Why did Dewey only win NY by 1% against Truman?

[TheElectoralBoobyPrize]

Not only that, but Dewey almost certainly would’ve lost the state without Wallace, who got 8%, on the ballot. Dewey was the popular incumbent governor, and Truman wasn’t a great fit, given that he was from a Midwestern/southern border state (as was his running mate). Yes, Dewey lost the state to FDR, but if he only lost it by 5 to another native son, he should’ve been able to do better than a 1% win dependent on a third party’s performance against someone with no ties to the state.

[Obama-Biden Democrat]

Not only that, but Dewey almost certainly would’ve lost the state without Wallace, who got 8%, on the ballot. Dewey was the popular incumbent governor, and Truman wasn’t a great fit, given that he was from a Midwestern/southern border state (as was his running mate). Yes, Dewey lost the state to FDR, but if he only lost it by 5 to another native son, he should’ve been able to do better than a 1% win dependent on a third party’s performance against someone with no ties to the state.

The North East has always been very Atlanticist. NY respected Truman's tough line on the USSR, as well as not going back to the dangerous era of isolationism, like after WW1. As well as Truman building up alliances with Canada and Europe.

[H. Ross Peron]

New York City being massively Democratic.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Issues matter more than identity and aside from the Foreign Policy issues, there was the unions as well as they would have been very motivated to turn out and vote. Wallace siphoned off a lot of left labor voters, partially because of the presumption that Truman was DOA anyway and thus it was safe to vote third party. Had Truman been seen as in a position to win, it is very likely he would have won NY and you would have seen a much lower Wallace number as a result.

[darklordoftech]

there was the unions as well as they would have been very motivated to turn out and vote.

Taft-Hartley likely made unions afraid of what would happen if Dewey were to be President and Congress remained under Republican control.

[Hnv1]

New York City being massively Democratic.

And still, there were areas of Jewish Brooklyn where Wallace came close to 25-30% of the vote