1851 Connecticut gubernatorial election

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1851 Connecticut gubernatorial election
Flag of Connecticut.svg
  1850 April 7, 1851 1852  
  ThomasHartSeymour (3x4b).jpg L.F.S. Foster, Senator from Connecticut, Thirty-fifth Congress, half-length portrait LCCN2010649217 (3x4a).jpg
Nominee Thomas H. Seymour Lafayette S. Foster
Party Democratic Whig
Electoral vote122121
Popular vote30,07728,856
Percentage48.94%46.95%

1851 Connecticut gubernatorial election results map by county.svg
County Results
Seymour:     40–50%     50–60%
Foster:     40–50%

Governor before election

Thomas H. Seymour
Democratic

Elected Governor

Thomas H. Seymour
Democratic

The 1851 Connecticut gubernatorial election was held on April 7, 1851. [1] It was a rematch of the 1850 Connecticut gubernatorial election. Incumbent governor and Democratic Party nominee Thomas H. Seymour defeated former state legislator and Whig nominee Lafayette S. Foster with 48.94% of the vote.

Contents

Seymour won a plurality of the vote, but he did not receive a majority. As a result, the Connecticut General Assembly elected the governor, per the state constitution. The Whig Party had a majority in the Connecticut State house, but they were divided over their choice. Seymour won the vote over Foster by a mere one-vote margin, 122 to 121, in the General Assembly, and became the governor. [2]

General election

Candidates

Major party candidates

Minor party candidates

Results

1851 Connecticut gubernatorial election [3]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Democratic Thomas H. Seymour (incumbent)30,07748.94%
Whig Lafayette S. Foster 28,85646.95%
Free Soil John Boyd 2,5304.12%
Plurality1,221
Turnout
1851 Connecticut gubernatorial election, contingent General Assembly election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Democratic Thomas H. Seymour (incumbent) 122 50.21%
Whig Lafayette S. Foster 12149.79%
Majority 1
Democratic hold Swing

References

  1. "Correspondence of The Republic". The republic. Washington, D.C. April 5, 1851. p. 3. Retrieved May 1, 2022.
  2. "Memorial Sketch of Lafayette S. Foster", Franklin Press (1881),
  3. Dubin, Michael J. (2003). United States Gubernatorial Elections, 1776-1860: The Official Results by State and County. Jefferson: McFarland & Company. p. 24. ISBN   9780786414390.