View source for 1863 New York state election

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The '''1863 New York state election''' was held on November 3, 1863, to elect the [[Secretary of State of New York|Secretary of State]], the [[New York State Comptroller|State Comptroller]], the [[Attorney General of New York|Attorney General]], the [[New York State Treasurer|State Treasurer]], the [[New York State Engineer and Surveyor|State Engineer]], a Judge of the [[New York Court of Appeals]], a [[Erie Canal Commission|Canal Commissioner]] and an [[New York State Prison Inspector|Inspector of State Prisons]], as well as all members of the [[New York State Assembly]] and the [[New York State Senate]].

==History==
The Union state convention - Republicans and [[War Democrats]] which supported the Union and [[Abraham Lincoln]]'s policy during the [[American Civil War]] - met on September 2 at [[Syracuse, New York]]. [[Ward Hunt]] was Temporary Chairman until the choice of Abraham Wakeman as President. [[Peter A. Porter (colonel)|Peter A. Porter]] was nominated for Secretary of State on the first ballot (vote: Porter 213, Chauncey Depew 140, [[Theophilus C. Callicot]]<ref>Callicot was the controversial Democratic Speaker of the Assembly of this year.</ref> 15). Thomas W. Olcott<ref>Thomas Worth Olcott, father of [[Frederic P. Olcott]] who was State Comptroller from 1877 to 1879.</ref> for Comptroller, John Cochrane for Attorney General, George W. Schuyler for Treasurer, and Henry R. Selden [incumbent] for Judge of the Court of Appeals, were nominated by acclamation. Benjamin F. Bruce was nominated for Canal Commissioner on the first ballot (vote: Bruce 220, [[Stephen T. Hayt]] 131). The incumbent William B. Taylor was re-nominated for State Engineer on the first ballot (vote: Taylor 234, [[J. Platt Goodsell]] 67, F. A. Utter 26, Charles W. Wentz 10). The incumbent James K. Bates was re-nominated for Prison Inspector by acclamation.<ref>[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1863/09/03/78705880.pdf ''THE UNION STATE CONVENTION''] in NYT on September 3, 1863</ref> When informed of his nomination, Colonel Porter, who was commanding his troops at [[Baltimore]], declined to run because he "wanted to serve his country in the field."<ref>[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1864/06/05/78725053.pdf ''Obituary: COL. PETER A. PORTER''] in NYT on June 5, 1864</ref> Olcott also declined to run, and the State Committee substituted Depew and the incumbent Lucius Robinson on the Union ticket.

The [[Constitutional Union Party (United States)|Constitutional Union]] state convention met on September 9 but did not nominate a ticket.

The Democratic state convention met on September 10 at [[Albany, New York]].

==Results==
The whole Union ticket was elected.

The incumbents Robinson, Taylor, Selden and Bates were re-elected. The incumbents Lewis and Wright were defeated.

21 Unionists and 11 Democrats were elected to a two-year term (1864–65) in the [[New York State Senate]].

82 Unionists and 46 Democrats were elected for the session of 1864 to the [[New York State Assembly]].

{| class=wikitable
|+''' 1863 state election results'''
|- bgcolor=lightgrey
! Office
! colspan="2" {{Party shading/Republican}} | [[United States Republican Party|Union]] ticket
! colspan="2" {{Party shading/Democratic}} | [[United States Democratic Party|Democratic]] ticket
|-
|[[Secretary of State of New York|Secretary of State]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}} |'''[[Chauncey Depew]]'''
| align="right" | '''314,347'''
|[[Daniel B. St. John]]
| align="right" | 284,942
|-
|[[New York State Comptroller|Comptroller]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}} |'''[[Lucius Robinson]]'''
| align="right" | '''314,236'''
|[[Sanford E. Church]]
| align="right" | 284,849
|-
|[[New York State Attorney General|Attorney General]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}} |'''[[John Cochrane (politician)|John Cochrane]]'''
| align="right" | '''313,865'''
|[[Marshall B. Champlain]]
| align="right" | 284,762
|-
|[[New York State Treasurer|Treasurer]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}} |'''[[George W. Schuyler]]'''
| align="right" | '''314,303'''
|[[William B. Lewis (NY treasurer)|William B. Lewis]]
| align="right" | 284,618
|-
|[[New York State Engineer and Surveyor|State Engineer]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}} |'''[[William B. Taylor (engineer)|William B. Taylor]]'''
| align="right" | '''314,362'''
|[[Van Rensselaer Richmond]]
| align="right" | 284,738
|-
|[[New York Court of Appeals|Judge of the Court of Appeals]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}} |'''[[Henry R. Selden]]'''
| align="right" | '''313,327'''
|[[William F. Allen (New York)|William F. Allen]]
| align="right" | 283,532
|-
|[[Erie Canal Commission|Canal Commissioner]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}} |'''[[Benjamin F. Bruce]]'''
| align="right" | '''313,840'''
|[[William W. Wright]]
| align="right" | 284,984
|-
|[[New York State Prison Inspector|Inspector of State Prisons]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}} |'''[[James K. Bates]]'''
| align="right" | '''314,093'''
|[[David B. McNeil]]
| align="right" | 284,980
|-
|}

==Sources==
*Result in [https://books.google.com/books?id=PVowAAAAIAAJ&pg=RA4-PT171 ''The Tribune Almanac''] compiled by [[Horace Greeley]] of the ''[[New York Tribune]]''
*Result [https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1863/12/05/78712307.pdf ''The State Election''] in NYT on December 5, 1863

==Notes==
<references/>

==See also==
*[[New York state elections]]

{{New York state elections}}

[[Category:New York state elections|1863]]
[[Category:1863 New York (state) elections| ]]
[[Category:1863 elections in the United States by state|New York]]
[[Category:November 1863 events]]