(Republican),
Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jr. (Liberal),
Paul L. Adams (Conservative), and
Frank D. O'Connor (Democrat).
Republican Governor
Nelson Rockefeller angered conservatives by refusing to support Republican nominee
Barry Goldwater during the
1964 presidential election. Polling showed Rockefeller behind
Eugene Nickerson,
Frank D. O'Connor,
Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr.,
Howard J. Samuels, or
Robert F. Wagner Jr. if they were the Democratic nominee.
Liberal Members of the party wanted to run an independent campaign and a canvass of party units showed they wanted an independent candidate. The
Liberal Party of New York opposed Rockefeller. Chair
Donald S. Harrington viewed him as "too conservative" and Rockefeller fought with Mayor
John Lindsay and U.S. Senator
Jacob Javits, who the Liberals supported. O'Connor courted the Liberals, with him appointing
Eldon R. Clingan to his staff and promising to
Alex Rose that the Liberals would be equals in his campaign. However, O'Connor voted to end cross-endorsements in the state legislature and was close to bosses
Charles A. Buckley and
Irwin Steingut, who the Liberals opposed. Roosevelt claimed that O'Connor was secretly promised the gubernatorial nomination in exchange for withdrawing from the
1965 New York City mayoral election. President
Lyndon B. Johnson and Vice President
Hubert Humphrey pressured the party to support O'Connor.
Adolf A. Berle, the former chair of the party, supported O'Connor, but Rose criticized Berle as "not even a member of our organization". On August 9, the Liberal Policy Committee voted unanimously to not support him. Roosevelt lobbied the party's leadership for their nomination for months.
David Dubinsky "broke out the 20-year-old scotch" during a meeting according to Roosevelt's friends. Dubinsky argued for supporting Roosevelt using polls showing him receiving at least one-fourth of the vote.
Louis Stulberg and other leaders of the
International Ladies Garment Workers Union opposed Roosevelt due to him not staying with the party after the 1949 election. Leo Koch nominated
James Farmer at the party's convention. Roosevelt won the party's nomination.
Murray Kempton stated that the convention was under the thumb of "comrade secretary"
Ben Davidson, who chaired the convention. Harrington was selected as the lieutenant gubernatorial nominee.
Conservative Paul L. Adams, the dean of
Roberts Wesleyan University, was nominated by the
Conservative Party of New York State. ==Campaign==