I first heard this when I was watching something on C-Span about Al Smith or something or other. Anyway, during the Gilded Age and right up through the Progressive Era, a number of presidential contenders served as Governor of New York or Governor of Ohio. It seems that if you were in one of those spots, you were automatically a possible presidential candidate. The first instance of Ohio and New York being significant in elections comes in 1836 and 1840, I believe where you had what would later become a classic matchup: A New York Democrat and an Ohio Whig (Whig to later be replaced by Republican). However, that only pops up again in the post-Civil War era.
1868:Ulysses S. Grant, a Republican born in Ohio, faces former Governor Horatio Seymour, a New York Democrat.
1872:Grant is re-elected. Among the possible contenders for the Democratic nomination that year was Governor John T. Hoffman of New York.
1876:Governor Rutherford B. Hayes, an Ohio Republican, faces Governor Samuel J. Tilden, a New York Democrat.
1880:The Republican ticket contains Representative James A. Garfield of Ohio and former Collector of the Port of New York Chester Alan Arthur.
1884:Governor Grover Cleveland (Democrat-New York) is elected.
1888:President Cleveland goes down to Benjamin Harrison, a former Indiana Senator who was born in Ohio.
1892:Cleveland comes back against Harrison.
1896:Former Governor William McKinley, yet another Ohio Republican, is elected.
1900:The Republican ticket consist of William McKinley of Ohio and Governor Theodore Roosevelt of New York.
1904:President Roosevelt is re-elected against a fellow New Yorker, Judge Alton Brooks Parker.
1908:War Secretary William Howard Taft of Ohio is elected comfortably
1916:Even in an age where a New Jerseyian who was born in Virginia holds the Presidency, Charles Evan Hughes, a Republican who at one point served as Governor of New York comes quite close.
1920:Senator Warren G. Harding (Republican-Ohio) beats Governor James Middleton Cox (Democrat-Ohio) in a land-slide.
1928:Governor Alfred E. Smith (Democrat-New York), who had been a contender since his first elected to the Governorship ten years previous, goes down in a land-slide to Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover.
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Of course, after 1928 came the reign of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, yet another New York Governor who faced New Yorkers twice in his re-election battles. In 1948, his successor, Harry Truman, beat out New York Governor Tom Dewey. However, following that, the prominence of New Yorkers and Ohioans seems to fade. Robert Taft fails to win the Republican nomination yet again, Nelson Rockefeller as well was unable to do so. Mario Cuomo declined several times to run for the Democratic nomination.
