1861 Rhode Island gubernatorial election

1861 Rhode Island gubernatorial election

←  1860 April 3, 1861 1862  →

Nominee William Sprague IV James Y. Smith Party Constitutional Union Republican Popular vote 12,005 10,326 Percentage 53.8% 46.2%

County results Sprague:      50–60% Smith:      50–60%

Governor before election William Sprague IV Democratic Elected Governor William Sprague IV Constitutional Union

A gubernatorial election was held in Rhode Island on April 3, 1861. The incumbent Constitutional Union governor William Sprague IV defeated the Republican mayor of Providence James Y. Smith. ^[1]

Sprague won the 1860 election leading a coalition of Conservative Republicans, former Whigs, and Democrats that formed to oppose the Radical Republican gubernatorial candidate, Seth Padelford. ^[2] Following the election, his supporters coalesced in the Constitutional Union Party. ^[3] In concurrent elections for the United States House of Representatives, the Constitutional Union candidates defeated the Republican candidates in both Rhode Island congressional districts. ^[4]

General election

1861 Rhode Island gubernatorial election ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Constitutional Union	William Sprague IV (incumbent)	12,005	53.76
	Republican	James Y. Smith	10,326	46.25
Total votes			22,331	100.00
	Constitutional Union hold

Notes

1. Dubin 2014, p. 1.
2. Smith 2006, p. 90.
3. Smith 2017, p. 184.
4. McLoughlin 1986, pp. 145–46.

Bibliography

• Dubin, Michael J. (2014). United States Gubernatorial Elections, 1861–1911: The Official Results by State and County. Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Company. ISBN   978-0-7864-5646-8.
• McLoughlin, William G. (1986). Rhode Island: A History. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
• Smith, Adam I. P. (2006). No Party Now: Politics in the Civil War North. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0-19-534596-4.
• Smith, Adam I. P. (2017). The Stormy Present: Conservatism and the Problem of Slavery in Northern Politics, 1846–1865. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN   978-1-4696-3389-3.