Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 4, 1856. Democratic nominee James Buchanan defeated Republican nominee John C. Frémont and Know Nothing/Whig nominee Millard Fillmore. The main issue was the expansion of slavery as facilitated by the Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854. Buchanan defeated President Franklin Pierce at the 1856 Democratic National Convention for the nomination. Pierce had become widely unpopular in the North because of his support for the pro-slavery faction in the ongoing civil war in territorial Kansas, and Buchanan, a former Secretary of State, had avoided the divisive debates over the Kansas–Nebraska Act by being in Europe as the Ambassador to the United Kingdom.
The 1978 United States Senate elections were held on November 7, in the middle of Democratic President Jimmy Carter's term. The 33 seats of Class 2 were contested in regular elections. Special elections were also held to fill vacancies.
Ralph Metcalf was an American lawyer and politician from New Hampshire who served as the 25th governor of New Hampshire from 1855 to 1857.
The New Hampshire Democratic Party (NHDP) is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. Its chair is Raymond Buckley, and its vice chairs are Martha Fuller Clark and Bette Lasky. The most recent Democratic governor was Maggie Hassan, who served from 2013 to 2017.
The American Party, known as the Native American Party before 1855 and colloquially referred to as the Know Nothings, or the Know Nothing Party, was an Old Stock nativist political movement in the United States in the 1850s. Members of the movement were required to say "I know nothing" whenever they were asked about its specifics by outsiders, providing the group with its colloquial name.
The 1854–55 United States Senate elections were held on various dates in various states. As these U.S. Senate elections were prior to the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, senators were chosen by state legislatures. Senators were elected over a wide range of time throughout 1854 and 1855, and a seat may have been filled months late or remained vacant due to legislative deadlock. In these elections, terms were up for the senators in Class 3.
The Boston mayoral election of 1867 saw the election of Democratic Party nominee Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, who unseated Republican incumbent Otis Norcross.
The 1857 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 3. Incumbent Know-Nothing governor Henry J. Gardner ran for a fourth term in office, but lost the support of the Republican Party, which nominated Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Nathaniel P. Banks. Banks prevailed over Gardner to become the first Republican governor of Massachusetts.
The 1820 New Hampshire gubernatorial election was held on March 14, 1820.
The 1821 New Hampshire gubernatorial election was held on March 13, 1821.
The 1822 New Hampshire gubernatorial election was held on March 12, 1822.
The 1830 New Hampshire gubernatorial election was held on March 9, 1830.
The 1862 New Hampshire gubernatorial election was held on March 11, 1862.
The 1861 New Hampshire gubernatorial election was held on March 12, 1861.
The 1857 New Hampshire gubernatorial election was held on March 10, 1857.
The 1863 New Hampshire gubernatorial election was held on March 10, 1863.
The 1842 New Hampshire gubernatorial election was held on March 8, 1842.
The 1847 New Hampshire gubernatorial election was held on 9 March 1847 in order to elect the governor of New Hampshire. Democratic nominee and former member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Hampshire's At-large district Jared W. Williams defeated incumbent Whig governor Anthony Colby and Free Soil Party nominee and former member of the New Hampshire Senate Nathaniel S. Berry in a rematch of the previous election.
The 1854 New Hampshire gubernatorial election was held on 14 March 1854 in order to elect the Governor of New Hampshire. Democratic nominee and former member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives Nathaniel B. Baker defeated Whig nominee and former member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives James Bell and Free Soil Party nominee and former member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Hampshire's 3rd district Jared Perkins.
The 1856 New Hampshire gubernatorial election was held on 11 March 1856 in order to elect the governor of New Hampshire. Incumbent Know Nothing governor Ralph Metcalf won re-election against Democratic nominee and former United States senator from New Hampshire John S. Wells and Whig nominee and former member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives Ichabod Goodwin.Since no candidate received a majority in the popular vote, Metcalf was elected by the New Hampshire General Court per the state constitution.
