The1855 New York state election was held on November 6, 1855, to elect theSecretary of State, theState Comptroller, theAttorney General, theState Treasurer, theState Engineer, two judges of theNew York Court of Appeals, aCanal Commissioner and anInspector of State Prisons, as well as members of theNew York State Assembly and theNew York State Senate.
Both theWhig state convention and theAnti-Nebraska state convention met on September 26 atSyracuse, New York.John Alsop King presided at the Whig convention,Reuben E. Fenton at the Anti-Nebraska convention. After organizing the Whigs, the delegates decided to join the Anti-Nebraskans, and marched to their assembling place. There the two parties merged and adopted the name Republican Party, and continued as the Republican state convention with King and Fenton as co-chairmen.[1]
Due to the chaotic political situation with the major parties split over the slavery question, a new party being founded by the fusion of factions of all previous parties, and four tickets competing, the American Party had the most surprising election victory in the history of the State of New York, winning eight of the nine state offices. Only the jointly nominated Democrat Henry L. Selden could defeat his American and Republican opponents. The incumbents Cook, Follett and Darius Clark were defeated.
16 Republicans, 11 Americans, four Democrats and one Temperance man were elected to a two-year term (1856–57) in theNew York State Senate.
47 Democrats, 44 Americans, 35 Republicans and 2 Whigs were elected to theNew York State Assembly of the79th New York State Legislature.
| Office | American[2] ticket | Republican ticket | Dem./Soft ticket | Dem./Hard ticket | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Secretary of State | Joel T. Headley | 148,557 | Preston King | 136,698 | Israel T. Hatch | 91,336 | Aaron Ward | 59,353 |
| Comptroller | Lorenzo Burrows | 148,267 | James M. Cook | 138,748 | Lemuel Stetson | 101,863 | Thomas B. Mitchell | 47,411 |
| Attorney General | Stephen B. Cushing | 148,695 | Abijah Mann, Jr. | 136,337 | Samuel J. Tilden | 101,369 | Josiah Sutherland | 44,357 |
| Treasurer | Stephen Clark | 148,778 | Alexander B. Williams | 136,696 | Ariel S. Thurston | 91,871 | Joseph M. Lyon | 57,910 |
| State Engineer | Silas Seymour | 137,608 | George Geddes | 131,716 | John B. Jervis | 88,290 | John D. Fay | 56,293 |
| Judge of the Court of Appeals (full term) | William W. Campbell | 141,514 | Bradford R. Wood | 134,353 | Samuel L. Selden | 151,632[3] | Samuel L. Selden | |
| Judge of the Court of Appeals (short term)[4] | George F. Comstock | 140,299 | Joseph Mullin | 132,019 | Nicholas Hill, Jr. | 106,511 | John Willard | 40,772 |
| Canal Commissioner | Samuel S. Whallon | 147,461 | Daniel H. Bissell | 135,918 | Curtis Hawley | 90,005 | Frederick Follett | 60,974 |
| Inspector of State Prisons | William A. Russell | 148,875 | Wesley Bailey | 136,993 | Patrick H. Agan | 100,702 | Darius Clark | 48,332 |
