New York state election, 1920

The 1920 New York state election was held on November 2, 1920, to elect the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, the Secretary of State, the State Comptroller, the Attorney General, the State Treasurer, the State Engineer, two judges 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.

History

In August 1919, Judge William H. Cuddeback died, and Abram I. Elkus was appointed to fill the vacancy temporarily. Judge Frederick Collin would reach the constitutional age limit at the end of the year. Thus there were two vacancies on the Court of Appeals to be filled at the state election.

The primaries were held on September 14.

Republican primary

1920 Republican primary results

Office
Governor	Nathan L. Miller		George F. Thompson
Lieutenant Governor	Jeremiah Wood		William M. Bennett[1]
Secretary of State	John J. Lyons		Robert R. Lawson
Comptroller	James A. Wendell
Attorney General	Charles D. Newton		(unopposed)
Treasurer	N. Monroe Marshall		Theodore T. Baylor[2]		John P. Donahue
State Engineer	Frank M. Williams		(unopposed)
Judge of the Court of Appeals	Emory A. Chase		(unopposed)
Judge of the Court of Appeals	Frederick E. Crane		(unopposed)
U.S. Senator	James W. Wadsworth, Jr.		Ella A. Boole		George Henry Payne

Republican State Senator (47th District) George F. Thompson lost the primary to Miller, but ran on the Prohibition ticket, as did Temperance activist Ella A. Boole.

Democratic primary

1920 Democratic primary results

Office
Governor	Alfred E. Smith		(unopposed)
Lieutenant Governor	George R. Fitts		(unopposed)
Secretary of State	Harriet May Mills		(unopposed)
Comptroller	Charles W. Berry		(unopposed)
Attorney General	Frank H. Mott		(unopposed)
Treasurer	John F. Healy		(unopposed)
State Engineer	Paul McLoud		(unopposed)
Judge of the Court of Appeals	Abram I. Elkus
Judge of the Court of Appeals	Frederick E. Crane		(unopposed)
U.S. Senator	Harry C. Walker		George R. Lunn

All Prohibition and Socialist candidates were nominated unopposed in the primaries.

Result

The whole Republican ticket was elected.

The incumbents Smith and Elkus were defeated. The incumbents Newton, Williams and Wadsworth were re-elected. Judges Chase and Crane moved from additional to regular seats on the Court of Appeals.

1920 state election results

Office	Republican ticket		Democratic ticket		Socialist ticket		Farmer-Labor ticket		Prohibition ticket		Socialist Labor ticket
Governor	Nathan L. Miller	1,334,540	Alfred E. Smith	1,260,335	Joseph D. Cannon	171,907	Dudley Field Malone	68,477	George F. Thompson	35,509	John P. Quinn	5,015
Lieutenant Governor	Jeremiah Wood		George R. Fitts		Jessie W. Hughan		Robert E. Haffey		Edward G. Dietrich	30,901	Jeremiah D. Crowley[3]
Secretary of State	John J. Lyons		Harriet May Mills[4]		Charles W. Noonan[5]		William H. Auyer		Irene B. Taylor	33,531	May Phalor[6]
Comptroller	James A. Wendell		Charles W. Berry		A. Philip Randolph		Helen Hamlin Fincke		William C. Gray	32,408	John E. DeLee
Attorney General	Charles D. Newton		Frank H. Mott		Darwin J. Meserole		F. R. Serri		William H. Burr[7]	35,042	John Donahue[8]
Treasurer	N. Monroe Marshall		John F. Healy		Hattie F. Kreuger		Joseph E. Cronk		John McKee	30,095	John A. Withers
State Engineer	Frank M. Williams		Paul McLoud		Vladimir Karapetoff		(none)		Arthur S. Light	29,578	Charles C. Crawford
Judge of the Court of Appeals	Emory A. Chase		Abram I. Elkus		Leon A. Malkiel		Swinburne Hale		Coleridge A. Hart[9]	36,487	(none)
Judge of the Court of Appeals	Frederick E. Crane		Frederick E. Crane		Jacob Axelrod		Thomas F. Dwyer		Francis E. Baldwin[10]	31,205	(none)
U.S. Senator	James W. Wadsworth, Jr.	1,405,944	Harry C. Walker	885,061	Jacob Panken	151,246	Rose Schneiderman	15,086	Ella A. Boole	159,623	Harry Carlson	6,522

Obs.: There is much confusion about the exact numbers of votes in this election, every source has a different set of figures, with a wide range for some candidates (notably George F. Thompson, between 16,000 and 37,000). Most of the numbers stated here were published in December 1920 by the New York Times. The Prohibition candidates's votes were transcribed from the New York Red Book. The official result might differ slightly, but it is unclear where the much different numbers originated.

Notes

1. ^ William M. Bennett, also defeated in primary for Governor in 1916 and for Lieutenant Governor in 1918
2. ^ Theodore T. Baylor, also defeated in primary in 1918
3. ^ Jeremiah D. Crowley, of Marcellus, ran also for State Engineer in 1910; for Lieutenant Governor in 1912 and 1914; and for Governor in 1916
4. ^ Harriet May Mills, see Harriet May Mills House
5. ^ Charles W. Noonan, ran also for Comptroller in 1914 and 1916; and for Treasurer in 1918
6. ^ May Phalor, ran also in 1922
7. ^ William H. Burr, ran also in 1917
8. ^ John Donahue, ran also in 1918
9. ^ Coleridge Allen Hart (b. July 11, 1852 Peekskill), lawyer, of Brooklyn, ran also for Attorney General in 1889, and for the Court of Appeals in 1907, 1908, 1914, 1916 and 1917
10. ^ Francis E. Baldwin, ran also for Governor in 1894; for Chief Judge in 1897; for Attorney General in 1910; and for U.S. Senator in 1914

Sources

• Primary candidates: PRIMARY RIVALS CLASH TOMORROW in NYT on September 13, 1920
• The tickets: NOMINEES OF ALL PARTIES FOR PUBLIC OFFICE, FOR ELECTION TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2 in NYT on October 23, 1920
• Early returns: MILLER LEAD, 64,014, 107 DISTS. TO COME in NYT on November 5, 1920
• Result: REPUBLICAN LEAD UP STATE 500,000 in NYT on December 12, 1920

See also

• New York gubernatorial elections
• New York state elections