New_York_State_election_of_1918
The 1918 New York state election was held on November 5, 1918, to elect the governor, the lieutenant governor, the secretary state, the state comptroller, the attorney general, the state treasurer and the state engineer, as well as all members of the New York State Assembly and the New York State Senate.
This was the first state election following women's suffrage.
The primaries were held on September 3.
Republican primary
| Office | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governor | Charles S. Whitman | 295,471 | Merton E. Lewis | 118,879 | ||
| Lieutenant Governor | Edward Schoeneck | 226,530 | William M. Bennett | 97,902 | Seth G. Heacock | 51,648 |
| Secretary of State | Francis M. Hugo | 354,066 | (unopposed) | |||
| Comptroller | Eugene M. Travis | 245,494 | Samuel Frazer | 93,308 | John Kissel | 25,829 |
| Attorney General | Charles D. Newton | 214,835 | Alfred L. Becker | 143,371 | ||
| Treasurer | James L. Wells | 199,361 | Theodore T. Baylor | 146,998 | ||
| State Engineer | Frank M. Williams | 342,571 | (unopposed) | |||
Democratic primary
| Office | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governor | Alfred E. Smith | 199,752 | William Church Osborn | 32,761 |
| Lieutenant Governor | Harry C. Walker | 208,107 | (unopposed) | |
| Secretary of State | Franklin E. Bard | 205,304 | (unopposed) | |
| Comptroller | Bird S. Coler | 206,040 | (unopposed) | |
| Attorney General | Charles Morschauser | 199,471 | (unopposed) | |
| Treasurer | Jacob G. Cohen | 196,169 | (unopposed) | |
| State Engineer | Dwight B. LaDu | 200,116 | (unopposed) | |
Prohibition primary
The Prohibition state conference in July had designated State Chairman Olin S. Bishop to run in the primary for Governor, but on August 31 the enrolled party members received a circular from Bishop urging them to vote for the incumbent Republican Governor Charles S. Whitman by writing his name in the ballot. The friends of the incumbent Republican Comptroller Eugene M. Travis gathered enough signatures to put him on the Prohibition primary ballot, and the regular candidate Claude V. Stowell also urged the party members to vote for Travis.[1]
| Office | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governor | Charles S. Whitman | 5,855 | Olin S. Bishop | 5,621 |
| Lieutenant Governor | Mamie W. Colvin | 9,302 | (unopposed) | |
| Secretary of State | Ella L. McCarthy | 9,254 | (unopposed) | |
| Comptroller | Eugene M. Travis | 8,266 | Claude V. Stowell[2] | 2,878 |
| Attorney General | Clarence Z. Spriggs | 9,295 | (unopposed) | |
| Treasurer | George B. Humphrey | 9,455 | (unopposed) | |
| State Engineer | David B. Passage | 9,189 | (unopposed) | |
Socialist primary
All Socialist primary candidates won without opposition.
| Office | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governor | Charles W. Ervin | 9,687 | (unopposed) | |
| Lieutenant Governor | Ella Reeve Bloor | 9,271 | (unopposed) | |
| Secretary of State | Jessie W. Hughan | 9,347 | (unopposed) | |
| Comptroller | James C. Sheahan | 7,366 | (unopposed) | |
| Attorney General | Hezekiah D. Wilcox | 9,139 | (unopposed) | |
| Treasurer | Charles W. Noonan | 9,166 | (unopposed) | |
| State Engineer | Raymond Wilcox | 9,150 | (unopposed) | |
The Democratic candidates for Governor and Lieutenant Governor were elected with the remainder of the Republican ticket.
The incumbents Whitman and Schoeneck were defeated. The incumbents Hugo, Travis, Wells and Williams were re-elected.
| Office | Democratic ticket | Republican ticket | Socialist ticket | Prohibition ticket | Socialist Labor ticket | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governor | Alfred E. Smith | 1,009,936 | Charles S. Whitman | 956,034 | Charles W. Ervin[3] | 121,705 | Charles S. Whitman | 38,794 | Olive M. Johnson | 5,183 |
| Lieutenant Governor | Harry C. Walker | 965,471 | Edward Schoeneck | 930,066 | Ella Reeve Bloor | 130,206 | Mamie W. Colvin | 48,142 | August Gillhaus | 5,605 |
| Secretary of State | Franklin E. Bard | 886,306 | Francis M. Hugo | 1,005,426 | Jessie W. Hughan | 134,520 | Ella L. McCarthy | 40,072 | Edmund Moonelis[4] | 5,405 |
| Comptroller | Bird S. Coler | 909,255 | Eugene M. Travis | 1,007,483 | James C. Sheahan | 136,680 | Eugene M. Travis | Charles E. Berns[5] | 5,996 | |
| Attorney General | Charles Morschauser | 878,300 | Charles D. Newton | 990,863 | Hezekiah D. Wilcox[6] | 136,992 | Clarence Z. Spriggs[7] | 43,229 | John Donahue | 6,929 |
| Treasurer | Jacob G. Cohen | 839,777 | James L. Wells | 1,028,752 | Charles W. Noonan[8] | 137,823 | George B. Humphrey | 44,606 | Nadina Kavinoky | 5,268 |
| State Engineer | Dwight B. LaDu | 865,573 | Frank M. Williams | 991,521 | Raymond Wilcox | 138,566 | David B. Passage | 40,628 | Joseph Galotta | 5,667 |
Obs.:
- "Blank, void and scattering" votes: 61,052 (Governor)
- The number for Travis is total on Republican and Prohibition tickets. The votes given for Governor were used to define the ballot access, and are given separately.[9]
- DRY' MEN GIVE AID TO WHITMAN in NYT on September 1, 1918
- Charles Wesley Ervin, of Jamaica, Queens
- Edmund Moonelis, ran also in 1912 and 1914
- Charles E. Berns, ran also in 1914
- Charles W. Noonan, ran also for Comptroller in 1914 and 1916
- The total number of votes for Whitman, given by the NYT as "995,094" is more than the total of the separate votes stated here, given by the New York Red Book for Republican and Prohibition tickets, because it was possible to vote for any candidate writing the name in the "no-party" column. To define the winner of the election, all votes were counted; to define ballot access, only the votes received on the party's ticket.
- Early primary returns: WHITMAN NAMED TO FIGHT SMITH FOR GOVERNORSHIP in NYT on September 4, 1918
- Primary results: WHITMAN'S VOTE 295,471 in NYT on September 13, 1918
- Result in Westchester County: WHITMAN GAINS ONE VOTE IN THIS CITY in NYT on November 14, 1918
- Soldiers' vote in New York City: SOLDIERS ADD 7,419 TO SMITH PLURALITY in NYT on December 18, 1918
- Result: SMITH IS SWORN IN AS GOVERNOR in NYT on December 31, 1918
- Vote totals taken from The New York Red Book 1919