Under the provisions of the New York Constitution of 1894, re-apportioned in 1906 and 1907, 51 Senators and 150 assemblymen were elected in single-seat districts; senators for a two-year term, assemblymen for a one-year term. The senatorial districts were made up of entire counties, except New York County (twelve districts), Kings County (eight districts), Erie County (three districts) and Monroe County (two districts). The Assembly districts were made up of contiguous area, all within the same county.
On April 27, 1906, the Legislature re-apportioned the Senate districts, increasing the number to 51.[1] The apportionment was then contested in the courts.
The Legislature also re-apportioned the number of assemblymen per county. Nassau County was separated from the remainder of Queens County; Albany, Broome, Cattaraugus, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oswego and Rensselaer counties lost one seat each; Erie, Monroe and Westchester gained one each; and Kings and Queens counties gained two each.
On April 3, 1907, the new Senate and Assembly apportionment was declared unconstitutional by the New York Court of Appeals.[2]
On July 26, 1907, the Legislature again re-apportioned the Senate districts, and re-enacted the 1906 Assembly apportionment.[3]
The 1908 New York state election, was held on November 3. Gov. Charles Evans Hughes was re-elected; and State Senator Horace White was elected Lieutenant Governor; both Republicans. The other six statewide elective offices up for election were also carried by the Republicans. The approximate party strength at this election, as expressed by the vote for Governor, was: Republican 805,000; Democratic 735,000; Independence League 43,000; Socialists 34,000; Prohibition 19,000; and Socialist Labor 4,000.
Sessions
The Legislature met for the regular session at the State Capitol in Albany on January 6, 1909; and adjourned on April 30.
3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th District: Parts of Kings County, i.e. the Borough of Brooklyn
11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 21st and 22nd District: Parts of New York County, i.e. the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx
The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued in office as members of this Legislature. Orlando Hubbs, Robert F. Wagner, George M. S. Schulz, J. Mayhew Wainwright, George L. Meade and Charles Mann Hamilton changed from the Assembly to the Senate.
Note: For brevity, the chairmanships omit the words "...the Committee on (the)..."
^Lindon Wallace Bates Jr. (1883–1915), died as a passenger on the RMS Lusitania
Sources
Official New York from Cleveland to Hughes by Charles Elliott Fitch (Hurd Publishing Co., New York and Buffalo, 1911, Vol. IV; see pg. 356ff for assemblymen; and 366f for senators)
