The 1855 New York state election was held on November 6, 1855, to elect the Secretary of State, the State Comptroller, the

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

, the

State Treasurer In the state and territorial governments of the United States, 54 of the 56 states and territories have the executive position of treasurer. New York abolished the office of New York State Treasurer in 1926, in which the duties were transfer ...

, the State Engineer, two judges of the

New York Court of Appeals The New York Court of Appeals is the supreme court, highest court in the Judiciary of New York (state), Unified Court System of the New York (state), State of New York. It consists of seven judges: the Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeal ...

, a Canal Commissioner and an Inspector of State Prisons, as well as members of the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Ass ...

and the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature, while the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Established in 1777 by the Constitution of New York, its members are elected to two-year terms with no term l ...

Nominations

Both the Whig state convention and the Anti-Nebraska state convention met on September 26 at

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States. With a population of 148,620 and a Syracuse metropolitan area, metropolitan area of 662,057, it is the fifth-most populated city and 13 ...

John Alsop King John Alsop King (January 3, 1788July 7, 1867) was an American politician who was the twentieth governor of New York from 1857 to 1858. He was the 1st Republican governor of New York. Life King was born in the area now encompassed by New York C ...

presided at the Whig convention,

Reuben E. Fenton Reuben Eaton Fenton (July 4, 1819August 25, 1885) was an American merchant and politician from New York. In the mid-19th century, he served as a U.S. Representative, a U.S. Senator, and as Governor of New York. Early life Fenton was born near ...

at the Anti-Nebraska convention. After organizing the Whigs, the delegates decided to join the Anti-Nebraskans, and marched to their assembling place. There the two parties merged and adopted the name Republican Party, and continued as the Republican state convention with King and Fenton as co-chairmen.''Conventions of the Whig and Republican Parties''
in NYT on September 28, 1855

Results

Due to the chaotic political situation with the major parties split over the slavery question, a new party being founded by the fusion of factions of all previous parties, and four tickets competing, the American Party had the most surprising election victory in the history of the State of New York, winning eight of the nine state offices. Only the jointly nominated Democrat Henry L. Selden could defeat his American and Republican opponents. The incumbents Cook, Follett and Darius Clark were defeated. 16 Republicans, 11 Americans, four Democrats and one Temperance man were elected to a two-year term (1856–57) in the

. 47 Democrats, 44 Americans, 35 Republicans and 2 Whigs were elected to the

of the

79th New York State Legislature The 79th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 1 to April 9, 1856, during the second year of Myron H. Clark's governorship, in Albany. Background Under the provis ...

Sources

*Result i
''The Official State Canvass''
in NYT on December 17, 1855 ("not fully completed", but released for publication, without the scattering votes)

American Party ticket, in NYT on October 18, 1855

The Republican ticket, in NYT on November 5, 1855 *Results i
''The Tribune Almanac 1856''

Nominations

Results

Sources

Notes

See also