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| Elections in Massachusetts |
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The 1836 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 14.
Incumbent Whig Governor Edward Everett was re-elected to a second term in office, defeating Democrat Marcus Morton.
The Anti-Masonic Party met in convention under the leadership of Benjamin F. Hallett on January 29 and nominated Marcus Morton and endorsed Martin Van Buren for President. [1]
However, Franklin County Anti-Masons rejected the Van Buren endorsement. A dissident faction of Anti-Masons met on March 9 and endorsed Daniel Webster for President. Each faction accused the other of insufficient devotion to the cause of anti-Masonry. [1]
The Democratic Party had divided between supporters of party boss David Henshaw and perennial nominee Marcus Morton. The division began over the choice for a new Collector of the Port of Boston after Henshaw stepped down. Henshaw, a member of the more conservative faction aligned with John C. Calhoun, preferred his close ally J.K. Simpson. had lost control of the party to moderate supporters of presumptive presidential nominee Martin Van Buren. Morton, a close ally of Van Buren, advised the appointment of an outsider. [2]
Nevertheless, Henshaw, recognizing his minority status within the party he had helped found and the need for unity in a presidential election year, got behind Morton for a tenth consecutive nomination. [3]
The Democratic campaign embraced a populist message premised on opposition to the Second Bank of the United States, monopoly power, and Harvard College. David Henshaw called for the popular election of judges and elimination of corporate monopolies. [4]
Whigs focused their energy on the presidential campaign, where they supported Daniel Webster and Francis Granger, and the House of Representatives campaign. Governor Everett's brother Alexander did abandon the party to become a Democratic candidate for Congress in Norfolk County. Alexander and George Bancroft, running in the Hampden County district, bore the brunt of Whig criticism. [3]
With increased turnout due to the presidential race, most of the gains went to Morton. Democrats gained a seat in Congress, with William Parmenter unseating Samuel Hoar in Middlesex County. The lone Democratic incumbent, Nathaniel B. Borden of Bristol County, was re-elected. [5]
Morton remarked privately to president-elect Van Buren that the Massachusetts Democratic Party was in excellent position to win, should the Whigs make a single mistake. [6]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whig | Edward Everett (incumbent) | 42,160 | 53.78% |  4.08 | |
| Democratic | Marcus Morton | 35,992 | 45.92% |  7.05 | |
| Write-in | 237 | 0.30% | 0.04 | ||
| Total votes | 78,389 | 100.00% | |||
Martin Van Buren was an American lawyer and statesman who served as the eighth president of the United States from 1837 to 1841. A primary founder of the Democratic Party, he served as New York's attorney general, U.S. senator, then briefly as the ninth governor of New York before joining Andrew Jackson's administration as the tenth United States secretary of state, minister to Great Britain, and ultimately the eighth vice president when named Jackson's running mate for the 1832 election. Van Buren won the presidency in 1836, lost re-election in 1840, and failed to win the Democratic nomination in 1844. Later in his life, Van Buren emerged as an elder statesman and an important anti-slavery leader who led the Free Soil Party ticket in the 1848 presidential election.
The 1836 United States presidential election was the 13th quadrennial presidential election, held from Thursday, November 3 to Wednesday, December 7, 1836. In the third consecutive election victory for the Democratic Party, incumbent Vice President Martin Van Buren defeated four candidates fielded by the nascent Whig Party.
The 1840 United States presidential election was the 14th quadrennial presidential election, held from Friday, October 30 to Wednesday, December 2, 1840. Economic recovery from the Panic of 1837 was incomplete, and Whig nominee William Henry Harrison defeated incumbent President Martin Van Buren of the Democratic Party. The election marked the first of two Whig victories in presidential elections, but was the only one where they won a majority of the popular vote.
The 1848 United States presidential election was the 16th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 7, 1848. In the aftermath of the Mexican–American War, General Zachary Taylor of the Whig Party defeated Senator Lewis Cass of the Democratic Party.
The 1852 United States presidential election was the 17th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 2, 1852. Democrat Franklin Pierce defeated Whig nominee General Winfield Scott. A third party candidate from the Free Soil party, John P. Hale, also ran and came in third place, but got no electoral votes.
The Free Soil Party was a short-lived coalition political party in the United States active from 1848 to 1854, when it merged into the Republican Party. The party was largely focused on the single issue of opposing the expansion of slavery into the western territories of the United States.
Marcus Morton was an American lawyer, jurist, and politician from Taunton, Massachusetts. He served two terms as 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.
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.
The 1844 Democratic National Convention was a presidential nominating convention held in Baltimore, Maryland from May 27 through 30. The convention nominated former Governor James K. Polk of Tennessee for president and former Senator George M. Dallas of Pennsylvania for vice president.
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 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 1835 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 9.
The 1834 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 10.
The 1832 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 12.
The 1830 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on April 5.
The second 1831 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 14.
The 1829 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on April 6.
The 1833–34 Massachusetts gubernatorial election consisted of a popular election held on November 11, 1833 that was followed by a legislative vote held in January 1834. The ultimate task of electing the governor had been placed before the Massachusetts General Court because no candidate received the majority of the vote that was constitutionally required for a candidate to be elected through the popular election.
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