1966 New York gubernatorial election

1966 New York gubernatorial election

← 1962 November 8, 1966 1970 →

Nominee Nelson Rockefeller Frank D. O'Connor Party Republican Democratic Running mate Malcolm Wilson Howard J. Samuels Popular vote 2,690,626 2,298,363 Percentage 44.6% 38.1%   Candidate Paul L. Adams Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jr. Party Conservative Liberal Running mate Kieran O'Doherty Donald S. Harrington Popular vote 510,023 507,234 Percentage 8.5% 8.4%

County results Municipality results Rockefeller:      30-40%      40-50%      50-60%      60-70% O'Connor:      40-50%      50-60%      60-70% Tie:      40-50%

Governor before election Nelson Rockefeller Republican Elected Governor Nelson Rockefeller Republican

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v t e

The 1966 New York gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1966 to elect the Governor and Lieutenant Governor of New York. Incumbent Republican Nelson Rockefeller won reelection. As of 2022, this is the last time Manhattan (New York County) voted for a Republican in a statewide election.

Governor Nelson Rockefeller angered conservatives by refusing to support Republican nominee Barry Goldwater during the 1964 presidential election. Polling showed Rockefeller behind Eugene Nickerson, Frank D. O'Connor, Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr., Howard J. Samuels, or Robert F. Wagner Jr. if they were the Democratic nominee.^[1]

Members of the party wanted to run an independent campaign and a canvass of party units showed they wanted an independent candidate.^[2]

The Liberal Party of New York opposed Rockefeller. Chair Donald S. Harrington viewed him as "too conservative" and Rockefeller fought with Mayor John Lindsay and U.S. Senator Jacob Javits, who the Liberals supported.^[3]

O'Connor courted the Liberals, with him appointing Eldon R. Clingan to his staff and promising to Alex Rose that the Liberals would be equals in his campaign. However, O'Connor voted to end cross-endorsements in the state legislature and was close to bosses Charles A. Buckley and Irwin Steingut, who the Liberals opposed. Roosevelt claimed that O'Connor was secretly promised the gubernatorial nomination in exchange for withdrawing from the 1965 New York City mayoral election. President Lyndon B. Johnson and Vice President Hubert Humphrey pressured the party to support O'Connor. Adolf A. Berle, the former chair of the party, supported O'Connor, but Rose criticized Berle as "not even a member of our organization". On August 9, the Liberal Policy Committee voted unanimously to not support him.^[4]

Roosevelt lobbied the party's leadership for their nomination for months. David Dubinsky "broke out the 20-year-old scotch" during a meeting according Roosevelt's friends. Dubinsky argued for supporting Roosevelt using polls showing him receiving at least one-fourth of the vote. Louis Stulberg and other leaders of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union opposed Roosevelt due to him not staying with the party after the 1949 election.^[5]

Leo Koch nominated James Farmer at the party's convention. Roosevelt won the party's nomination. Murray Kempton stated that the convention was under the thumb of "comrade secretary" Ben Davidson, who chaired the convention. Harrington was selected as the lieutenant gubernatorial nominee.^[6]

Paul L. Adams, the dean of Roberts Wesleyan University, was nominated by the Conservative Party of New York State.^[8]

This was the last gubernatorial election to have no parties utilize electoral fusion.^[10]

Roosevelt received the highest number of votes for any Liberal gubernatorial nominee in history. However, the Liberals received fewer votes than the Conservatives and fell from Row C to Row D.^[11]

• Benjamin, Gerald; Catalano, Michael (2020). Beyond Donkeys and Elephants: Minor Political Parties in Contemporary American Politics. University Press of Kansas. doi:10.2307/j.ctv15tt76n. ISBN 978-0-7006-2929-9.
• Soyer, Daniel (2021). Left in the Center: The Liberal Party of New York and the Rise and Fall of American Social Democracy. Cornell University Press. ISBN 9781501759888. JSTOR 10.7591/j.ctv1hw3x50.2.