1789 New York gubernatorial election


The 1789 New York gubernatorial election was held in April 1789 to elect the Governor of New York for a term beginning in July 1789. Incumbent Governor George Clinton was narrowly re-elected to a fifth consecutive term in office over Robert Yates.

Background

From the establishment of an independent government of New York in 1777, George Clinton had continuously served in the office of Governor; he had no opponent in 1780 or 1786. During that previous decade, New York politics had coalesced around two loose factions: a federalist faction led by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, Robert R. Livingston, Philip Schuyler, and the Van Rensselaer family, which favored adoption of the proposed United States Constitution and an anti-federalist faction led by Governor Clinton, Robert Yates, John Lansing, and Melancton Smith, which opposed ratification without serious revision.
At the New York convention to ratify the Constitution in 1788, Clinton presided over a sharp division between the federalists and anti-federalists. The final vote favored ratification of the Constitution as written by a vote of 30–27. Clinton, despite his anti-federalist views, closed the convention by vowing to exercise his office to enforce it and maintain order. However, partisan divisions were sharpened by the formation of a new national administration under President George Washington, who sought to elevate Hamilton, Jay, and other federalists to his administration without representation for the Clinton faction.

Qualifications

Under Article VII of the New York Constitution of 1777, only certain male freeholders and certain freemen of Albany or New York City could vote:

Federalist nomination

Candidates

For the first time, the federalist faction actively organized to block Clinton's re-election. In light of the incumbent's broad popularity, they sought to nominate an anti-federalist in order to divide the majority faction. At a meeting in New York City on February 11, they appointed a committee of correspondence to manage the campaign, consisting of Hamilton, William Duer, Robert Troup and anti-federalist Aaron Burr, who defected to oppose Clinton. The meeting nominated Supreme Court justice Robert Yates. On February 24, Yates accepted the nomination.
There was a movement to nominate Richard Morris, who was favored by the majority within the federalist faction, but he declined to be a candidate on February 27.

General election

Candidates

Incumbent Pierre Van Cortlandt was the only candidate for Lieutenant Governor.

Results

Clinton was re-elected to a fifth term in office, albeit by the lowest margin to date. In his home county of Ulster, Clinton won 1,039 out of 1,245 votes. However, federalists won a majority of the seats in the New York Assembly.