Having just read Conrad Blacks book on FDR, I didn't realise how close he came to defeat in the 1928 election for Governor against Republican Albert Ottinger.
The contest was one of the closest in New York history. Against the national Republican trend, Roosevelt won by only 25,000 votes—less than 1 percent of the four million ballots cast.
So what happens if Ottinger wins, no FDR in 1932 for almost certain.