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 U.S. Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg, by more than ten percentage points. On January 1, 1971, Rockefeller 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.

1970 New York gubernatorial election

← 1966 November 3, 1970 1974 →
 
Nominee Nelson Rockefeller Arthur Goldberg Paul L. Adams
Party Republican Democratic Conservative
Alliance Civil Service Independent Liberal
Running mate Malcolm Wilson Basil Paterson Edward F. Leonard
Popular vote 3,151,432 2,421,426 422,514
Percentage 52.4% 40.3% 7.0%

County results

Rockefeller:      40-50%      50-60%      60-70%

Goldberg:      40-50%      50-60%

Governor before election

Nelson Rockefeller
Republican

Elected Governor

Nelson Rockefeller
Republican

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 of New York. Paterson would serve as governor of New York from 2008 to 2010 after the resignation of Eliot Spitzer.

After this election, no Republican would be elected Governor of New York until George Pataki in 1994.

Contested nominations

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Conservative

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Conservative Party convention results[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Conservative Paul L. Adams 75 97.40
Conservative Mario Procaccino (Write-In) 2 2.60
Total votes 77 100.00

Liberal

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Liberal Party State Committee vote results[2]
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

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Democratic primary results[3]
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

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New York gubernatorial election, 1970
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Nelson Rockefeller 3,105,220 51.64%
Civil Service Ind. Nelson Rockefeller 46,212 0.77%
Total Nelson Rockefeller (incumbent) 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

See also

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Bibliography

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References

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  1. ^ "Our Campaigns - NY Governor - C Convention Race - Apr 07, 1970".
  2. ^ "Our Campaigns - NY Governor - L Convention Race - May 11, 1970".
  3. ^ "Our Campaigns - NY Governor - D Primary Race - Jun 23, 1970".