1812 Massachusetts gubernatorial election

1812 Massachusetts gubernatorial election

←  1811 April 6, 1812 1813  →

Nominee Caleb Strong Elbridge Gerry Party Federalist Democratic-Republican Popular vote 52,696 51,326 Percentage 50.60% 49.28%

County results Strong:      50-60%     60–70% Gerry:      50–60%     60–70%

Governor before election Elbridge Gerry Democratic-Republican Elected Governor Caleb Strong Federalist

The 1812 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on April 6, 1812.

Incumbent Democratic-Republican Governor Elbridge Gerry was defeated by Federalist nominee Caleb Strong.

General election

Candidates

• Elbridge Gerry, incumbent Governor (Democratic-Republican)
• Caleb Strong, former Governor (Federalist)

Results

1812 Massachusetts gubernatorial election ^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Federalist	Caleb Strong	52,696	50.60%
	Democratic-Republican	Elbridge Gerry (incumbent)	51,326	49.28%
	Scattering		124	0.12%
Majority			1,370	1.32%
Turnout			104,146
	Federalist gain from Democratic-Republican		Swing

Analysis

Although the Federalists in Massachusetts had successfully taken the house and the governor's seat from the Democratic-Republican party in the 1812 election cycle, these gains did not translate into control of the Massachusetts State Senate, which remained in the hands of the Democratic-Republicans. ^[10] The cause for this laid in new constitutionally mandated electoral district boundaries that the state had adopted prior to the election. The Republican-controlled legislature had created district boundaries designed to enhance their party's control over state and national offices, leading to some oddly shaped legislative districts. ^[11] Although Gerry was unhappy about the highly partisan districting (according to his son-in-law, he thought it "highly disagreeable"), he signed the legislation. The shape of one of the state senate districts in Essex County was compared to a salamander ^[12] by a local Federalist newspaper in a political cartoon, calling it a "Gerry-mander". ^[13] Ever since, the creation of such districts has been called gerrymandering. ^[11]

On May 30, 1812, Nathaniel Ames wrote in his diary that "Strong declared Governor by majority of 600! and not near so many as the illegal vote of Boston." ^{[14] [lower-alpha 1]}

Notes

1. In Ames' hometown of Dedham, voters cast 299 votes for Elbridge Gerry and 172 for Caleb Strong. ^[15] The Republicans gained 46 votes over the previous election but the Federalists gained 56. ^[15]

References

1. "MA Governor, 1812". Our Campaigns. Retrieved November 11, 2021.
2. Gubernatorial Elections, 1787-1997. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Inc. 1998. p. 57. ISBN   1-56802-396-0.
3. Dubin, Michael J. (2003). United States Gubernatorial Elections, 1776-1860: The Official Results by State and County. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. p. xxv. ISBN   978-0-7864-1439-0.
4. Glashan, Roy R. (1979). American Governors and Gubernatorial Elections, 1775-1978. Westport, CT: Meckler Books. pp. 140–141. ISBN   0-930466-17-9.
5. Kallenbach, Joseph E.; Kallenbach, Jessamine S., eds. (1977). American State Governors, 1776-1976. Vol. I. Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.: Oceana Publications, Inc. p. 273. ISBN   0-379-00665-0.
6. "Massachusetts 1812 Governor". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University . Retrieved November 11, 2021.
7. Burdick, Charles (1814). The Massachusetts Manual: or Political and Historical Register, for the Political Year from June 1814 to June 1815. Vol. I. Boston: Charles Callender. p. 26.
8. The Massachusetts Register and United States Calendar; for the Year of Our Lord 1814, &c., &c. Boston: John West & Co. 1814. p. 36.
9. Hayward, John (1847). A Gazetteer of Massachusetts, &c., &c. Boston: John Hayward. p. 417.
10. Griffith, Elmer (1907). The Rise and Development of the Gerrymander. Chicago: Scott, Foresman and Co. p.  72-73. OCLC   45790508.
11. Hart, Albert Bushnell, ed. (1927). Commonwealth History of Massachusetts. New York: The States History Company. p. 3:458. OCLC   1543273. (five volume history of Massachusetts until the early 20th century)
12. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Gerry, Elbridge"  . Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol. 11 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 903–904.
13. Billias, George (1976). Elbridge Gerry, Founding Father and Republican Statesman . McGraw-Hill Publishers. p. 317. ISBN   0-07-005269-7.
14. Warren, Charles (1931). Jacobin and Junto: Or, Early American Politics as Viewed in the Diary of Dr. Nathaniel Ames, 1758-1822. Harvard University Press. p. 249.
15. Warren 1931, p. 248.