1883 New York state election

The 1883 New York state election was held on November 6, 1883, to elect the Secretary of State, the State Comptroller, the Attorney General, the State Treasurer and the State Engineer, as well as all members of the New York State Assembly and the New York State Senate. Besides, a constitutional amendment to abolish contract labor from the state prisons was proposed and accepted with 498,402 votes for and 269,377 against.

History

The Greenback-Labor state convention met on September 5, and nominated Thomas K. Beecher for Secretary of State, Louis A. Post for Attorney General, Gaius L. Halsey for Comptroller, Jurian Winne for Treasurer and Edwin A. Stillman for State Engineer.

The Republican state convention met on September 19 at Richfield Springs, New York. Elbridge G. Lapham was Temporary Chairman until the choice of Warner Miller as President. The incumbents, Secretary of State Joseph B. Carr, Comptroller Ira Davenport, State Engineer Silas Seymour and Attorney General Leslie W. Russell, were re-nominated by acclamation. Pliny T. Sexton was nominated for Treasurer on the first ballot (vote: Sexton 260, Ethan Allen 215).[1]

The Prohibition state convention met on September 26 at Syracuse, New York, and nominated Frederick Gates for Secretary of State, Stephen Merritt for Comptroller, James Baldwin for Treasurer, George A. Dudley for State Engineer and Virgil A. Willard for Attorney General.

The Democratic state convention met on September 27 at Buffalo, New York.

Results

The incumbents Carr and Maxwell were re-elected. The incumbents Davenport, Russell and Seymour were defeated.

1883 state election results

Office	Democratic ticket		Republican ticket		Prohibition ticket		Greenback ticket
Secretary of State	Isaac H. Maynard	427,525	Joseph B. Carr	446,108	Frederick Gates[2]	18,816	Thomas K. Beecher[3]	7,221
Comptroller	Alfred C. Chapin	445,975	Ira Davenport	429,873	Stephen Merritt[4]	18,311	Gaius L. Halsey	7,629
Attorney General	Denis O'Brien	443,824	Leslie W. Russell	430,058	Virgil A. Willard[5]	19,571	Louis F. Post	7,217
Treasurer	Robert A. Maxwell	446,618	Pliny T. Sexton[6]	428,923	James Baldwin	19,971	Jurian Winne[7]	7,239
State Engineer	Elnathan Sweet	447,198	Silas Seymour	428,327	George A. Dudley[8]	19,692	Edwin A. Stillman[9]	6,664

Notes

1. THE OLD TICKET SELECTED; HARMONIOUS WORK OF THE REPUBLICAN STATE CONVENTION in NYT on September 20, 1883
2. Frederick Gates, of Herkimer County, ran also for Treasurer in 1881
3. Rev. Thomas Kinnicut Beecher (1824-1900), of Elmira, brother of Henry Ward Beecher, ran also in 1887 and 1889, Obit in NYT on March 15, 1900
4. Rev. Stephen Merritt (b. ca. 1833), Methodist minister, undertaker, ran also for Treasurer in 1879 and Secretary of State in 1881, description in in NYT on September 25, 1885
5. Virgil A. Willard, ran also for the Court of Appeals in 1884
6. Pliny T. Sexton (b. ca. 1840), lawyer, of Palmyra, Wayne County, graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Poughkeepsie Law School, President of the First National Bank of Palmyra
7. Jurian Winne, ran also in 1879
8. George A. Dudley, of Ellenville, ran also in 1875 and 1885
9. Edwin A. Stillman, of Canadice, ran also in 1885 and 1887

Sources

• The tickets: CANDIDATES IN NEW-YORK in NYT on November 5, 1883
• Result: COMPLETE VOTE OF THE STATE AS CANVASSED BY THE COUNTY SUPERVISORS in NYT on November 23, 1883
• Result: The Tribune Almanac 1884
• A possible explanation for Maynards defeat: DEMOCRATS WILL CUT COOK, BECAUSE HE AND HIS FRIENDS SLAUGHTERED JUDGE MAYNARD TWO YEARS AGO in NYT on October 30, 1885

See also

• New York state elections