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County results Curtain: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% Foster: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% | |||||||||||||||||
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Elections in Pennsylvania |
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Government |
The 1860 Pennsylvania gubernatorial was held on October 9, almost one month before Presidential election. Andrew Curtin of the newly formed Republican Party won the governor's mansion over Democrat Henry Donnel Foster.
Curtin would go on to become an important figure in the history of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the United States. Pennsylvania's 15th governor and a strong supporter of President Abraham Lincoln, he was inaugurated on January 15, 1861. One of the first state governors to send military units to Washington, D.C. in response to Lincoln's call for help to defend the nation's capital in April of that same year, he was the eponym of Camp Curtin, which became one of the largest staging grounds for the Union Army after it opened on April 18, 1861. [1] In 1863, following the Battle of Gettysburg, Curtin led the state and nation in creating a national cemetery for the Union Army's fallen soldiers. Post-war, he led the creation of a state-funded system of more than forty soldiers' orphans' schools to educate and care for children across Pennsylvania whose fathers had been killed during the war. [2]
As in most of the country, the growing tension over the expansion of slavery was the dominant electoral issue. Although outgoing Governor William F. Packer had been lauded for expanding public education and for aiding the state's iron and glass industries through tough economic times, his reputation was tainted by a strong connection to President James Buchanan. Nonetheless, the state Democratic Party remained strong, and, despite the national split, leadership united behind Foster. By contrast, the Republicans, which had participated in only one prior gubernatorial election, was marked by division. Although Abraham Lincoln was emerging as the party's presidential candidate, state party bosses had hoped to nominate Simon Cameron; it took some time for the party establishment to unify around Curtin, a Lincoln supporter, and his campaign got off to somewhat of a slow start.
Although both candidates discussed similar issues in their campaign, particularly public education and industrial development, local issues were totally overshadowed by the impending threat of war. While Democrats, who backed the Stephen A. Douglas and the Northern plank of their national party almost unanimously, rallied hard behind Foster, the problems with the party's national machinery caught up with their candidate. Curtin, a powerful speaker, was able to convince voters that choosing the Republican line was the only way to keep the nation from division, a message that allowed him to achieve a narrow victory.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
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Republican | Andrew Gregg Curtin | 262,346 | 53.26 | |
Democratic | Henry Donnel Foster | 230,230 | 46.74 | |
Total votes | 492,576 | 100.00 | ||
Turnout | 64.60 |
The 1864 United States presidential election was the 20th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 8, 1864. Near the end of the American Civil War, incumbent President Abraham Lincoln of the National Union Party easily defeated the Democratic nominee, former General George B. McClellan, by a wide margin of 212–21 in the electoral college, with 55% of the popular vote. For the election, the Republican Party and some Democrats created the National Union Party, especially to attract War Democrats.
In the 1860s, the Copperheads, also known as Peace Democrats, were a faction of the Democratic Party in the Union who opposed the American Civil War and wanted an immediate peace settlement with the Confederates.
Simon Cameron was an American businessman and politician who represented Pennsylvania in the United States Senate and served as United States Secretary of War under President Abraham Lincoln at the start of the American Civil War.
Andrew Gregg Curtin was a U.S. lawyer and politician. He served as the 15th governor of Pennsylvania during the American Civil War, helped defend his state during the Gettysburg Campaign, and oversaw the creation of the National Cemetery and the ceremony in which Abraham Lincoln delivered his famous Gettysburg Address.
Camp Curtin was a major Union Army training camp in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, during the American Civil War. It was located north of Pennsylvania's state capitol building on 80 acres of what had previously been land used by the Dauphin County Agricultural Fairgrounds.
Horatio Seymour was an American politician. He served as Governor of New York from 1853 to 1854 and from 1863 to 1864. He was the Democratic Party nominee for president in the 1868 United States presidential election, losing to Republican Ulysses S. Grant.
Edgar Cowan was an American lawyer and Republican politician from Greensburg, Pennsylvania. He represented Pennsylvania in the United States Senate during the American Civil War.
Camp Curtin is a historic neighborhood in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania's northern end, located in Uptown and named for the American Civil War camp of the same name. It is bordered currently by landmarks of Fifth Street to the west, the railroad tracks next to the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex to the east, Maclay Street to the south, and Reels Lane to the North.
David McConaughy was a noted attorney, state senator, cemetery president, and civic leader in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and a part-time intelligence officer for the Union Army during the American Civil War. He was a driving force behind the creation of the Gettysburg National Cemetery following the Battle of Gettysburg. He also led early efforts to preserve the Gettysburg Battlefield for future generations.
The Pennsylvania Republican Party (PAGOP) is the affiliate of the Republican Party in the state of Pennsylvania. It is headquartered in Harrisburg.
During the American Civil War, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania played a critical role in the Union, providing a substantial supply of military personnel, equipment, and leadership to the Federal government. The state raised over 360,000 soldiers for the Federal armies. It served as a significant source of artillery guns, small arms, ammunition, armor for the new revolutionary style of ironclad types of gunboats for the rapidly expanding United States Navy, and food supplies. The Phoenixville Iron Company by itself produced well over 1,000 cannons, and the Frankford Arsenal was a major supply depot.
Alexander Kelly McClure was an American politician, newspaper editor, and writer from Pennsylvania. He served as a Republican member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1858 to 1859 and 1865 to 1866 as well as a member of the Pennsylvania State Senate for the 18th district in 1861 and the 4th district from 1873 to 1874. He was a prominent supporter, correspondent, and biographer of President Abraham Lincoln. He was the editor of the Franklin Repository newspaper in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania and of the Philadelphia Times. The borough of McClure, Pennsylvania, and the Alexander K. McClure School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, are named in his honor.
The 1998 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1998. The candidates were incumbent Republican Tom Ridge, Democrat Ivan Itkin, Constitutionalist Peg Luksik and Libertarian Ken Krawchuk. Ridge, a popular moderate, won with 57 percent of the votes cast.
The 1986 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1986. Democrat Bob Casey narrowly defeated Republican Bill Scranton III, in a race that featured two very high-profile candidates. The race was a rematch of the lieutenant gubernatorial nominees in 1978, a race where Scranton defeated Casey. As of 2022, this is the most recent Pennsylvania gubernatorial race to have a margin within five points for either party.
The 1978 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1978, between Republican Dick Thornburgh and Democrat Pete Flaherty.
The 1835 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election was among three candidates. Incumbent Governor George Wolf ran as an Independent Democrat. In the end Joseph Ritner won the election and became Pennsylvania's only Anti-Masonic governor.
The 1863 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election occurred on October 13, 1863. Incumbent governor Andrew Gregg Curtin, a Republican, was a candidate for re-election. Curtin defeated Democratic candidate George Washington Woodward to win another term.
The 1872 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election occurred on October 8, 1872. Incumbent governor John W. Geary, a Republican, was not a candidate for re-election.
The 1875 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election occurred on November 2, 1875. Incumbent governor John F. Hartranft, a Republican, was a candidate for re-election. Hartranft defeated Democratic candidate Cyrus L. Pershing to win another term.
On January 15, 1867, Simon Cameron was elected to the United States Senate by the Pennsylvania General Assembly for the third time; it had previously chosen him in 1845 and 1857. The legislature voted for Cameron over the incumbent, Senator Edgar Cowan, who though a Republican was endorsed by the Democratic legislative caucus. With the Republican Party holding a large majority in the legislature, the main battle was for its endorsement: the caucus of Republican legislators had voted for Cameron over Governor Andrew Curtin.