1888 United States presidential election in New York
1888 United States presidential election in New York Turnout 92.3%[1] 4.8 pp
County Results
Harrison
40–50%
50–60%
60–70%
Cleveland
40–50%
50–60%
The 1888 United States presidential election in New York took place on November 6, 1888. All contemporary 38 states were part of the 1888 United States presidential election . Voters chose 36 electors to the Electoral College , which selected the president and vice president .
New York was won by the Republican nominees, former Senator Benjamin Harrison of Indiana and his running mate former Congressman Levi P. Morton of New York . Harrison and Morton defeated the Democratic nominees, incumbent President Grover Cleveland of New York and his running mate former Senator Allen G. Thurman of Ohio .
Harrison narrowly carried New York State with a plurality of 49.28% of the vote to Cleveland's 48.19%, a victory margin of 1.09%. In a distant third came the Prohibition Party candidate Clinton B. Fisk with 2.29%.
New York weighed in for this election as less than 2% more Republican than the national average.
Cleveland's narrow defeat in his home state, losing its 36 electoral votes, ultimately cost him the 1888 election, despite the fact that Cleveland won the nationwide popular vote by nearly a point. Cleveland had narrowly won New York State four years earlier in his initial 1884 presidential campaign , but strong opposition to Cleveland from the corrupt Tammany Hall machine, which held significant influence over New York's politics, helped to narrowly tip the state to Harrison in 1888. Had Cleveland instead won New York, he would have won reelection by seven electoral votes.
Cleveland performed most strongly downstate in the New York City area, where he won New York County , Kings County , Queens County , and Richmond County . Cleveland also won nearby Westchester County and Rockland County . Harrison, however, dominated in much of upstate New York, including a victory in Erie County , home to the city of Buffalo , although Cleveland did manage to win Albany County , home to the state capital of Albany , along with several rural upstate counties.
Results
County Results
County
Benjamin Harrison[3] Republican
Stephen Grover Cleveland[3] Democratic
Clinton Bowen Fisk [4] Prohibition
Various candidates[4] Other parties
Margin
Total votes cast
#
%
#
%
#
%
#
%
#
%
Albany
19,362
47.39%
21,037
51.49%
408
1.00%
46
0.11%
-1,675
-4.10%
40,853
Allegany
7,067
58.37%
3,625
29.94%
1,174
9.70%
241
1.99%
3,442
28.43%
12,107
Broome
8,405
53.70%
6,447
41.19%
796
5.09%
5
0.03%
1,958
12.51%
15,653
Cattaraugus
8,586
54.57%
6,173
39.23%
857
5.45%
118
0.75%
2,413
15.34%
15,734
Cayuga
9,646
57.78%
6,380
38.22%
626
3.75%
42
0.25%
3,266
19.56%
16,694
Chautauqua
12,108
62.92%
6,178
32.10%
893
4.64%
65
0.34%
5,930
30.81%
19,244
Chemung
5,467
45.95%
6,037
50.74%
376
3.16%
18
0.15%
-570
-4.79%
11,898
Chenango
5,798
52.49%
4,640
42.01%
605
5.48%
3
0.03%
1,158
10.48%
11,046
Clinton
6,271
56.72%
4,724
42.73%
61
0.55%
0
0.00%
1,547
13.99%
11,056
Columbia
6,447
50.46%
6,037
47.25%
292
2.29%
0
0.00%
410
3.21%
12,776
Cortland
4,732
55.97%
3,163
37.41%
555
6.56%
5
0.06%
1,569
18.56%
8,455
Delaware
6,602
52.33%
5,332
42.26%
677
5.37%
6
0.05%
1,270
10.07%
12,617
Dutchess
10,265
50.95%
9,249
45.91%
634
3.15%
0
0.00%
1,016
5.04%
20,148
Erie
31,612
51.06%
29,543
47.71%
735
1.19%
27
0.04%
2,069
3.34%
61,917
Essex
5,043
62.28%
2,930
36.19%
124
1.53%
0
0.00%
2,113
26.10%
8,097
Franklin
5,757
64.79%
3,028
34.08%
101
1.14%
0
0.00%
2,729
30.71%
8,886
Fulton
5,892
53.93%
4,634
42.42%
396
3.62%
3
0.03%
1,258
11.51%
10,925
Genesee
4,952
55.07%
3,633
40.40%
408
4.54%
0
0.00%
1,319
14.67%
8,993
Greene
4,460
48.27%
4,494
48.64%
284
3.07%
2
0.02%
-34
-0.37%
9,240
Herkimer
6,683
52.87%
5,611
44.39%
341
2.70%
5
0.04%
1,072
8.48%
12,640
Jefferson
9,861
54.37%
7,562
41.70%
702
3.87%
11
0.06%
2,299
12.68%
18,136
Kings
70,052
45.49%
82,507
53.58%
1,116
0.72%
314
0.20%
-12,455
-8.09%
153,989
Lewis
4,369
52.33%
3,807
45.60%
172
2.06%
1
0.01%
562
6.73%
8,349
Livingston
5,584
54.80%
4,067
39.92%
531
5.21%
7
0.07%
1,517
14.89%
10,189
Madison
7,199
58.25%
4,641
37.55%
515
4.17%
4
0.03%
2,558
20.70%
12,359
Monroe
21,650
54.55%
16,677
42.02%
1,343
3.38%
18
0.05%
4,973
12.53%
39,688
Montgomery
6,365
52.18%
5,677
46.54%
149
1.22%
7
0.06%
688
5.64%
12,198
New York
106,922
39.20%
162,735
59.67%
1,126
0.41%
1,950
0.71%
-55,813
-20.46%
272,733
Niagara
6,886
49.19%
6,429
45.92%
682
4.87%
2
0.01%
457
3.26%
13,999
Oneida
16,241
51.78%
14,276
45.51%
846
2.70%
5
0.02%
1,965
6.26%
31,368
Onondaga
20,144
57.65%
14,001
40.07%
747
2.14%
49
0.14%
6,143
17.58%
34,941
Ontario
6,957
53.15%
5,753
43.95%
376
2.87%
3
0.02%
1,204
9.20%
13,089
Orange
11,261
49.49%
10,852
47.69%
637
2.80%
3
0.01%
409
1.80%
22,753
Orleans
4,277
51.98%
3,214
39.06%
734
8.92%
3
0.04%
1,063
12.92%
8,228
Oswego
11,296
58.37%
7,429
38.38%
625
3.23%
4
0.02%
3,867
19.98%
19,354
Otsego
7,829
50.95%
6,972
45.37%
563
3.66%
2
0.01%
857
5.58%
15,366
Putnam
2,098
56.37%
1,515
40.70%
109
2.93%
0
0.00%
583
15.66%
3,722
Queens
11,017
45.95%
12,683
52.90%
243
1.01%
32
0.13%
-1,666
-6.95%
23,975
Rensselaer
15,718
49.62%
15,410
48.65%
541
1.71%
8
0.03%
308
0.97%
31,677
Richmond
4,100
40.82%
5,764
57.39%
168
1.67%
11
0.11%
-1,664
-16.57%
10,043
Rockland
3,013
41.83%
3,939
54.69%
248
3.44%
3
0.04%
-926
-12.86%
7,203
Saratoga
8,594
54.36%
6,570
41.56%
646
4.09%
0
0.00%
2,024
12.80%
15,810
Schenectady
3,633
51.03%
3,328
46.75%
158
2.22%
0
0.00%
305
4.28%
7,119
Schoharie
3,696
41.36%
5,006
56.01%
223
2.50%
12
0.13%
-1,310
-14.66%
8,937
Schuyler
2,704
55.16%
1,975
40.29%
219
4.47%
4
0.08%
729
14.87%
4,902
Seneca
3,576
48.07%
3,705
49.81%
156
2.10%
2
0.03%
-129
-1.73%
7,439
St. Lawrence
14,611
67.56%
6,509
30.10%
506
2.34%
2
0.01%
8,102
37.46%
21,628
Steuben
11,637
53.10%
9,154
41.77%
1,106
5.05%
20
0.09%
2,483
11.33%
21,917
Suffolk
7,167
50.23%
6,600
46.26%
492
3.45%
8
0.06%
567
3.97%
14,267
Sullivan
3,860
49.66%
3,757
48.33%
156
2.01%
0
0.00%
103
1.33%
7,773
Tioga
4,852
54.69%
3,609
40.68%
381
4.29%
30
0.34%
1,243
14.01%
8,872
Tompkins
5,073
54.18%
3,909
41.75%
317
3.39%
64
0.68%
1,164
12.43%
9,363
Ulster
10,825
49.57%
10,487
48.02%
523
2.39%
3
0.01%
338
1.55%
21,838
Warren
4,135
56.39%
2,883
39.32%
314
4.28%
1
0.01%
1,252
17.07%
7,333
Washington
8,023
63.21%
4,284
33.75%
385
3.03%
1
0.01%
3,739
29.46%
12,693
Wayne
7,850
57.73%
5,120
37.65%
619
4.55%
9
0.07%
2,730
20.08%
13,598
Westchester
13,799
46.81%
14,948
50.71%
703
2.38%
29
0.10%
-1,149
-3.90%
29,479
Wyoming
4,899
57.04%
3,166
36.86%
524
6.10%
0
0.00%
1,733
20.18%
8,589
Yates
3,410
58.26%
2,150
36.73%
287
4.90%
6
0.10%
1,260
21.53%
5,853
Hamilton [note 1]
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Totals
650,338
49.28%
635,965
48.19%
30,231
2.29%
3,214
0.24%
14,373
1.09%
1,319,748
See also
Notes
^ Results for Hailton County were combined with those of Fulton County and no separate results were given.
References