1844 United States presidential election in Tennessee

Main article: 1844 United States presidential election

1844 United States presidential election in Tennessee

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Nominee Henry Clay James K. Polk Party Whig Democratic Home state Kentucky Tennessee Running mate Theodore Frelinghuysen George M. Dallas Electoral vote 13 0 Popular vote 60,040 59,917 Percentage 50.05% 49.95%

County results Clay   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%   80–90%   90–100% Polk   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%   80–90% Unknown/No vote

President before election John Tyler Independent Elected President James K. Polk Democratic

The 1844 United States presidential election in Tennessee was held on November 5, 1844 as part of the 1844 United States presidential election. ^[1] Voters chose 13 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for President and Vice President.

Despite being Polk's home state and the state he once served as the governor of, Tennessee voted for the Whig candidate, Henry Clay, over Democratic candidate James K. Polk. Clay won Tennessee by a very narrow margin of 123 votes (0.10%). James K. Polk is one of 4 presidents to lose his state of residence in a successful presidential bid. The others are Woodrow Wilson in 1916, Richard Nixon in 1968, and Donald Trump in 2016, and Polk is the only one of the four to do so without ever winning either their state of birth or residence in any presidential election.

This election marked the third time consecutively that Polk had lost a statewide election in Tennessee. The previous two were in the 1841 and 1843 gubernatorial elections. ^{[2] [3]}

Conventions

Main article: 1844 Whig National Convention

Main article: 1844 Democratic National Convention

Both James K. Polk and Henry Clay won their respective party conventions.

Results

1844 United States presidential election in Tennessee [4]
Party		Candidate	Running mate	Popular vote		Electoral vote
				Count	%	Count	%
	Whig	Henry Clay of Kentucky	Theodore Frelinghuysen of New York	60,040	50.05%	13	100.00%
	Democratic	James K. Polk of Tennessee	George M. Dallas of Pennsylvania	59,917	49.95%	0	0.00%
Total				119,957	100.00%	13	100.00%

See also

• 1844 United States elections
• United States presidential elections in Tennessee

References

1. Presidential Elections, 1844. [Boston]. 1844.
2. Leonard, p. 32
3. Bergeron, pp. 18–19
4. "1844 Presidential General Election Results - Tennessee". U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved December 23, 2013.