On the evening of November 6, election day, the City Party headquarters were crowded with people waiting for the returns. Mrs. Catt, Miss Hay, Mrs. Laidlaw and other leaders were present. Mr. Laidlaw and Judge Wadhams were "keeping the count." Walter Damrosch and other prominent men came in. From the beginning the returns were encouraging and as the evening wore on and victory was assured, the room rang with cheers and applause and there were many jubilant speeches.
The election brought a great surprise, for the big city, whose adverse vote suffragists had always predicted would have to be outbalanced by upstate districts, won the victory, the latter not helping but actually pulling down its splendid majority. The final vote in Greater New York read:
| Yes | No | Majority in Favor | |
| New York County | 129,412 | 89,124 | 40,288 |
| Kings (Brooklyn) | 129,601 | 92,315 | 37,286 |
| Bronx | 52,660 | 36,346 | 16,314 |
| Richmond | 7,868 | 5,224 | 2,644 |
| Queens | 34,125 | 26,794 | 7,331 |
| Total | 353,666 | 249,803 | 103,863 |
| Upstate districts, 349,463 ayes; 350,973 noes, lost by 1,510. | |||
| Majority in the State as a whole, 102,353. | |||
Immediately opponents made the charge that suffrage won in the City because of the pro-German, pacifist and Socialist vote. An analysis showed that in many districts where the Germans and Socialists predominated there was not as great a suffrage majority as in Republican or Democratic districts; that some of the conservative residential sections were more favorable than radical districts and that the soldiers in the field had voted for suffrage in the ratio of two to one.
Those who were best informed attributed the victory to many causes—to the support of voters in all the parties; to the help of the labor unions; to recognition of women's war work; to the example set by European countries in enfranchising their women; to the endorsement of prominent men and strong organizations. Most of all, however, it was due to the originality, the dauntless energy, the thorough organization methods and the ceaseless campaigning of the suffrage workers, who in winning the great Empire State not only secured the vote for New York women but made the big commonwealth an important asset in the final struggle for the Federal Suffrage Amendment.
THE TWO STATE CAMPAIGNS.[132]
At the 45th convention of the State Woman Suffrage Association held in Binghamton Oct. 14-17, 1913, Miss Harriet May Mills declined to stand for re-election to the presidency. The following officers were elected: President, Mrs. Raymond Brown, New York City; corresponding secretary, Mrs. Henry W. Cannon, Delhi; recording secretary, Mrs. Nicolas Shaw Fraser, Geneseo; treasurer, Mrs. Edward M. Childs, New York City; directors; Miss Mills, Syracuse; Mrs. Arthur L. Livermore, Yonkers; Mrs. Helen Probst Abbott, Rochester; Mrs. Dexter P. Rumsey, Buffalo; Mrs. George W. Topliff, Binghamton; Mrs. Luther Mott, Oswego; Mrs. Chanler Aldrich, Tarrytown.
This convention had before it work of the gravest importance. The submission of a woman suffrage amendment had passed one Legislature and it was almost certain that it would pass a second and be voted on at the fall election of 1915. New York was recognized as an immensely difficult State to win. It contained great areas of sparsely settled country and also many large cities. It had a foreign born population of 2,500,000 in a total of 9,000,000. The political "machines" of both Republican and Democratic parties were well intrenched and there was no doubt that the powerful influence of both would be used to the utmost against a woman suffrage amendment. Party leaders might allow it to go through the Legislature because confident of their ability to defeat it at the polls. The vital problem for the suffragists was how to organize and unite all the friendly forces.
While the State Suffrage Association was the one which was organized most extensively there were other important societies. For some years the Women's Political Union, Mrs. Harriot Stanton Blatch president, had carried on an effective campaign. The Woman Suffrage Party, a large group, existed principally in New York City, organized by assembly districts. The Men's League for Woman Suffrage comprised a considerable number of influential men, now under the presidency of James Lees Laidlaw. The College Equal Suffrage League, Mrs. Charles L. Tiffany, president, was an active body of young women. The Equal Franchise Society, organized originally among the society women of New York City by Mrs. Clarence Mackay had Mrs. Howard Mansfield as president and had helped make the movement "fashionable." This was the case with Mrs. Oliver H. P. Belmont's Political Equality League.
On April 15, 1913, Miss Mills had invited representatives of these organizations to a conference at the State headquarters in New York to consider concerted action at which Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt was urged to become chairman of a State Campaign Committee composed of their presidents. Before accepting, Mrs. Catt, in order to learn conditions in the State, sent out a questionnaire to county presidents and assembly district leaders asking their opinion as to the prospect of success. Of the forty-two who answered twelve believed that their counties might be carried for the amendment if enough work was done; sixteen thought it doubtful, no matter how much work was done, and fourteen were certain they could not be carried under any conditions. Not a single county believed it could organize or finance its own work. In spite of the discouraging situation, Mrs. Catt on her return in the autumn from the meeting in Budapest of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance, of which she was president, accepted the chairmanship on the condition that $20,000 should be raised for the work. The Empire State Committee organized November 11 was composed of Mrs. Raymond Brown, representing the State Association; Miss Mary Garrett Hay, the Woman Suffrage Party of New York City; Mrs. Mansfield, the Equal Franchise Society; Mrs. Tiffany, the College League and Mr. Laidlaw, the Men's League, with the following chairmen: Miss Rose Young, Press; Mrs. Warner M. Leeds, Finance; Mrs. Norman deR. Whitehouse, Publicity; Mrs. John W. Alexander, Art; Mrs. Mansfield, Literature.[133]