1869 Virginia gubernatorial election

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1869 Virginia gubernatorial election
Flag of Virginia (1879).png
  1863 July 6, 1869 1873  
  Gilbert C. Walker (Virginia Governor).jpg Henry Wells.jpg
Nominee Gilbert Carlton Walker Henry H. Wells
Party Conservative Republican Radical Republican
Popular vote119,502101,184
Percentage54.15%45.85%

1869 Virginia gubernatorial election results map by county.svg
County results
Walker:      50-60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90%
Wells:      50-60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%

Governor before election

Henry H. Wells
Radical Republican

Elected Governor

Gilbert C. Walker
Conservative Republican

A gubernatorial election was held in Virginia on July 6, 1869. The Conservative Republican candidate Gilbert C. Walker defeated the Radical Republican candidate]] Henry H. Wells.

The election took place during the Reconstruction era following the American Civil War. Concurrent elections for the Virginia General Assembly resulted in 21 African Americans elected to the Virginia House of Delegates and six to the Virginia Senate. Some candidates were so-called "carpetbaggers," Union Army officers politicians from the Northern United States who relocated to the former Confederacy following the end of the war. Thomas Bayne was a party leader among the African-American group, although he lost the election when a White Republican ran against him in the same election, splitting the vote and allowing a Democrat to win. [1]

Gubernatorial election results

Virginia gubernatorial election, 1869 [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Conservative Republican Gilbert Carlton Walker 119,502 54.15%
Radical Republican Henry H. Wells (incumbent)101,18445.85%
Total votes220,686 100.00%
Conservative Republican gain from Radical Republican

References

  1. Federal Writers' Project (October 31, 2013). The WPA Guide to Virginia: The Old Dominion State. Trinity University Press. p. 79. ISBN   978-1-59534-244-7.
  2. Dubin, Michael J. (2014). United States Gubernatorial Elections, 1861–1911: The Official Results by State and County. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. p. 5.