Nathaniel Lawrence Goldstein was New York State Attorney General from 1943 to 1954, paralleling the three terms of Governor Thomas E. Dewey. A Republican, Goldstein equaled the twelve-year tenure of his Democratic predecessor John J. Bennett Jr. Since the office's creation in 1777, the only New York Attorneys General who served longer were Louis Lefkowitz (1957–78) and Robert Abrams (1978–94).

The 1942 New York state election was held on November 3, 1942, to elect the governor, the lieutenant governor, the state comptroller, the attorney general and two U.S. Representatives At-large, as well as all members of the New York State Assembly and the New York State Senate.