The 1859 New York state election was held on November 8, 1859, to elect the Secretary of State, the State Comptroller, the Attorney General, the State Treasurer, the State Engineer, a Judge of the New York Court of Appeals, a Canal Commissioner, an Inspector of State Prisons and the Clerk of the Court of Appeals, as well as all members of the New York State Assembly and the New York State Senate. Besides, the voters were asked if the State could take a loan of US$2,500,000, which was answered in the affirmative with 125,370 for and 77,466 against.
This was the last campaign of the American Party. They did not nominate anyone on their own ticket, but endorsed five Republican and four Democratic nominees.
Almost the whole cross-endorsed American ticket was elected. The approximate strength of The Republican Party (251,000 votes) was about the same as the combined strength of the Democratic Party (227,000 votes) and the American Party (24,000 votes). The five Republicans endorsed by the American Party had an easy victory, three of the four Democrats endorsed by the American Party struggled to win in a very tight race, only Elderkin missed the mark by 590 votes out of more than half a million cast.
The incumbents Church, Tremain, Vanderpoel and Johnson were defeated. The incumbent Richmond was re-elected.
23 Republicans and nine Democrats were elected to a two-year term (1860–61) in the New York State Senate.
91 Republicans and 37 Democrats were elected for the session of 1860 to the New York State Assembly.
| Office | Republican ticket | Democratic ticket | American ticket | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Secretary of State | 251,139 | David R. Floyd-Jones | 252,589 | David R. Floyd-Jones | ||||
| Comptroller | Robert Denniston | 275,952 | Sanford E. Church | 227,304 | Robert Denniston | |||
| Attorney General | Charles G. Myers | 276,792 | Lyman Tremain | 227,345 | Charles G. Myers | |||
| Treasurer | Philip Dorsheimer | 275,587 | Isaac V. Vanderpoel | 226,755 | Philip Dorsheimer | |||
| State Engineer | Orville W. Storey | 250,880 (246,041) | Van Rensselaer Richmond | 252,312 (250,247) | Van Rensselaer Richmond | |||
| Judge of the Court of Appeals | Henry E. Davies | 272,275 (265,568) | Alexander S. Johnson | 227,171 (223,525) | Henry E. Davies | |||
| Canal Commissioner | Ogden N. Chapin | 251,449 (245,976) | William I. Skinner | 251,777 | William I. Skinner | |||
| Inspector of State Prisons | David P. Forrest | 251,784 (243,430) | Noble S. Elderkin | 251,194 (237,579) | Noble S. Elderkin | |||
| Clerk of the Court of Appeals | Charles Hughes | 275,286 | John L. Lewis, Jr. | 227,555 (221,084) | Charles Hughes | |||