Wednesday, Nov. 6, 1918
“The result of yesterday’s election, so far as Rensselaer county is concerned, might be called a double surprise,” The Record reports, “Neither victor nor vanquished expected things to happen just as they did.” The big surprise locally is how well the Democratic party did countywide outside its Troy stronghold. In the upset of the day, former Troy city council president John J. Mackrell unseated Republican state senator George B. Wellington. In assembly races both incumbents representing Rensselaer County, Republican Arthur Cowee and Democrat John F. Shannon, were re- elected. “The Democratic workers claim that the results showed how well the people are behind the President and the splendid effect his recent message had,” our reporter writes today. President Woodrow Wilson recently called on the electorate to vote Democrat to ensure full legislative support for his war policies. Republicans predicted a backlash against Democrats, claiming that Wilson had violated his own pledge that partisan politics were “adjourned” during the war with Germany. In Wellington’s case, the Republican’s outspoken support for a federal constitutional amendment prohibiting the sale of alcoholic beverages may have hurt his cause. He tried unsuccessfully last spring to force a senate vote on the federal amendment, while many New Yorkers prefer to decide the liquor question on a state-by- state basis.
As Cowee’s reelection shows, yesterday was far from a total loss for the GOP. County Clerk Hans Dahl was reelected, but by a surprisingly small margin. At the top of the ticket, Republican governor Charles S. Whitman carried the county by less than 1,000 votes. The gubernatorial race between Whitman and Democrat Alfred E. Smith remains too close to call as our evening edition goes to press.
One factor in Democratic success yesterday, our writer claims, is that “many Democrats are changing their residences from the formerly staunch Democratic districts [in South Troy] and affecting the Republican majorities in the city districts into which they move.”
Another possible factor is the emergence this year of the women’s vote. This is the first general election in which women could vote since receiving the right through a state referendum last year, but in the absence of exit polling it’s unclear how they voted.
“Probably another year of voting by the women will be necessary before any stable condition will be established along partisan lines,” our reporter predicts.
“With election day over, a pronounced decline in interest in the affair was noted throughout the city,” our paper reports. Apart from the race for governor, “but little notice seemed to be taken by the general public.” War news has most likely captured most people’s attention.
—Kevin Gilbert