1819 Indiana gubernatorial election

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1819 Indiana gubernatorial election
Flag of Indiana.svg
  1816 August 2, 1819 1822  
  JonathanJennings.jpg Christopher Harrison.jpg
Nominee Jonathan Jennings Christopher Harrison
Party Nonpartisan Nonpartisan
Popular vote9,1682,007
Percentage81.45%17.83%

1819 Indiana gubernatorial election results map by county.svg
County results
Jennings:     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90%
Harrison:     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%
     Unknown     No Vote

Governor before election

Jonathan Jennings
Nonpartisan

Elected Governor

Jonathan Jennings
Nonpartisan

The 1819 Indiana gubernatorial election took place August 2, 1819, under the provisions of the Constitution of Indiana. It was the second gubernatorial election in the State of Indiana. Jonathan Jennings, the incumbent governor, was reelected with 81.5% of the vote to 17.8% for his nearest competitor, Lieutenant Governor Christopher Harrison. [1] The election was held concurrently with elections for lieutenant governor and members of the Indiana General Assembly. [2]

Contents

Jennings had been elected governor in 1816 following ratification of the state's first constitution. His administration pursued policies to promote internal improvements and the development of a state banking system, creation of a state university, and adoption of a personal liberty law to protect free people of color living in Indiana. [3] In 1818 he became embroiled in a controversy surrounding his acceptance of a federal commission to negotiate the Treaty of St. Mary's. The Indiana constitution specified that no person "holding any office under the United States ... shall exercise the office of governor." [4] Jennings' political enemies interpreted this to mean he had vacated the governorship by accepting the federal commission. Harrison accepted this interpretation, and declaring himself the rightful governor, appealed to the General Assembly for support. The legislature, however, declined to pursue impeachment proceedings against Jennings, and Jennings forcefully denied that he had relinquished his position as governor. In the general election, Jennings handily defeated Harrison and two other challengers. [5]

At the time of the election, the Democratic-Republican Party was dominant nationally and politics in the new state operated on a nonpartisan basis. The geographic factionalism of the territorial period had mostly dissipated. Campaigns were conducted through the circulation of handbills and other print materials and public appearances at militia musters, log rollings, and other community events. [6] As it was considered untoward to advocate directly for one's own election, candidates usually disguised their visits with voters as being personal in nature, claiming private business had brought them to the vicinity en route to some other destination. [7]

Results

1819 Indiana gubernatorial election [8] [9]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Nonpartisan Jonathan Jennings (incumbent) 9,168 81.45% +24.47%
Nonpartisan Christopher Harrison 2,00717.83%
Nonpartisan Samuel Carr900.71%
Nonpartisan Peter Buell Allen 10.01%
Total votes11,256 100.00%

Results by county

The official returns appear to have been lost. [10] Unofficial results published in various newspapers in the weeks following the election include figures from most, but not all, counties. Significantly, the sum of the votes for Harrison in the surviving unofficial results is greater than the total recorded in the journal of the Indiana House of Representatives by a factor of 970 votes. The returns from Crawford and Lawrence were rejected by the General Assembly on technical grounds. [11]

The surviving results, as compiled in A New Nation Votes, are as follows. [12]

CountyJonathan Jennings
Nonpartisan
Christopher Harrison
Nonpartisan
Samuel Carr
Nonpartisan
Peter Buell Allen
Nonpartisan
County total
VotesPercentVotesPercentVotesPercentVotesPercent
Clark 61863.84%31132.13%394.03%no popular votes968
Crawford [a] unknownunknownunknownunknownunknown
Daviess unknownunknownunknownunknownunknown
Dearborn 1,01586.31%16113.69%no popular votesno popular votes1,176
Dubois unknownunknownunknownunknownunknown
Fayette 63196.93%203.07%no popular votesno popular votes651
Floyd 31198.11%61.89%no popular votesno popular votes317
Franklin 1,08797.31%302.69%no popular votesno popular votes1,117
Gibson 8519.54%35080.46%no popular votesno popular votes435
Harrison 84795.71%384.29%no popular votesno popular votes885
Jackson unknownunknownunknownunknownunknown
Jefferson 44761.49%26035.76%202.75%no popular votes727
Jennings 18996.92%63.08%no popular votesno popular votes195
Knox 14427.53%37972.47%no popular votesno popular votes523
Lawrence [a] unknownunknownunknownunknownunknown
Monroe unknownunknownunknownunknownunknown
Orange 40170.23%17029.77%no popular votesno popular votes571
Owen unknownunknownunknownunknownunknown
Perry unknownunknownunknownunknownunknown
Pike 9972.79%3727.20%no popular votesno popular votes136
Posey 41081.51%9318.49%no popular votesno popular votes503
Randolph [b] 1,10178.20%30721.80%no popular votesno popular votes1,408
Ripley 15998.76%21.24%no popular votesno popular votes161
Spencer 16996.02%73.98%no popular votesno popular votes176
Sullivan 24971.97%9728.03%no popular votesno popular votes346
Switzerland 51698.85%61.15%no popular votesno popular votes522
Vanderburg unknownunknownunknownunknownunknown
Vigo 34992.82%277.18%no popular votesno popular votes376
Warrick 12567.93%5932.07%no popular votesno popular votes184
Washington 33534.68%63165.32%no popular votesno popular votes966
Wayne [b] unknownunknownunknownunknownunknown

Notes

  1. 1 2 The returns from Crawford and Lawrence were rejected by the General Assembly
  2. 1 2 The figures for Randolph include the results from Wayne County.

References

  1. Riker and Thornbrough, p. 138
  2. Riker and Thornbrough, p. 186
  3. Riker, p. 233
  4. Constitution of 1816
  5. Riker, p. 234
  6. Riker and Thornbrough, p. xvi
  7. Riker, p. 233
  8. Capitol & Washington
  9. Riker and Thornbrough, pp. 137-38
  10. Riker and Thornbrough, p. 138
  11. A New Nation Votes
  12. A New Nation Votes

Bibliography