Pennsylvania gubernatorial election, 1817

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Pennsylvania gubernatorial election, 1817
Flag of Pennsylvania.svg
  1814 November 4, 1817 (1817-11-04) 1820  

  WFindley.jpg Joseph Hiester.jpg
Nominee William Findlay Joseph Hiester
Party Democratic-Republican Federalist
Popular vote66,331 59,272
Percentage52.8% 47.2%

Pennsylvania Gubernatorial Election Results by County, 1817.svg

County results* for the 1817 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election. Yellow denotes counties won by Findlay, orange denotes counties won by Hiester.
  *Results unknown

Governor before election

Simon Snyder
Democratic-Republican

Elected Governor

William Findlay
Democratic-Republican

The Pennsylvania gubernatorial election of 1817 occurred on November 4, 1817. Incumbent Democratic-Republican governor Simon Snyder was not a candidate for re-election. Simon's preferred successor, State Treasurer William Findlay, was nominated as the Democratic Republican by a caucus of legislative leaders. Conversely, U.S. Representative Joseph Hiester was chosen as a candidate by the Democratic Republican's first popular nominating convention; he additionally gained the endorsement of the declining Federalists.

Simon Snyder Governor of Pennsylvania

Simon Snyder was the third Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, serving three terms from 1808 to 1817. He led the state through the War of 1812.

Pennsylvania Treasurer

The Pennsylvania State Treasurer is the head of the Pennsylvania Treasury Department, an independent department of state government. The state treasurer is elected every four years. Treasurers are limited to two terms.

William Findlay (governor) American politician

William Findlay was the fourth Governor of Pennsylvania from 1817 to 1820, and a United States Senator from 1821 to 1827.

The two men ran starkly different campaigns. Findlay sought to continue aggressive policies of infrastructural investment and economic intervention while maintaining the patronage system for governmental employment. Heister, a former Revolutionary War captain, called for a reduction in spending, an expansion in liberal economic policies, and an investigation into corruption in state government. Findlay was ultimately victorious by an approximately six point margin, as his dominance in the state's rural counties counteracted support for Heister in the cities.

Results

Pennsylvania gubernatorial election, 1817 [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic-Republican William Findlay 66,331 52.81
Federalist Joseph Hiester 59,272 47.19
N/A Others 11 0.01
Total votes125,614100.00

Related Research Articles

References

  1. "PA Governor General Election". OurCampaigns. Retrieved 3 July 2012.