Maine gubernatorial election, 1820

Maine gubernatorial election, 1820
	County results Counties won by King
Governor before election; John Brooks (Massachusetts) ; Federalist	Elected Governor; William King ; Democratic-Republican

Last updated April 21, 2019

The 1820 Maine gubernatorial election took place on April 3, 1820. It was the first election for Governor of Maine, taking place after Maine separated from Massachusetts and was recognized as a state on March 15, 1820. Maine's separation from Massachusetts came as a result of The Missouri Compromise. This election saw the virtually unanimous election of William King, the man most chiefly responsible for the push for Maine statehood. He had no opponents.

The Governor of Maine is the chief executive of the State of Maine. Before Maine was admitted to the Union in 1820, Maine was part of Massachusetts and the Governor of Massachusetts was chief executive.

Massachusetts, officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It borders on the Atlantic Ocean to the east, the states of Connecticut and Rhode Island to the south, New Hampshire and Vermont to the north, and New York to the west. The state is named after the Massachusett tribe, which once inhabited the east side of the area, and is one of the original thirteen states. The capital of Massachusetts is Boston, which is also the most populous city in New England. Over 80% of Massachusetts's population lives in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, a region influential upon American history, academia, and industry. Originally dependent on agriculture, fishing and trade, Massachusetts was transformed into a manufacturing center during the Industrial Revolution. During the 20th century, Massachusetts's economy shifted from manufacturing to services. Modern Massachusetts is a global leader in biotechnology, engineering, higher education, finance, and maritime trade.

William King was an American merchant, shipbuilder, army officer, and statesman from Bath, Maine. A proponent of statehood for Maine, he became its first governor when it separated from Massachusetts in 1820.

Results

1820 Gubernatorial Election, Maine^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic-Republican	William King	21,083	95.3%
		Others	1,031	4.7%
Total votes			22,114	100%

Related Research Articles

The Sixteenth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1819, to March 4, 1821, during the third and fourth years of James Monroe's presidency. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the Third Census of the United States in 1810. Both chambers had a Democratic-Republican majority.

The District of Maine was the governmental designation for what is now the U.S. state of Maine from October 25, 1780 to March 15, 1820, when it was admitted to the Union as the 23rd state. The district was a part of the state of Massachusetts.

1820 and 1821 United States House of Representatives elections election

Elections to the United States House of Representatives for the 17th Congress took place in the various states between July 3, 1820 (Louisiana) and August 10, 1821 (Tennessee). In four states the election coincided with the taking of the 4th Census. Future enumerations would henceforth be held at a different time of year.

Ezekiel Whitman was a Representative from Maine, both when it was the District of Maine within Massachusetts and after it became an independent state. He was born in East Bridgewater, Massachusetts on March 9, 1776. He graduated from Brown University in 1795. He studied law, was admitted to the bar and practiced in New Gloucester, Maine and in Portland, Maine (both communities a district of Massachusetts until 1820.

The Maine gubernatorial election, 1848, was an election held in 1848 in the state of Maine to decide Maine's next governor.

"As Maine goes, so goes the nation" is a phrase that at one time was in wide currency in United States politics. The phrase described Maine's reputation as a bellwether state for presidential elections. Specifically, Maine's September election of a governor predicted the party outcome of the November presidential election in 19 out of the 26 presidential election years from 1832 to 1932, or 73 percent of the time. The accurate years were from 1832 through 1844, in 1852, from 1860 through 1876, in 1888, from 1896 through 1908 and from 1920 through 1932.

Although Maine neither gained nor lost seats after the 1820 United States Census, redistricting placed two incumbents into the 3rd district. Maine elected its members April 7, 1823, after the term began but before the new Congress convened. Maine law required a majority for election, with additional ballots taken if a majority were not achieved. This proved necessary in 1822 in the 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 6th districts, but all members were still chosen before the new Congress convened.

This was the first election in Massachusetts after the separation of the former District of Maine as the new State of Maine, taking the old 14th – 20th districts with it.

United States gubernatorial elections will be held on November 8, 2022 in 36 states and three territories. In addition, special elections may take place if other gubernatorial seats are vacated.

This was the first election in Maine since its separation from Massachusetts. In the previous election, Massachusetts had had 20 representatives. Seven seats were reassigned from Massachusetts to Maine. In addition, under the terms of the law which admitted Maine to the union, any vacancies in the 16th Congress by Representatives elected to represent Massachusetts but residing in the new states of Maine would be filled by a resident of Maine. John Holmes, who had been elected to the House for the former 14th district of Massachusetts was elected as one of the first two senators for Maine. The vacancy was filled in a special election by Joseph Dane (Federalist). Dane was the only Representative officially considered as representing Maine in the 16th Congress. The Representatives from the 15th-20th districts were still classified as being from Massachusetts for the remainder of the 16th Congress.

References

↑ United States Gubernatorial Elections, 1776-1860, Michael J. Dubin

This Maine elections-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] United States Gubernatorial Elections, 1776-1860, Michael J. Dubin