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The 1834 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 10.
Whig Governor John Davis was re-elected to a second term in office over Democrat Marcus Morton and Anti-Mason John Bailey.
Although some had hoped for an alliance between the Anti-Masons and the National Republicans after John Quincy Adams had stepped aside for John Davis in the 1833 election, this was not to be. Many Anti-Masons remained dissatisfied with Davis's performance as governor and the newly christened Whig Party in general, particularly in their handling of political appointments along partisan lines. [1]
On August 14, a conference was called at the home of George Odiorne between John Quincy Adams and Henry Dana Ward of New York. The three men debated the subject of the gubernatorial race, with Odiorne objecting to the nomination of Governor Davis and suggesting John Bailey, Heman Lincoln, Samuel Lathrop, or Marcus Morton. Adams countered that Worcester would back Davis, and so the choice was between Davis or Morton. Adams began to suspect the effort to fuse the Anti-Masons with Morton was a prelude to an attempt to throw Anti-Mason votes to Martin Van Buren in the 1836 presidential election. [2]
Marcus Morton also began to organize an attempt at fusion himself, sounding out Democratic and Anti-Masonic leadership in an effort to overthrow the Whigs. Radical Anti-Masons like Benjamin F. Hallett supported this move, leading moderates like Pliny Merrick to appeal to Davis directly to denounce Masonry and avoid a union with the Democrats. [3]
Ultimately, the Anti-Masons did not ally directly with the Jacksonian Morton or Whig Davis. At the September state convention, with both John Quincy Adams and Edward Everett declining the party's support, the Anti-Masons nominated John Bailey, an ally of Adams in the State Senate. [4]
The Democratic Party was certain to nominate Marcus Morton for the tenth consecutive election and did so at its convention in September.
The Working Men's Party met at a convention in Northampton during October and nominated Samuel Allen again. There were fourteen delegates to the convention. [5]
A major issue in the campaign was the arson of the Charlestown Ursuline convent in August, which some attributed to the presence of the preacher Lyman Beecher in the state. The arson and anti-Catholic riots brought sectarian and immigration issues to the fore during the summer months. [6]
The election brought about the demise of the Anti-Masons, as Bailey failed to come close to Adams's 1833 support. Support for Samuel Allen also declined. [5] However, both Davis and Morton increased their raw vote totals from 1833. Increasing focus on the issue of the bank divided the state between the two major parties with declared stances on the issue: the pro-Bank Whigs and the anti-Bank Democrats. [7]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whig | John Davis (incumbent) | 37,555 | 58.05% |  17.94 | |
| Democratic | Marcus Morton | 18,683 | 24.79% | 0.08 | |
| Anti-Masonic | John Bailey | 10,160 | 13.48% |  15.66 | |
| Workingmen | Samuel L. Allen | 2,580 | 3.42% | 2.10 | |
| Write-in | 220 | 0.34% | 0.18 | ||
| Total votes | 69,198 | 100.00% | |||
The Anti-Masonic Party was the earliest third party in the United States. Formally a single-issue party, it strongly opposed Freemasonry in the United States. It was active from the late 1820s, especially in the Northeast, and later attempted to become a major party by expanding its platform to take positions on other issues. It declined quickly after 1832 as most members joined the new Whig Party; it disappeared after 1838.
The 1832 United States presidential election was the 12th quadrennial presidential election, held from Friday, November 2 to Wednesday, December 5, 1832. Incumbent president Andrew Jackson, candidate of the Democratic Party, defeated Henry Clay, candidate of the National Republican Party.
The National Republican Party, also known as the Anti-Jacksonian Party or simply Republicans, was a political party in the United States which evolved from a conservative-leaning faction of the Democratic-Republican Party that supported John Quincy Adams in the 1824 presidential election.
Marcus Morton was an American lawyer, jurist, and politician from Taunton, Massachusetts. He served two terms as the governor of Massachusetts and several months as Acting Governor following the death in 1825 of William Eustis. He served for 15 years as an associate justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, all the while running unsuccessfully as a Democrat for governor. He finally won the 1839 election, acquiring exactly the number of votes required for a majority win over Edward Everett. After losing the 1840 and 1841 elections, he was elected in a narrow victory in 1842.
Samuel Turell Armstrong was a U.S. political figure. Born in 1784 in Dorchester, Massachusetts, he was a printer and bookseller in Boston, specializing in religious materials. Among his works were an early stereotype edition of Scott's Family Bible, which was very popular, and The Panoplist, a religious magazine devoted to missionary interests.
John Davis was an American lawyer, businessman and politician from Massachusetts. He spent 25 years in public service, serving in both houses of the United States Congress and for three non-consecutive years as Governor of Massachusetts. Because of his reputation for personal integrity he was known as "Honest John" Davis.
Levi Lincoln Jr. was an American lawyer and politician from Worcester, Massachusetts. He was the 13th governor of Massachusetts (1825–1834) and represented the state in the U.S. Congress (1834–1841). Lincoln's nine-year tenure as governor is the longest consecutive service in state history; only Michael Dukakis, John Hancock and Caleb Strong served more years, but they were not consecutive.
William Adams Palmer was an American lawyer and politician. A prominent of the Anti-Masonic Party in the 1830s, he was most notable for his service as a United States Senator from Vermont (1818–1825) and the 13th governor of Vermont (1831–1835).
The 1839 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was a tightly contested race won by Marcus Morton. Under Massachusetts law at the time, a majority of the votes cast was required to win, and Morton received exactly half the votes cast. Despite the presence of some irregularities, incumbent Whig Governor Edward Everett refused to contest the results once a legislative committee dominated by his party accepted a report giving Morton 51,034 votes out of 102,066 cast.
The 1831 Vermont gubernatorial election took place in September and October, and resulted in the election of William A. Palmer to a one-year term as governor.
The 1840 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 9.
The 1838 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 12.
The 1837 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 13.
The 1836 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 14.
The 1835 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 9.
The 1832 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 12.
The first 1831 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on April 14.
The second 1831 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 14.
The 1828 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on April 7.
The 1833–34 Massachusetts gubernatorial election consisted of a popular election held on November 11, 1833 and a legislative vote held in January 1834. The task of electing the governor fell to the Massachusetts General Court because no candidate received the constitutionally required majority of the popular vote.
