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1918 New York gubernatorial election

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1918 New York gubernatorial election

← 1916 November 5, 1918 1920 →
 
Nominee Al Smith Charles S. Whitman Charles W. Ervin
Party Democratic Republican Socialist
Popular vote 1,009,936 995,094 121,705
Percentage 47.36% 46.66% 5.71%

County results

Smith:      40-50%      50-60%      60-70%      70-80%

Whitman:      50-60%      60-70%      70-80%

Governor before election

Charles S. Whitman
Republican

Elected Governor

Al Smith
Democratic

The 1918 New York gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 1918, to elect the Governor and Lieutenant Governor of New York, concurrently with elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.

Al Smith, president of the New York City aldermen, was elected to the first of his four two-year terms as governor.

Republican primary

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Candidates

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Results

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New York gubernatorial Republican primary, 1918[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Charles S. Whitman (incumbent) 295,471 71.31%
Republican Merton E. Lewis 118,879 28.69%
Total votes 414,350 100%

Democratic primary

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Candidates

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Declined

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Campaign

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Following his failed candidacy for U.S. Senate in 1914, Franklin D. Roosevelt reconciled with Tammany Hall. He delivered the keynote address at the society's 1917 Fourth of July celebration, and Tammany stalwarts John M. Riehle, William Kelley, Thomas J. McManus, and up-and-comer Jimmy Walker endorsed him as a potential candidate for governor in 1918. President Woodrow Wilson also privately urged Roosevelt to consider a campaign. However, he refused, believing that the ongoing Great War would continue through the election and that 1918 would be a Republican year.[2]

Roosevelt instead endorsed William Church Osborn,[3] though he would later claim to have engineered Smith's nomination himself.[4]

Results

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New York gubernatorial Democratic primary, 1918[5]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Al Smith 199,752 85.91%
Democratic William C. Osborn 32,761 14.09%
Total votes 232,513 100%

General election

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Candidates

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Results

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1918 New York gubernatorial election[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Al Smith 1,009,936 47.36%
Republican Charles S. Whitman (incumbent) 995,094 46.66%
Socialist Charles W. Ervin 121,705 5.71%
Socialist Labor Olive M. Johnson 5,183 0.24%
Write-in All others 530 0.02%
Total votes 2,132,448 100.00%

References

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  1. ^ "New York gubernatorial Republican primary, 1918".
  2. ^ Smith 2007, p. 146.
  3. ^ "WILLIAM C. OSBORN, CIVIC LEADER, DEAD; Ex-President of Metropolitan Museum of Art Also Headed Children's Aid Society LAWYER HERE FOR 61 YEARS Was a Founder of the Citizens Budget Commission in 1932 --Served With Railroads" (PDF). The New York Times. January 4, 1951. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
  4. ^ Smith 2007, p. 148.
  5. ^ "New York gubernatorial Democratic primary, 1918".
  6. ^ "1918 New York Gubernatorial Election Results".

Bibliography

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  • Smith, Jean Edward (2007). FDR. Random House.