1970 New York gubernatorial election
The 1970 New York gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1970 to elect the Governor and Lieutenant Governor of New York. Incumbent Republican Governor Nelson Rockefeller defeated the Democratic nominee, former UN Ambassador and Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg by more than ten percentage points. On January 1, 1971, he was sworn in for his fourth term as governor. Rockefeller received over 3.15 million votes in total, the highest total in any New York gubernatorial election until Andrew Cuomo received 3.64 million in 2018.
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County Results Rockefeller:
40-50%
50-60%
60-70%
70-80% | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Elections in New York State |
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Goldberg's running mate, Basil Paterson, was the first African American nominee for Lieutenant Governor of New York. His son David Paterson would become the first African American Lieutenant Governor 36 years later. David served as Governor from 2008–10 after the resignation of Eliot Spitzer.
Contested Nominations
Conservative
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Paul L. Adams | 75 | 97.40 | |
Conservative | Mario Procaccino (Write-In) | 2 | 2.60 | |
Total votes | 77 | 100.00 |
Liberal
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal | Arthur Goldberg | 211 | 70.33 | |
Liberal | Robert M. Morgenthau | 81 | 27.00 | |
Liberal | Howard J. Samuels | 8 | 2.67 | |
Total votes | 300 | 100.00 |
Democratic
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Arthur Goldberg | 496,648 | 52.16 | |
Democratic | Howard J. Samuels | 455,482 | 47.84 | |
Total votes | 952,130 | 100.00 |
Results
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Nelson Rockefeller | 3,105,220 | 51.64% | ||
Civil Service Ind. | Nelson Rockefeller | 46,212 | 0.77% | ||
Total | Nelson Rockefeller | 3,151,432 | 52.41% | +7.80% | |
Democratic | Arthur Goldberg | 2,158,355 | 35.90% | ||
Liberal | Arthur Goldberg | 263,071 | 4.38% | ||
Total | Arthur Goldberg | 2,421,426 | 40.27% | +2.16% | |
Conservative | Paul L. Adams | 422,514 | 7.03% | -1.43% | |
Communist | Rasheed Storey | 7,760 | 0.13% | N/A | |
Socialist Workers | Clifton DeBerry | 5,766 | 0.10% | -0.11% | |
Socialist Labor | Stephen Emery | 3,963 | 0.07% | -0.14% | |
Majority | 730,006 | 12.14% | +5.64% | ||
Turnout | 6,012,861 | ||||
Republican hold |