1850 New York state election

none February 2026 June 2016 1850 11 5 1850 New York state election New York No 1849 New York state election 1849 1851 New York state election 1851 The 1850 New York state election was held on Tuesday November 5, 1850, to elect the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, a Canal Commissioner, an Inspector of State Prisons and the Clerk of the Court of Appeals, as well as all members of the New York State Assembly. Nominations Whig Party The Whig state convention met on September 27 in Utica; Francis Granger presided. After the nominations of Hunt, Cornell, Blakely, Baker, and Smith, the majority passed a resolution thanking the state's junior U.S. senator William H. Seward for "the signal ability with which he has sustained ... those beloved principles of public policy so long cherished by the Whigs of the Empire State,"—a clear reference to Seward's opposition to the Compromise of 1850. In protest, Granger and other pro-Compromise allies of president Millard Fillmore withdrew from the convention. The conservative faction became known as the Silver Grays after Granger's white hair.Holt 1999 588 The Silver Grays reconvened at Utica on October 17; Granger again presided. In the interim, Hunt had issued a statement accepting the Compromise while calling for "essential modifications" of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Satisfied, the convention reaffirmed the Utica nominations.Holt 1999 591 Some conservative Whigs still refused to support Hunt, however. These individuals threw their support behind the Democratic candidate for governor, Horatio Seymour, in hopes of initiating a political realignment in which pro-Compromise Whigs and Democrats would unite in a new Union Party. The New York Journal of Commerce printed a Union ticket headed by Seymour in advance of a Union Safety meeting held at Castle Garden in late October. The meeting adopted resolutions approving of the Compromise and vowing never to vote for any candidate known to be hostile to any of the Compromise measures, including the Fugitive Slave Act—a pledge that targeted Hunt specifically. Antislavery Whigs denounced the meeting as a transparent attempt to divide the Whig Party and elect Seymour under the guise of Unionism.Holt 1999 591–92 Democratic Party The Democratic state convention met on September 11 in Syracuse and nominated Hunker Seymour and Barnburners Church, Mather, Angel and Benton. Others The Liberty convention met on September 12, and nominated Chaplin and Plumb. The Anti-Rent state convention met in Albany and nominated a cross-endorsed ticket with Whigs Hunt and Blakely, and Democrats Church, Angel and Benton. Results Hunt won the election with one of the smallest majorities in New York history, only 262 votes. Four out of five candidates on the cross-endorsed Anti-Rent ticket were elected, demonstrating their continued influence. The incumbent Benton was re-elected. Eight-two Whigs, 44 Democrats, one Free Soiler, and one Independent were elected to the State Assembly. + 1850 state election resultsGreeley 1851 54 Valentine 1852 367 Office Whig ticket Democratic ticket Anti-Rent ticket Union ticket Liberty ticketGovernor Washington Hunt 214,614 Horatio Seymour 214,352Washington Hunt Horatio Seymour William L. Chaplin 3,416 Lieutenant Governor George J. Cornell 210,695 Sanford E. Church 218,009 Sanford E. Church George J. Cornell Joseph Plumb 4,226"Scattering" votes.Valentine 1852 367 Canal Commissioner Ebenezer Blakely 213,894 John C. Mather 215,102 Ebenezer Blakely John C. Mather Inspector of State Prisons Abner Baker 208,042 William P. Angel 217,980 William P. Angel Clerk of the Court of Appeals Wessell S. Smith 211,029 Charles S. Benton 217,995 Charles S. Benton Wessell S. Smith See also New York gubernatorial elections New York state elections Notes Bibliography Primary sources Greeley Horace The Whig Almanac for 1851 1851 New York The New York Tribune https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=umn.31951002271756h&seq=265 Valentine D. T. Manual of the Corporation of the City of New York 1852 New York Clerk of the Common Council https://www.google.com/books/edition/Manual_of_the_corporation_of_the_city_of/5SY1AAAAIAAJ Secondary sources Alexander DeAlva Stanwood A Political History of the State of New York 2 1906 Henry Holt and Company New York https://archive.org/details/politicalhistory0000unse_n9a4 none Holt Michael F. The Rise and Fall of the American Whig Party: Jacksonian Politics and the Onset of the Civil War 1999 Oxford University Press New York https://archive.org/details/risefallofameric0000holt_a7l7 1850 New York