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 County results Harriman: 50-60% 60-70% 70-80% Ives: 50-60% 60-70% 70-80% | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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The1954 New York gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 1954, to elect theGovernor andLieutenant Governor of New York. Incumbent Republican governorThomas E. Dewey did not run for re-election to a fourth term in office. In the race to succeed Dewey,W. Averell Harriman defeated U.S. SenatorIrving Ives by 11,125 votes, the closest margin in a New York gubernatorial election since1850.[1]
Harriman won the Democratic nomination on September 21 over U.S. RepresentativeFranklin D. Roosevelt Jr., son of the former president, in one of the bitterest nomination contests in the history of New York. The key support of party bosses inNew York City ultimately provoked the reform crusade byEleanor Roosevelt which brought about the downfall ofTammany Hall.
This was the first election in which the voters were required to cast a single joint vote for governor and lieutenant governor, following a 1953 amendment to theNew York Constitution.
Irving Ives announced on September 9 that he would accept the Republican nomination if offered and wage a forceful general election campaign. Ives's announcement came only after a protracted effort to convince Governor Dewey to run for a fourth term and came with the endorsement of the Republican state committee.[2]
Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jr., who had been elected to three terms in the United States House of Representatives, announced his campaign on June 11.[3] Although he represented theUpper West Side ofManhattan, he launched his campaign without seeking the support of powerfulNew York City political bossesCarmine DeSapio ofTammany Hall, which still dominatedManhattan Democratic politics, orCharles A. Buckley ofthe Bronx.[3] His support came instead fromWestern New York, where William B. Mahoney ofErie County led an eight-county coalition of 104 delegates for Roosevelt. Another seven counties in theCapital District also pledged their 66 delegates, along with his nativeDutchess County, totaling 178 delegates in all. Roosevelt announced that he expected to gain the support of over three hundred delegates by August 1, and his campaign expected to carry all but four or five counties outside ofNew York City.[3]
On August 26, the Roosevelt and Harriman campaigns met in a display of unity atSaratoga Springs, as guests of Thomas J. Shanahan, president ofFederation Bank and Trust Company.[4] The meeting put the strong contrast between the two campaigns on display. Roosevelt's support came from younger Democrats, amateurs in politics and crusaders for social reform, such asAmericans for Democratic Action. Harriman had support from most seasoned political operatives and supporters of theNew Deal platform of Roosevelt's father, including former Roosevelt speechwriterSamuel Rosenman. However, veteran politicians in the upstate region, who were dissatisfied with state party leadership, were far more likely to support Roosevelt than those in New York City.[5] Notable Roosevelt staffers included former White House Press SecretaryRoger Tubby and future U.S. RepresentativeJonathan B. Bingham.[5]
In September, Democratic leaders intensified their efforts to force Roosevelt out of the race and clear the field for Harriman. On September 8, Mayor of New York CityRobert F. Wagner Jr., state party chairRichard H. Balch, Tammany Hall bossCarmine DeSapio, and U.S. Representative and Bronx party bossCharles A. Buckley met with Roosevelt, urging him not to "split the party" and arguing that Harriman would be the stronger candidate in the general election.[6] After that effort failed, Balch and DeSapio endorsed Harriman with support from SenatorHerbert H. Lehman and Mayor Wagner, as well as the party bosses in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Staten Island, giving Harriman a clean sweep of New York City outside of Queens and at least 419 of the necessary 510 needed for the nomination. Outside of New York City, however, Roosevelt had firm support in Albany and Buffalo.[6]
On September 10, Roosevelt received the overwhelming endorsement of the stateCongress of Industrial Organizations. Of the 1,121 delegates to the CIO State Council convention, only nine dissented from the endorsement. CIO leaders cited Roosevelt's record and their opposition to the "hand-picking" of Harriman by party leadership.[7]
The Democratic state convention was held on September 21.[8] Enmities between the two campaigns ran high, andCarmine DeSapio was booed during the opening sessions.[8]
During the afternoon, Roosevelt's campaign suffered a major blow when Queens elected to cast its 94 votes unanimously for Harriman as a unit; Roosevelt had hoped to win 20–25 votes there.[8] Then, a poll of the Westchester County delegation revealed Harriman led 33 to 5, with only two votes undecided.[8] With nearly unanimous support inNew York City, Harriman was thus the favorite for the nomination.[8]
The nomination contest was opened by James J. McGuinness of Albany, who placed Roosevelt's name into nomination. The crowds, which were composed mostly of Roosevelt supporters, booed mention of DeSapio, whom they believed controlled the convention in favor of Harriman.[8] McGuinness's speech lasted over an hour, and was followed by John J. Young of Syracuse, who nominated Harriman. Young stressed Harriman's executive experience in the Roosevelt and Truman administrations.[8]
At 1:10 a.m.,Onondaga County gave Harriman a total of eighteen votes, bringing his total to 541. Roosevelt, who had been following the proceedings from the 165th Infantry Armory via radio, arrived onstage to concede the nomination and call for it to be made unanimous. He asked his supporters to "let bygones be bygones", and the motion for a unanimous nomination carried.[8]
Though Roosevelt made a show of unity and Harriman eventually carried the general election, the 1954 campaign was the beginning of the end ofTammany Hall. At least partially in response to DeSapio's maneuvers against her son,Eleanor Roosevelt joined withHerbert H. Lehman andThomas K. Finletter to establish the New York Committee for Democratic Voters, a reform organization dedicated to opposing Tammany. Their efforts eventually resulted in DeSapio's resignation in 1961.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | W. Averell Harriman | 2,296,645 | 44.50% |  7.18 | |
| Liberal | W. Averell Harriman | 264,093 | 5.11% | 0.11 | |
| Total | W. Averell Harriman | 2,560,738 | 49.61% | 7.29 | |
| Republican | Irving Ives | 2,549,613 | 49.40% |  3.71 | |
| American Labor | John T. McManus | 46,886 | 0.91% | 3.27 | |
| Socialist Workers | David L. Weiss | 2,617 | 0.05% | 0.20 | |
| Industrial Government | Nathan Karp | 1,720 | 0.03% | 0.10 | |
| Total votes | 5,161,574 | 100.00% | |||
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