View source for 1920 New York state election

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{{use mdy dates|date=June 2016}}
{{Elections in New York (state) sidebar}}
The '''1920 New York state election''' was held on November 2, 1920, to elect the [[Governor of New York|governor]], the [[Lieutenant Governor of New York|lieutenant governor]], the [[Secretary of State of New York|secretary state]], the [[New York State Comptroller|state comptroller]], the [[Attorney General of New York|attorney general]], the [[New York State Treasurer|state treasurer]], the [[New York State Engineer and Surveyor|state engineer]], two judges of the [[New York Court of Appeals]] and a [[U.S. Senator from New York|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===
{| class=wikitable
|+'''1920 Republican primary results'''
|- bgcolor=lightgrey
! Office
! colspan="2" | 
! colspan="2" | 
! colspan="2" |
|-
|[[Governor of New York|Governor]]
|'''[[Nathan L. Miller]]'''
| align="right" | '''270,963'''
|[[George F. Thompson]]
| align="right" | 143,040
|
|
|-
|[[Lieutenant Governor of New York|Lieutenant Governor]]
|'''[[Jeremiah Wood]]'''
| align="right" | '''265,326'''
|[[William M. Bennett]]
| align="right" | 123,661
|
|
|-
|[[Secretary of State of New York|Secretary of State]]
|'''[[John J. Lyons]]'''
| align="right" | '''274,342'''
|[[Robert R. Lawson]]
| align="right" | 104,325
|
|
|-
|[[New York State Comptroller|Comptroller]]
|'''[[James A. Wendell]]'''
| align="right" | '''300,253'''
|Walter Worth
| align="right" | 73,020
|
|
|-
|[[New York State Attorney General|Attorney General]]
|'''[[Charles D. Newton]]'''
| align="right" | '''365,034'''
|(unopposed)
|
|
|
|-
|[[New York State Treasurer|Treasurer]]
|'''[[N. Monroe Marshall]]'''
| align="right" | '''197,083'''
|Theodore T. Baylor{{efn|Theodore T. Baylor, also defeated in primary in 1918}}
| align="right" | 147,662
|John P. Donohue
| align="right" | 34,325
|-
|[[New York State Engineer and Surveyor|State Engineer]]
|'''[[Frank M. Williams]]'''
| align="right" | '''364,429'''
|(unopposed)
|
|
|
|-
|[[New York Court of Appeals|Judge of the Court of Appeals]]
|'''[[Emory A. Chase]]'''
| align="right" | 
|(unopposed)
|
|
|
|-
|[[New York Court of Appeals|Judge of the Court of Appeals]]
|'''[[Frederick E. Crane]]'''
| align="right" | 
|(unopposed)
|
|
|
|-
|[[U.S. Senator from New York|U.S. Senator]]
|'''[[James W. Wadsworth, Jr.]]'''
| align="right" | '''270,084'''
|[[Ella A. Boole]]
| align="right" | 90,491
|[[George Henry Payne]]
| align="right" | 46,039
|-
|}

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===
{| class=wikitable
|+'''1920 Democratic primary results'''
|- bgcolor=lightgrey
! Office
! colspan="2" | 
! colspan="2" | 
|-
|[[Governor of New York|Governor]]
|'''[[Alfred E. Smith]]'''
| align="right" | '''166,028'''
|(unopposed)
|
|-
|[[Lieutenant Governor of New York|Lieutenant Governor]]
|'''George R. Fitts'''
| align="right" | '''157,114'''
|(unopposed)
|
|-
|[[Secretary of State of New York|Secretary of State]]
|'''[[Harriet May Mills]]'''
| align="right" | '''154,339'''
|(unopposed)
|
|-
|[[New York State Comptroller|Comptroller]]
|'''[[Charles W. Berry]]'''
| align="right" | '''155,432'''
|(unopposed)
|
|-
|[[New York State Attorney General|Attorney General]]
|'''Frank H. Mott'''
| align="right" | '''154,763'''
|(unopposed)
|
|-
|[[New York State Treasurer|Treasurer]]
|'''[[John F. Healy (New York)|John F. Healy]]'''
| align="right" | '''156,359'''
|(unopposed)
|
|-
|[[New York State Engineer and Surveyor|State Engineer]]
|'''Paul McLoud'''
| align="right" | '''154,076'''
|(unopposed)
|
|-
|[[New York Court of Appeals|Judge of the Court of Appeals]]
|'''[[Abram I. Elkus]]'''
| align="right" | 
|
|
|-
|[[New York Court of Appeals|Judge of the Court of Appeals]]
|'''[[Frederick E. Crane]]'''
| align="right" | 
|(unopposed)
|
|-
|[[U.S. Senator from New York|U.S. Senator]]
|'''[[Harry C. Walker]]'''
| align="right" | '''109,995'''
|[[George R. Lunn]]
| align="right" | 44,226
|-
|}

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.

{| class=wikitable
|+''' 1920 state election results'''
|- bgcolor=lightgrey
! Office
! colspan="2" {{Party shading/Republican}} | [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] ticket
! colspan="2" {{Party shading/Democratic}} | [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] ticket
! colspan="2" {{Party shading/Socialist}} | [[Socialist Party of America|Socialist]] ticket
! colspan="2" {{Party shading/Farmer-Labor}} | [[Farmer–Labor Party|Farmer-Labor]] ticket
! colspan="2" {{Party shading/Prohibition}} | [[Prohibition Party|Prohibition]] ticket
! colspan="2" {{Party shading/Socialist Labor}} | [[Socialist Labor Party of America|Socialist Labor]] ticket
|-
|[[Governor of New York|Governor]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}} |'''[[Nathan Lewis Miller|Nathan L. Miller]]'''
| align="right" | '''1,335,878'''
|[[Alfred E. Smith]]
| align="right" | 1,261,812
|[[Joseph Cannon (socialist)|Joseph D. Cannon]]
| align="right" | 159,804
|[[Dudley Field Malone]]
| align="right" | 69,908
|[[George F. Thompson]]
| align="right" | 35,509
|John P. Quinn
| align="right" | 5,015
|-
|[[Lieutenant Governor of New York|Lieutenant Governor]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}} |'''[[Jeremiah Wood]]'''
| align="right" | '''1,497,964'''
|George R. Fitts
| align="right" | 994,638
|[[Jessie Wallace Hughan|Jessie W. Hughan]]
| align="right" | 187,567
|Robert E. Haffey
| align="right" | 44,485
|Edward G. Dietrich
| align="right" | 30,901
|[[Jeremiah D. Crowley]]{{efn|Jeremiah D. Crowley, of [[Marcellus, New York|Marcellus]], ran also for State Engineer in 1910; for Lieutenant Governor in 1912 and 1914; and for Governor in 1916}}
| align="right" | 7,550
|-
|[[Secretary of State of New York|Secretary of State]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}} |'''[[John J. Lyons]]'''
| align="right" | '''1,614,426'''
|[[Harriet May Mills]]{{efn|Harriet May Mills, see [[Harriet May Mills House]]}}
| align="right" | 862,933
|Charles W. Noonan{{efn|Charles W. Noonan, ran also for Comptroller in 1914 and 1916; and for Treasurer in 1918}}
| align="right" | 199,073
|William H. Auyer
| align="right" | 32,293
|Irene B. Taylor
| align="right" | 33,531
|May Phalor{{efn|May Phalor, ran also in 1922}}
| align="right" | 6,236
|-
|[[New York State Comptroller|Comptroller]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}} |'''[[James A. Wendell]]'''
| align="right" | '''1,524,527'''
|[[Charles W. Berry]]
| align="right" | 935,643
|[[A. Philip Randolph]]
| align="right" | 202,381
|Helen Hamlin Fincke
| align="right" | 29,955
|William C. Gray
| align="right" | 32,408
|John E. DeLee
| align="right" | 6,354
|-
|[[New York State Attorney General|Attorney General]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}} |'''[[Charles D. Newton]]'''
| align="right" | '''1,573,943'''
|Frank H. Mott
| align="right" | 881,070
|Darwin J. Meserole
| align="right" | 199,529
|F. R. Serri
| align="right" | 26,728
|William H. Burr{{efn|William H. Burr, ran also in 1917}}
| align="right" | 35,042
|John Donahue{{efn|John Donahue, ran also in 1918}}
| align="right" | 8,915
|-
|[[New York State Treasurer|Treasurer]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}} |'''[[N. Monroe Marshall]]'''
| align="right" | '''1,566,989'''
|[[John F. Healy (New York)|John F. Healy]]{{efn|John F. Healy, state senator 1913–1914}}
| align="right" | 901,611
|Hattie F. Kreuger
| align="right" | 200,836
|Joseph E. Cronk
| align="right" | 28,227
|John McKee
| align="right" | 30,095
|John A. Withers
| align="right" | 5,784
|-
|[[New York State Engineer and Surveyor|State Engineer]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}} |'''[[Frank M. Williams]]'''
| align="right" | '''1,578,790'''
|Paul McLoud
| align="right" | 869,428
|[[Vladimir Karapetoff]]
| align="right" | 202,157
|Charles C. Crawford
| align="right" | 12,999
|Arthur S. Light
| align="right" | 29,578
|(none)
|
|-
|[[New York Court of Appeals|Judge of the Court of Appeals]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}} |'''[[Emory A. Chase]]'''
| align="right" | '''1,467,697'''
|[[Abram I. Elkus]]
| align="right" | 833,725
|Leon A. Malkiel
| align="right" | 218,299
|Swinburne Hale
| align="right" | 26,372
|Coleridge A. Hart{{efn|Coleridge Allen Hart (b. July 11, 1852 [[Peekskill, New York|Peekskill]]), lawyer, of [[Brooklyn]], ran also for Attorney General in 1889, and for the Court of Appeals in 1907, 1908, 1914, 1916 and 1917}}
| align="right" | 36,487
|(none)
|
|-
|[[New York Court of Appeals|Judge of the Court of Appeals]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}} |'''[[Frederick E. Crane]]'''
| align="right" | '''1,963,978'''
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} |'''[[Frederick E. Crane]]'''
| align="right" | '''13,658'''
|Jacob Axelrod
| align="right" | 187,640
|Thomas F. Dwyer
| align="right" | 36,908
|Francis E. Baldwin{{efn|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}}
| align="right" | 31,205
|(none)
|
|-
|[[List of United States Senators from New York|U.S. Senator]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}} |'''[[James W. Wadsworth, Jr.]]'''
| align="right" | '''1,434,393'''
|[[Harry C. Walker]]
| align="right" | 901,310
|[[Jacob Panken]]
| align="right" | 208,155
|[[Rose Schneiderman]]
| align="right" | 27,934
|[[Ella A. Boole]]
| align="right" | 159,623
|Harry Carlson
| align="right" | 7,822
|-
|}

==See also==
* [[New York gubernatorial elections]]
* [[New York state elections]]

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==Sources==
*Primary candidates: [https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1920/09/13/107001378.pdf "Primary Rivals Clash Tomorrow"]. ''The New York Times''. September 13, 1920. p.&nbsp;3.
*The tickets: [https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1920/10/27/107004675.pdf "Nominees of All Parties for Public Office, for Election Tuesday, November 2"]. ''The New York Times''. October 23, 1920. p.&nbsp;14.
*Early returns: [https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1920/11/05/102985710.pdf "Miller Lead, 64,014, 107 Dists. To Come"]. ''The New York Times''. November 5, 1920. p.&nbsp;2.
*Result: [https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1920/12/12/112665339.pdf "Republican Lead up State 500,000"]. ''The New York Times''. December 12, 1920. p.&nbsp;1.<!-- not 43 as NYT wrongly says -->
*Results in [https://archive.org/stream/manualforuseleg01unkngoog#page/n828/mode/1up ''Manual for the Use of the State Legislature''] (1921; see pg. 766ff for Democratic primaries; pg. 769–774 for Republican primaries; pg. 775–798 for the general elections)
*Vote totals taken from The New York Red Book 1922

{{New York elections}}

[[Category:New York state elections|1920]]
[[Category:1920 New York (state) elections| ]]