Lieutenant Governor Herbert H. Lehman, noted philanthropist, was elected Governor of the State of New York and Judge Henry Horner of Chicago was elected Governor of the State of Illinois in the Democratic landslide which elected Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt the thirty-second President of the United States.
Lieutenant Governor Lehman broke two records in Tuesday’s election. He became the first Jew to be elected the Chief Executive of the State of New York and the first candidate to win an election by so large a number of votes.
Lieutenant Governor Lehman’s popularity was virtually matched in his own State by Judge Horner. Judge Horner, too, will be the first Jew to sit in the Executive Mansion of the State of Illinois.
Both Colonel Lehman and Judge Horner carried their States by larger pluralities than Governor Roosevelt.
Colonel Lehman led Governor Roosevelt by an indicated plurality of 250,000 and Judge Henry Horner by a plurality of 474,402.
Colonel Lehman defeated his Republican opponent, Colonel William Donovan by a plurality of 887,000, a record in New York State, while Judge Horner led his opponent, former Governor Len Small by 550,000 votes.
The selection of Colonel Lehman and Judge Horner makes the number of Jewish Governors in the United States four.
The State of New Mexico re-elected for a second term, Governor Arthur Seligman, who first assumed this office in 1930. Oregon, too, has a Jewish Governor in the person of Julius L. Meier, who was elected in 1930.
Colonel Lehman who is fifty-four
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
