The 1848 New York gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1848. Incumbent Governor John Young was not nominated for a second term in office by the Whig Party. The Whig nomination went to Hamilton Fish, who won the general election over split Democratic opposition following the defection of the "Barnburner" faction to form the new Free Soil Party.
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 County results Fish: 30–40% 40–50% 50–60% Dix: 30–40% 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% Walworth: 40–50% | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Background
editAt the Democratic state convention in Syracuse in September 1847, the "Barnburner" faction of the party, which was opposed to slavery, defected to hold their own convention. When they met at Herkimer on October 26, they did not nominate a ticket but instructed supporters to "vote as they must do when no regular nominations have been made", implicitly endorsing the Whig nominees.[1] The result was the election of the entire Whig ticket and the formation of a new anti-slavery party, the Free Soil Party.
The Anti-Rent movement, which had won reforms in the new Constitution of 1846, also began to dissolve following the 1847 elections.
Democratic nomination
editCandidates
edit- Greene C. Bronson, judge of the New York Court of Appeals and former New York Attorney General
- Zadock Pratt, former U.S. Representative from Prattsville
- Reuben H. Walworth, former Chancellor of New York
Results
editThe Democratic convention was held on September 5 in Syracuse. Reuben Walworth was nominated on the first ballot.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Reuben H. Walworth | 98 | 79.03% | |
| Democratic | Zadock Pratt | 23 | 18.55% | |
| Democratic | Greene C. Bronson | 3 | 2.42% | |
| Total votes | 124 | 100.00% | ||
Whig nomination
editCandidates
edit- Hamilton Fish, Lieutenant Governor of New York
- Joshua A. Spencer, mayor of Utica and former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York
- John Young, incumbent Governor since 1847
Results
editThe Whig state convention met on September 13 in Utica. Fish was nominated on the first ballot.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whig | Hamilton Fish | 76 | 61.29% | |
| Whig | Joshua A. Spencer | 28 | 22.58% | |
| Whig | John Young (incumbent) | 20 | 16.13% | |
| Total votes | 124 | 100.00% | ||
Free Soil and Liberty nominations
editThe Barnburner-Free Soil state convention was held on September 13 and 14 at the Court House in Utica. Former U.S. Senator John Adams Dix was nominated by acclamation. The Liberty state convention also met on the same day in the same city, and after passing resolutions, the delegates walked to the Court House and sat with the Free Soil convention as honorary members. However, they did not endorse the Free Soil ticket.[citation needed]
General election
editCandidates
edit- John Adams Dix, U.S. Senator (Free Soil)
- Hamilton Fish, Lieutenant Governor of New York (Whig)
- William Goodell, founder of the American Anti-Slavery Society (Liberty)
- Reuben H. Walworth, former Chancellor of New York (Democratic)
Results
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whig | Hamilton Fish | 218,776 | 47.55% |  1.93
| |
| Free Soil | John Adams Dix | 122,889 | 26.71% | N/A | |
| Democratic | Reuben H. Walworth | 116,811 | 25.39% | 20.82
| |
| Liberty | William Goodell | 1,593 | 0.35% | 2.82
| |
| Total votes | 460,069 | 100.00% | |||
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Charles W. McCurdy, The Anti-Rent Era in New York Law and Politics, 1839-1865, (UNC Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8078-2590-5, ISBN 978-0-8078-2590-7, page 378
- ^ Niles' National Register September 13, 1848 Vol. LXXIV No. 1911 (p. 162)
- ^ Niles' National Register September 20, 1848 Vol. LXXIV No. 1912 (p. 191)
- ^ Manual of the Corporation of the City of New York. 1852. p. 367.
Bibliography
edit- Dearstyne, Bruce W. (2015). The Spirit of New York: Defining Events in the Empire State's History. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. p. 56. ISBN 978-1-4384-5659-1 – via Google Books.
- Jenkins, John S. (1848). History of Political Parties in the State of New-York. Alden & Markham. p. 466.
- Jenkins, John S. (1851). Lives of the governors of the state of New York. Auburn, NY: Derby and Miller. p. 724.