In late October of 1931, Republican leaders from throughout New York State gathered in Albany to discuss ways to counteract a new strategy the Democrats in the state were employing that year.

The strategy, purportedly hatched by the party’s Tammany Hall leaders, was called colonization, and specifically targeted Sullivan County.

The County was solidly in the crosshairs of the political machine that year because perhaps no political race in its history has had a greater statewide impact than the 1931 contest for the New York State Assembly.

William Whittaker, a South Fallsburg Democrat, was the Assembly incumbent in 1931, having won the seat the year before in a contest decided by fewer than 200 votes. His opponent in both races was John T. Curtis of Monticello, owner and editor of the Sullivan County Republican newspaper. Well before Election Day, Republican officials in the county became suspicious of an unusually large number of absentee ballot applications, and asked for an investigation.

Howard Beecher, the chairman of the county’s Republican Committee, was surprised by the over 1,100 absentee ballots requested in Sullivan that year, and sent a list of 620 names to the state GOP committee, asking that they be investigated for falsely filing an application to vote here. Beecher suspected that Democrats had imported persons registered in New York City to vote in Sullivan County in an attempt to ensure a victory for Whittaker, and retain a key seat in a desperate battle for control of the Assembly.

Such control of the legislative body was particularly crucial that year, as Republicans continued their efforts to dismantle the long-standing influence of Tammany Hall on politics, both within and outside of New York City. The so-called Hofstadter Committee, chaired by State Senator Samuel Hofstadter, had been empaneled the year before to conduct what would become widely known as the Seabury Hearings.

“Republican leaders in Sullivan County see the hand of Tammany extended to obtain control of upstate constituencies in its fight for a majority in the 1932 Assembly as a means of snuffing out the life of the Hofstadter Committee in the large number of absentee voters’ ballots that have been issued by election authorities in the county,” the New York Times reported in its October 31, 1931 edition. “Colonization by absentee voters is said to be an entirely new device in political mechanics. According to Republican leaders, it is having its first tryout this year in Sullivan County, where their party is making an aggressive fight to defeat William Whittaker, the Democratic incumbent, a candidate for re-election.” 

Republican leaders were wary of the ends to which Democratic State Committee Chairman James A. Farley might go to build up his party’s strength in the traditional GOP strongholds upstate for the important 1932 presidential and statewide elections.

Despite those strategies, Curtis defeated Whittaker in 1931, and the Assembly seat changed hands. He immediately called for amendments to the election laws to safeguard and narrow the use of absentee ballots.

“What has particularly aroused Republican resentment is the reported augmenting of the Democratic vote in the Hudson River counties, especially on the West shore, by means of absentee voters, in many instances enrolled Democrats from Tammany’s own Manhattan districts and from Brooklyn,” the Times reported on December 25, 1931.

“The Democratic aggression is viewed by the Republicans as an attempt on the part of Tammany to build up a political hegemony, amenable to the Tammany leader rather than to the Democratic State organization in localities close to New York City.

“This year when Tammany was fighting to get control of the Assembly in order to obstruct the continuation of the Hofstadter Committee beyond February 1, the first manifestation was seen of what the Republicans characterize as systematic ‘colonization’ by use of the absentee ballot. Sullivan County, where Guernsey T. Cross, former Assemblyman and at present secretary to the Governor, is the leader, witnessed the most intense drive on the part of Tammany.

“During the campaign, it was disclosed that many seeking absentee ballots were persons who spent three months or so a year as workers at the numerous summer resorts in the Catskills, but for the most part were residents of the city. The Republicans charge that there were instances in which absentee voters had registered from their New York City residences as well.”

With Curtis’ victory in 1931, Republicans were able to extend the life of the Hofstadter Committee and eventually dealt a severe blow to the power of Tammany Hall over statewide politics. They were also able to amend some of the legislation affecting absentee ballots.

Like his opponent Whittaker, Curtis served just one term in the Assembly. He was later appointed as an official in the state Division of Weights and Measures. He died after a stroke in 1937 at the age of 69.   

William Whittaker died of cancer in 1942. He was 61.