1777 New York gubernatorial election

The 1777 New York gubernatorial election was held in June 1777 to elect the governor and the lieutenant governor.

History

The election began on June 1, but due to the American Revolution it took some time to collect and count the votes, and the official result was announced on July 9. George Clinton accepted the office of Governor on July 11 and assumed its duties immediately, pending to take the oath as soon as he could safely leave his military command. He took the oath of office on July 30.

There were no parties yet, as the Democratic-Republican and Federalist Parties appeared only in 1792. Until then the candidacies were based on personal recognition. The concepts of "running mates" also did not apply in this election, with candidates running separately for Governor and Lieutenant Governor. The New York Committee of Safety endorsed Philip Schuyler for Governor and George Clinton for Lieutenant Governor.

Candidates

Candidates for Governor included:

Brigadier General George Clinton
Major General Philip Schuyler
Brigadier General and member of the New York Provincial Congress John Morin Scott
Member of the New York Provincial Congress John Jay

Candidates for Lieutenant Governor included:

Brigadier General George Clinton
Member of the New York Provincial Congress Pierre Van Cortlandt
Colonel and member of the New York Provincial Congress Abraham Ten Broeck.

Result

George Clinton was elected both Governor and Lieutenant Governor. Clinton formally resigned the lieutenant governorship, leaving a vacancy.^[1] State Senator Pierre Van Cortlandt was elected President pro tempore of the State Senate, and acted as Lieutenant Governor until the end of the legislative year. Van Cortlandt was then elected in a special election and took office as Lieutenant Governor on June 30, 1778.^[2]

New York gubernatorial election, 1777
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Nonpartisan	George Clinton	1,828	48.44%
	Nonpartisan	Philip Schuyler	1,199	31.77%
	Nonpartisan	John Morin Scott	368	9.75%
	Nonpartisan	John Jay	367	9.72%
	Nonpartisan	Robert R. Livingston	7	0.19%
	Nonpartisan	Philip Livingston	5	0.13%
Total votes			3,774	100%

New York lieutenant gubernatorial election, 1777
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Nonpartisan	George Clinton	1,647	47.15%
	Nonpartisan	Pierre Van Cortlandt	1,098	31.43%
	Nonpartisan	Abraham Ten Broeck	748	21.41%
Total votes			3,493	100%

Notes

^ George Clinton: Yeoman Politician of the New Republic by John P. Kaminski, New York State Commission on the Bicentennial of the United States Constitution, University of Wisconsin--Madison Center for the Study of the American Constitution (Rowman & Littlefield, 1993, ISBN 0-945612-17-6, ISBN 978-0-945612-17-9, page 24)
^ The New York Civil List compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (page 110; Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858)