Incumbent Republican governor Thomas E. Dewey was re-elected to a third term in office, defeating Democratic U.S. Representative Walter A. Lynch.

[1] On the eve of the convention, Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr. announced that he would not be a candidate, conceding that Lynch had the support of the majority of delegates and the party's political bosses.

Suggestions included Roosevelt, former Postmaster General and chair of the Democratic National Committee James A. Farley, and Federal Security Agency administrator Oscar R.

[1] In his acceptance speech, Lynch attacked Dewey and the Republicans for "represent[ing] now, as always, that small privileged class which has sought, for its own advantage, to have influence in government.

[5] Berle declined the nomination, stating that the decision to back Lynch had been made by party leaders after "a great soul searching."