1788 New York Presidential Election (American Confederation)

The 1788 New York Presidential Election was held on December 15, 1788. Under the Constitution of the Confederation of the United States, each Commonwealth would elect a leader to run the country and appoint Members of their respective Parliaments or Congress to represent them in the greater United States Congress. While there were no parties, two different political factions formed at this time, the Hamiltonians influenced by the policies of Alexander Hamilton, and the Clintonites led by George Clinton. The Hamiltonians favored a New York Bank and strong Federal Government that would lead to New York becoming the "head" of the Confederation. The Clintonites favored a weaker Federal Government and strictly following the Constitution to prevent one state from becoming too powerful.

The Election was extremely close, being decided by a few hundred votes. Rufus King, the preferred choice of the Hamiltonians, beat George Clinton. King campaigned mostly on a somewhat nationalist populist campaign that appealed to New York City voters. Clinton was vastly popular with rural upstate voters, and were the main source of the votes. Because of this election, the Clintonians and Hamiltonians officially formed into the first Political Parties in the Confederation, the Clintonian Confederalists Party and the Hamiltonian National Party.

Rufus King would only serve one term, losing to George Clinton in 1792.