In 1897, there was only one officer to be elected statewide: the Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals, to succeed
Charles Andrews whose term would expire at the end of the year because he had reached the constitutional age limit of 70 years. The
Socialist Labor state convention met on August 14 at 64, East Fourth Street in
New York City, and nominated Theodore F. Cuno for Chief Judge. The
Democratic State Committee met on September 15 at the Hoffman House in
New York City. Alton B. Parker was nominated for Chief Judge on the first ballot(vote: Parker 27,
Charles F. Tabor 10, Charles J. Patterson 8,
D. Cady Herrick 3). The
Republican State Committee met on September 18 at the
Fifth Avenue Hotel in
New York City. Charles W. Hackett presided. Federal Judge William J. Wallace was nominated unanimously for Chief Judge. The nomination of Charles Frederick Adams for Chief Judge on the "United Democracy" ticket was filed shortly before midnight on October 7 at the Secretary of State's office in Albany by two Republicans. Adams declined to run, and Lawrence J. McParlin was substituted on the ticket.
Elliott Danforth, the Chairman of the Democratic State Committee, contested the legality of the petition to file a ticket by the United Democracy, and the objections were heard by Secretary of State
John Palmer, a Republican, on October 14. At noon on October 18, Palmer ruled that the petition complied with the Election Law. An hour later, Justice
D. Cady Herrick, a Democrat, of the
New York Supreme Court, issued an
injunction to restrain Palmer from certifying to the county clerks that a candidate of the United Democracy had been nominated, pending a decision of the courts, and scheduling a hearing for 3 o'clock p.m. Before the hearing began, McParlin withdrew his candidature, but legal experts held that, if the United Democracy's petition was upheld, his name would appear on the ballot despite his withdrawal. Under the circumstances, Justice Herrick heard the arguments, and decided at 10.30 p.m. to reverse Palmer's decision, and the ticket did not appear on the ballots. ==Result==