Pennsylvania gubernatorial election, 1835

Pennsylvania gubernatorial election, 1835
	County results* key:; Henry A. P. Muhlenberg Joseph Ritner George Wolf *Results unknown
Governor before election; George Wolf ; Democratic	Elected Governor; Joseph Ritner ; Anti-Masonic

Last updated May 01, 2019

The Pennsylvania gubernatorial election of 1835 was between 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.

George Wolf was the seventh Governor of Pennsylvania from 1829 to 1835. On June 29, 1888, he was recognized as the "father of the public-school system" in Pennsylvania by the erection of a memorial gateway at Easton.

In U.S. politics an Independent Democrat is an individual who loosely identifies with the ideals of the Democratic Party but chooses not to be a formal member of the party. Independent Democrat is not a political party. Several elected officials, including members of Congress, have identified as Independent Democrats.

Joseph Ritner was the eighth Governor of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, elected as a member of the Anti-Masonic Party. He was elected Governor of Pennsylvania in the Pennsylvania Gubernatorial election, 1835, and served from 1835 to 1839. Controversy surrounding his 1838 electoral defeat led to the Buckshot War. In 1856, Governor Ritner was a delegate to the first Republican National Convention in Philadelphia.

Democratic schism

In March 1835 factionalism came to a head in Pennsylvania's dominant Democratic party as it convened at Harrisburg to nominate its candidate for governor. The supporters of the incumbent Wolf and those of Lutheran pastor Henry Muhlenberg, known respectively as the "Wolves" and the "Mules", deadlocked and adjourned to reconvene at Lewistown in May. The Wolf delegates, however, remained at Harrisburg and in a rump convention renominated the governor. The outraged "Mules" then proceeded as scheduled to Lewistown to nominate Muhlenberg.^[1]

Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 49,192, it is the 15th largest city in the Commonwealth. It lies on the east bank of the Susquehanna River, 107 miles (172 km) west of Philadelphia. Harrisburg is the anchor of the Susquehanna Valley metropolitan area, which had a 2018 estimated population of 574,659, making it the fourth most populous in Pennsylvania and 96th most populous in the United States.

Henry Augustus Philip Muhlenberg was an American political leader and diplomat. He was a member of the Muhlenberg family political dynasty.

Lewistown is a borough in the county seat of Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the principal city of the Lewistown, PA Micropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Mifflin County. It lies along the Juniata River, 61 miles (98 km) northwest of Harrisburg. The number of people living in the borough in 1900 was 4,451; in 1910, 8,166; in 1940, 13,017; and in 2000, 8,998. The population was 8,338 at the 2010 census. Of the four communities in the United States named "Lewistown", this borough is the largest.

The resulting split Democratic vote enabled the Anti-Masons, with Whig support, to finally elect Ritner, who had lost the previous two elections.^[1]

Whig Party (United States) Political party in the USA in the 19th century

The Whig Party was a political party active in the middle of the 19th century in the United States. Four presidents belonged to the party while in office. It emerged in the 1830s as the leading opponent of Jacksonian democracy, pulling together former members of the National Republican and the Anti-Masonic Party. It had some links to the upscale traditions of the long-defunct Federalist Party. Along with the rival Democratic Party, it was central to the Second Party System from the early 1840s to the mid-1860s. It originally formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic Party. It became a formal party within his second term, and slowly receded influence after 1854. In particular terms, the Whigs supported the supremacy of Congress over the presidency and favored a program of modernization, banking and economic protectionism to stimulate manufacturing. It appealed to entrepreneurs, planters, reformers and the emerging urban middle class, but had little appeal to farmers or unskilled workers. It included many active Protestants and voiced a moralistic opposition to the Jacksonian Indian removal. Party founders chose the "Whig" name to echo the American Whigs of the 18th century who fought for independence. The political philosophy of the American Whig Party was not related to the British Whig party. Historian Frank Towers has specified a deep ideological divide:

Tension between the "Wolves" and the "Mules" lasted until the mid-1840s.^[2]

Results

Pennsylvania gubernatorial election, 1835^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Anti-Masonic	Joseph Ritner	94,023	46.91
	Independent Democratic	George Wolf	65,804	32.83
	Democratic	Henry A. P. Muhlenberg	40,586	20.25
Total votes			200,413	100.00

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The Anti-Masonic Party, also known as the Anti-Masonic Movement, was the first third party in the United States. It strongly opposed Freemasonry as a single-issue party and later aspired to become a major party by expanding its platform to take positions on other issues. After emerging as a political force in the late 1820s, most of the Anti-Masonic Party's members joined the Whig Party in the 1830s and the party disappeared after 1838.

1836 United States presidential election

The United States presidential election of 1836 was the 13th quadrennial presidential election, held from November 3 to December 7, 1836. In the third consecutive election victory for the Democratic Party, incumbent Vice President Martin Van Buren defeated four candidates fielded by the nascent Whig Party.

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David Rittenhouse Porter was the ninth Governor of Pennsylvania and served from 1839 to 1845. He is the father of Horace Porter, the United States Ambassador to France from 1897 to 1905.

William Fisher Packer was an American politician from Pennsylvania who served as the 14th Governor of Pennsylvania from 1858 to 1861.

The Buckshot War was the outbreak of unrest in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania that transpired after the Pennsylvania gubernatorial and legislative elections in 1838 when both the Whig and Democratic parties claimed control over the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.

The Lieutenant Governor is a constitutional officer of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The lieutenant governor is elected for a four-year term in the same year as the governor. Each party picks a candidate for lieutenant governor independently of the gubernatorial primary. The winners of the party primaries are then teamed together as a single ticket for the fall general election. Democrat John Fetterman is the incumbent lieutenant governor. The lieutenant governor presides in the Senate and is first in the line of succession to the governor; in the event the governor dies, resigns, or otherwise leaves office, the lieutenant governor becomes governor.

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1838 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election

The Pennsylvania gubernatorial election of 1838 was between two candidates. Incumbent Governor Joseph Ritner ran as an Anti-Masonic candidate. Ritner's defeat by Democrat David R. Porter prompted the Buckshot War.

1841 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election

The Pennsylvania gubernatorial election of 1841 was between two candidates. Incumbent Governor David R. Porter ran for the Democratic Party, and defeated John Banks.

The Pennsylvania gubernatorial election of 1832 occurred on November 6, 1832. Incumbent Governor George Wolf, a Democrat, defeated Anti-Masonic candidate Joseph Ritner to win re-election.

Mary Isenhour is an American political strategist, campaign manager, and government official. She was the Chief of Staff for Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf. Prior to the Wolf administration, Isenhour served executive director of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, was state director of Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign, and assisted with the successful campaigns of U.S. Senator Bob Casey, Jr. and Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell. She now serves with the firm Rooney Novak Isenhour, LLC.

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References

1 2 Klein, Philip S; Hoogenboom, Ari Arthur (2010). A History of Pennsylvania. Penn State Press. pp. 146–147.
↑ Hall, Kermit (1979). The Politics of Justice: Lower Federal Judicial Selection and the Second Party System, 1829-1861. University of Nebraska Press. p. 37.
↑ Miller, Herman P; Baker, W. Harry, eds. (1911). Smull's Legislative Handbook and Manual of the State of Pennsylvania. Harrisburg: State of Pennsylvania. p. 542.

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[Klein-1] 1 2 Klein, Philip S; Hoogenboom, Ari Arthur (2010). A History of Pennsylvania. Penn State Press. pp. 146–147.

[2] Hall, Kermit (1979). The Politics of Justice: Lower Federal Judicial Selection and the Second Party System, 1829-1861. University of Nebraska Press. p. 37.

[3] Miller, Herman P; Baker, W. Harry, eds. (1911). Smull's Legislative Handbook and Manual of the State of Pennsylvania. Harrisburg: State of Pennsylvania. p. 542.

Pennsylvania gubernatorial election, 1835

Contents

Democratic schism

Results

Related Research Articles

References