The 1853 New York state election was held on November 8, 1853, to elect the Secretary of State, the State Comptroller, the Attorney General, the State Treasurer, the State Engineer, two Judges of the New York Court of Appeals, a Canal Commissioner, an Inspector of State Prisons and the Clerk of the Court of Appeals, as well as all members of the New York State Assembly and the New York State Senate.
After the split of the Democratic Party in 1848 over the slavery question, a large part of the Barnburner faction, who had joined the Free Soil Party, returned to the Democratic Party and re-united with the Hunkers. During the following years, the Hunkers split over the question of reconciliation with the Barnburners. The Hards were against it, denying the Barnburners to gain influence in the Party. The Softs favored reconciliation with the intention of maintaining enough strength to win the elections. Both Hards and Softs favored a compromise on the slavery question: to maintain the status quo and to leave the decision to the local population in new Territories or States if they want slavery or not, as expressed in the Kansas-Nebraska Act. The Barnburners were against the permission of slavery in new Territories or States, but were now the minority in the party.
The Free Democratic, or Independent Democratic, Party was the radical anti-slavery faction of the disbanding Free Soil Party, which advocated the immediate abolition of slavery. Their State convention was held on August 31 in Syracuse.
The Democratic state convention met in September in Syracuse. Two chairmen, one Hard and one Soft, were elected who sat one beside the other and commenced proceedings ignoring each other. After some ensuing confusion, the Hards moved out, convened elsewhere, and nominated a state ticket. The Softs and Barnburners nominated their own ticket. Only the nominees for the two judgeships of the Court of Appeals were nominated jointly by Hards and Softs.