1857 Tennessee gubernatorial election

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1857 Tennessee gubernatorial election
  1855 August 6, 1857 1859  
  Isham-harris-by-brady.jpg Hon. Robert Hatton, Tenn - NARA - 528692 (3x4a).jpg
Nominee Isham G. Harris Robert H. Hatton
Party Democratic Know Nothing
Popular vote71,17859,807
Percentage54.34%45.66%

1857 Tennessee gubernatorial election results map by county.svg
County results
Harris:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90%
Hatton:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%
     No data/No votes

Governor before election

Andrew Johnson
Democratic

Elected Governor

Isham G. Harris
Democratic

The 1857 Tennessee gubernatorial election was held on August 6, 1857, to elect the next governor of Tennessee. Incumbent Democratic governor Andrew Johnson, was seriously injured in a train accident and was unable to run for re-election. [1] Democrat Robert H. Hatton was nominated as his replacement. In the general election, Hatton ran for a full term and defeated Know Nothing candidate Robert H. Hatton with 54.34% of the vote. [1]

Contents

Harris's 11,000 vote victory was relatively large, considering his predecessor, Johnson, had won by just over 2,000 votes in both 1853 and 1855. [1]

Aftermath

Harris's victory was not only the death knell for the state's Know Nothings, [2] who had briefly risen to prominence following the collapse of the national Whig Party, but also represented a shift in Tennessee politics toward the Democratic Party. During the previous two decades, Whigs and Democrats had been evenly matched statewide, with Whigs controlling East Tennessee, Democrats controlling Middle Tennessee, and the two parties evenly split in West Tennessee. The nationwide debate over the Kansas–Nebraska Act and the Dred Scott case pushed the issue of slavery to the forefront in the mid-1850s, and the balance in West Tennessee was tipped in favor of the Democrats. [1]

General election

1857 Tennessee gubernatorial election [3]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Democratic Isham G. Harris 71,178 54.34%
Know Nothing Robert H. Hatton 59,80745.66%
Total votes130,985 100.00%

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Phillip Langsdon, Tennessee: A Political History (Franklin, Tenn.: Hillsboro Press, 2000), pp. 128, 134, 140–146, 150–154, 176.
  2. Stanley Folmsbee, Robert Corlew, and Enoch Mitchell, Tennessee: A Short History (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1969), pp. 238–239, 314.
  3. "Our Campaigns - TN - Governor Race - Aug 06, 1857". www.ourcampaigns.com. Archived from the original on 2024-02-28. Retrieved 2024-02-28.