Incumbent Republican Governor Nelson Rockefeller defeated the Democratic nominee, former UN Ambassador and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg, by more than ten percentage points.

Rockefeller received over 3.15 million votes in total, the highest total in any New York gubernatorial election until Andrew Cuomo received 3.64 million in 2018.

Goldberg's running mate, Basil Paterson, was the first African-American nominee for Lieutenant Governor of New York.

His son, David Paterson, would become the first African-American lieutenant governor of New York.

Paterson would serve as governor of New York from 2008 to 2010 after the resignation of Eliot Spitzer.