Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 2, 1852. Democratic nominee 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.
William Alexander Richardson was a prominent Illinois Democratic politician before and during the American Civil War. A protege of Stephen Douglas Richardson was an ardent proponent of Jacksonian Democracy, Popular sovereignty, and Strict constructionism. During the American Civil War he initially supported the conflict, but soon became a member of the Copperhead wing of the Democratic party and a bitter critic of President Abraham Lincoln.
Benjamin Harvey Hill was a politician whose "flamboyant opposition" to Congressional Reconstruction is credited with helping inaugurate Georgia's Ku Klux Klan. His famous "brush arbor speech" in Atlanta on July 23, 1868, called for the use of violence against the governor, the legislature, and freed people. His career spanned state and national politics, and the Civil War. He served in the Georgia legislature in both houses. Although he initially opposed secession and was elected as a Unionist in 1860, he nonetheless voted to secede in that year, and represented Georgia as a Confederate senator during the conflict.
The Know Nothings were a nativist political movement in the United States in the 1850s, officially known as the Native American Party before 1855, and afterwards simply the American Party. 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 1934 California gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 1934. Held in the midst of the Great Depression, the 1934 election was amongst the most controversial in the state's political history, pitting conservative Republican Frank Merriam against former Socialist Party member turned Democratic politician Upton Sinclair, author of The Jungle. A strong third party challenge came from Progressive Raymond L. Haight, a Los Angeles lawyer campaigning for the political center. Much of the campaign's emphasis was directed at Sinclair's EPIC movement, proposing interventionist reforms to cure the state's ailing economy. Merriam, who had recently assumed the governorship following the death of James Rolph, characterized Sinclair's proposal as a step towards communism.
The 1859 Texas gubernatorial election was held on August 1, 1859, to elect the governor of Texas. Incumbent Democratic governor Hardin Richard Runnels was running for reelection, but was defeated by Sam Houston, former senator and president of Texas, whom he had beaten two years earlier.
The 1918 Wisconsin gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 1918. Primary elections were held on September 3, 1918.
The 1854 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 15. American Party candidate Henry J. Gardner was elected to his first term as governor, defeating incumbent Whig governor Emory Washburn.
The 1855 Vermont gubernatorial election for governor of Vermont was held on September 4. With the Whig Party defunct after 1854, incumbent Stephen Royce, who had run with the support of both Whigs and the new Republican Party in 1854, ran as the nominee of the Republicans. The Democratic candidate was Merritt Clark, who had run unsuccessfully against Royce in 1854. James M. Slade, the Clerk of the Vermont House of Representatives was the nominee of the Know Nothing Party, also called the American Party.
The 1850–51 Massachusetts gubernatorial election consisted of an initial popular held on November 11, 1850 that was followed by a legislative vote that was conducted on January 11, 1851. It saw the election of Democratic Party nominee George S. Boutwell. The ultimate task of electing the governor had been placed before the Massachusetts General Court because no candidate received the majority of the vote required for a candidate to be elected through the popular election.
The 1851 Georgia gubernatorial election was held on October 6, 1851, to elect the governor of Georgia. Howell Cobb, nominee for the newly formed Constitutional Union Party, defeated the Southern Rights Candidate, Charles McDonald.
The 1894 Arkansas gubernatorial election was held on September 3, 1894.
The 1831 New Hampshire gubernatorial election was held on March 8, 1831.
The 1857 New Hampshire gubernatorial election was held on March 10, 1857.
The 1853 Georgia gubernatorial election was held on 3 October 1853 in order to elect the Governor of Georgia. Democratic nominee and former United States Senator from Georgia Herschel V. Johnson defeated Constitutional Unionist nominee and former Attorney General of Georgia Charles J. Jenkins by a slim margin.
The 1855 Georgia gubernatorial election was held on 1 October 1855 in order to elect the Governor of Georgia. Democratic nominee and incumbent Governor Herschel V. Johnson was re-elected against Know Nothing (Sam) nominee Garnett Andrews and Temperance nominee B. H. Overby.
The 1861 Georgia gubernatorial election was held on October 2, 1861, in order to elect the Governor of Georgia. It was the first gubernatorial election in Georgia under the Confederate States of America and saw Democratic nominee and incumbent Governor Joseph E. Brown win a third term against Anti-Brown Democratic nominee Judge E. A. Nisbet.
The 1859 Georgia gubernatorial election was held on October 3, 1859, in order to elect the Governor of Georgia. Democratic nominee and incumbent Governor Joseph E. Brown defeated Opposition Party nominee and former Cherokee Superior Court judge Warren Akin Sr.
The 1863 Georgia gubernatorial election was held on October 5, 1863, in order to elect the Governor of Georgia. It was the last gubernatorial election in Georgia under the Confederate States of America and saw Independent Democrat nominee and incumbent Governor Joseph E. Brown win a fourth and final term against Unionist nominee Joshua Hill and Pro-Administration nominee Lt. Col Timothy Furlow.
The 1857 California lieutenant gubernatorial election was held on 2 September 1857 in order to elect the lieutenant governor of California. Democratic nominee and incumbent member of the California State Senate Joseph Walkup defeated Know Nothing nominee J. A. Raymond and Republican nominee David W. Cheesman.
