The1897 New York state election was held on November 2, 1897, to elect theChief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals, as well as all members of theNew York State Assembly and one member[1] of theNew York State Senate. At the same time, the first Mayor of the consolidated City of New York was elected to take office on January 1, 1898.
In 1897, there was only one officer to be elected statewide: the Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals, to succeedCharles Andrews whose term would expire at the end of the year because he had reached the constitutional age limit of 70 years.
TheSocialist Labor state convention met on August 14 at 64, East Fourth Street inNew York City, and nominated Theodore F. Cuno for Chief Judge.[2]
TheDemocratic State Committee met on September 15 at the Hoffman House inNew York City. Alton B. Parker was nominated for Chief Judge on the first ballot(vote: Parker 27,Charles F. Tabor 10, Charles J. Patterson 8,D. Cady Herrick 3).[3]
TheRepublican State Committee met on September 18 at theFifth Avenue Hotel inNew York City. Charles W. Hackett presided. Federal Judge William J. Wallace was nominated unanimously for Chief Judge.[4]
The nomination of Charles Frederick Adams for Chief Judge on the "United Democracy" ticket was filed shortly before midnight on October 7 at the Secretary of State's office in Albany by two Republicans.[5] Adams declined to run,[6] and Lawrence J. McParlin[7] was substituted on the ticket.Elliott Danforth, the Chairman of the Democratic State Committee, contested the legality of the petition to file a ticket by the United Democracy, and the objections were heard by Secretary of StateJohn Palmer, a Republican, on October 14.[8] At noon on October 18, Palmer ruled that the petition complied with the Election Law. An hour later, JusticeD. Cady Herrick, a Democrat, of theNew York Supreme Court, issued aninjunction to restrain Palmer from certifying to the county clerks that a candidate of the United Democracy had been nominated, pending a decision of the courts, and scheduling a hearing for 3 o'clock p.m. Before the hearing began, McParlin withdrew his candidature, but legal experts held that, if the United Democracy's petition was upheld, his name would appear on the ballot despite his withdrawal. Under the circumstances, Justice Herrick heard the arguments, and decided at 10.30 p.m. to reverse Palmer's decision, and the ticket did not appear on the ballots.[9]
The Democratic candidate Alton B. Parker was elected, the only Democrat elected to a statewide elective state office fromNew York state election, 1893 toNew York state election, 1900.
| Office | Democratic ticket | Republican ticket | Socialist Labor ticket | Prohibition ticket | National Democratic ticket | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chief Judge | Alton B. Parker | 554,680 | William J. Wallace | 493,791 | Theodore F. Cuno[10] | 20,854 | Francis E. Baldwin[11] | 19,653 | Alton B. Parker | |
Obs.: "Blank, defective and scattering" votes: 70,180.
