579
Attorney GeneralEgburt E. Woodbury651,869James A. Parsons529,045Edward R. O'Malley12,132(none)Walter T. Bliss[20]27,949Robert H. Elder[21]77,945Frederick O. Haller52,808John Hall[22]3,711
TreasurerJames L. Wells622,811Albert C. Carp526,025Homer D. Call(none)Edward A. Packer29,071Homer D. Call117,628James C. Sheehan54,202Anthony Houtenbrink[23]3,561
State EngineerFrank M. Williams677,393John A. Bensel509,944John Martin9,686(none)James Adamson27,723Lloyd Collis68,110Vladimir Karapetoff51,980August Gillhaus3,676
Judge of the Court of AppealsEmory A. Chase594,414Samuel Seabury650,468Samuel Seabury(none)Coleridge A. Hart[24]28,337Samuel SeaburyLouis B. Boudin52,225Edmund Seidel5,054
U.S. SenatorJames W. Wadsworth, Jr.639,112James W. Gerard571,419James W. Gerard(none)Francis E. Baldwin[25]27,813Bainbridge Colby61,977Charles Edward Russell55,266Erwin A. Archer3064

Obs.:

  • The vote for governor defines the ballot access.
  • Numbers are total votes on all tickets for candidates who ran on more than one ticket, except for governor.
  • Glynn also polled 3,764 votes; and Sulzer 1,426; in the "no-party column," a blank space provided for write-in candidates.

Notes

Sources

Vote totals from New York Red Book 1915

See also