1862 Rhode Island gubernatorial election

1862 Rhode Island gubernatorial election

←  1861 April 2, 1862 1863  →

Nominee William Sprague IV Party Constitutional Union Popular vote 11,199 Percentage 100.0%

County results Sprague:      >90%

Governor before election William Sprague IV Constitutional Union 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 was re-elected without opposition. ^[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] So great was Sprague's popularity that the Republican Party did not attempt to contest the election. ^[4]

General election

1862 Rhode Island gubernatorial election ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Constitutional Union	William Sprague IV (incumbent)	11,199	100.00
Total votes			11,199	100.00
	Constitutional Union hold

Notes

1. Dubin 2014, p. 2.
2. Smith 2006, p. 90; Smith 2017, pp. 140–41.
3. Smith 2017, p. 184.
4. Smith 2006, p. 90.

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.
• 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.