1819 Indiana gubernatorial election

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1819 Indiana gubernatorial election

← 1816 August 2, 1819 1822 →
  JonathanJennings.jpg Christopher Harrison.jpg
Nominee Jonathan Jennings Christopher Harrison
Party Nonpartisan Nonpartisan
Popular vote 9,168 2,007
Percentage 81.45% 17.83%

Governor before election

Jonathan Jennings
Nonpartisan

Elected Governor

Jonathan Jennings
Nonpartisan

The 1819 Indiana gubernatorial election took place August 2, 1819, under the provisions of the Constitution of Indiana. It was the second gubernatorial election in the State of Indiana. Jonathan Jennings, the incumbent governor, was reelected with 81.5% of the vote to 17.8% for his nearest competitor, Lieutenant Governor Christopher Harrison.[1] The election was held concurrently with elections for lieutenant governor and members of the Indiana General Assembly.[2]

Jennings had been elected governor in 1816 following ratification of the state's first constitution. His administration pursued policies to promote internal improvements and the development of a state banking system, creation of a state university, and adoption of a personal liberty law to protect free people of color living in Indiana.[3] In 1818 he became embroiled in a controversy surrounding his acceptance of a federal commission to negotiate the Treaty of St. Mary's. The Indiana constitution specified that no person "holding any office under the United States ... shall exercise the office of governor."[4] Jennings' political enemies interpreted this to mean he had vacated the governorship by accepting the federal commission. Harrison accepted this interpretation, and declaring himself the rightful governor, appealed to the General Assembly for support. The legislature, however, declined to pursue impeachment proceedings against Jennings, and Jennings forcefully denied that he had relinquished his position as governor. In the general election, Jennings handily defeated Harrison and two other challengers.[5]

At the time of the election, the Democratic-Republican Party was dominant nationally and politics in the new state operated on a nonpartisan basis. The geographic factionalism of the territorial period had mostly dissipated. Campaigns were conducted through the circulation of handbills and other print materials and public appearances at militia musters, log rollings, and other community events.[6] As it was considered untoward to advocate directly for one's own election, candidates usually disguised their visits with voters as being personal in nature, claiming private business had brought them to the vicinity en route to some other destination.[7]

Results[]

1819 Indiana gubernatorial election[8][9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Nonpartisan Jonathan Jennings (incumbent) 9,168 81.45% +24.47%
Nonpartisan Christopher Harrison 2,007 17.83%
Nonpartisan Samuel Carr 90 0.71%
Nonpartisan Peter Buell Allen 1 0.01%
Total votes 11,256 100.00%

Results by county[]

The official returns appear to have been lost.[10] Unofficial results published in various newspapers in the weeks following the election include figures from most, but not all, counties. Significantly, the sum of the votes for Harrison in the surviving unofficial results is greater than the total recorded in the journal of the Indiana House of Representatives by a factor of 970 votes. The returns from Crawford and Lawrence were rejected by the General Assembly on technical grounds.[11]

The surviving results, as compiled in A New Nation Votes, are as follows.[12]

Jonathan Jennings
Nonpartisan
Christopher Harrison
Nonpartisan
Samuel Carr
Nonpartisan
Peter Buell Allen
Nonpartisan
County total
County Votes Percent Votes Percent Votes Percent Votes Percent
Clark 618 63.84% 311 32.13% 39 4.03% no popular votes 968
Crawford[a] unknown unknown unknown unknown unknown
Daviess unknown unknown unknown unknown unknown
Dearborn 1,015 86.31% 161 13.69% no popular votes no popular votes 1,176
Dubois unknown unknown unknown unknown unknown
Fayette 631 96.93% 20 3.07% no popular votes no popular votes 651
Floyd 311 98.11% 6 1.89% no popular votes no popular votes 317
Franklin 1,087 97.31% 30 2.69% no popular votes no popular votes 1,117
Gibson 85 19.54% 350 80.46% no popular votes no popular votes 435
Harrison 847 95.71% 38 4.29% no popular votes no popular votes 885
Jackson unknown unknown unknown unknown unknown
Jefferson 447 61.49% 260 35.76% 20 2.75% no popular votes 727
Jennings 189 96.92% 6 3.08% no popular votes no popular votes 195
Knox 144 27.53% 379 72.47% no popular votes no popular votes 523
Lawrence[a] unknown unknown unknown unknown unknown
Monroe unknown unknown unknown unknown unknown
Orange 401 70.23% 170 29.77% no popular votes no popular votes 571
Owen unknown unknown unknown unknown unknown
Perry unknown unknown unknown unknown unknown
Pike 99 72.79% 37 27.20% no popular votes no popular votes 136
Posey 410 81.51% 93 18.49% no popular votes no popular votes 503
Randolph[b] 1,101 78.20% 307 21.80% no popular votes no popular votes 1,408
Ripley 159 98.76% 2 1.24% no popular votes no popular votes 161
Spencer 169 96.02% 7 3.98% no popular votes no popular votes 176
Sullivan 249 71.97% 97 28.03% no popular votes no popular votes 346
Switzerland 516 98.85% 6 1.15% no popular votes no popular votes 522
Vanderburg unknown unknown unknown unknown unknown
Vigo 349 92.82% 27 7.18% no popular votes no popular votes 376
Warrick 125 67.93% 59 32.07% no popular votes no popular votes 184
Washington 335 34.68% 631 65.32% no popular votes no popular votes 966
Wayne[b] unknown unknown unknown unknown unknown

Notes[]

  1. ^ a b The returns from Crawford and Lawrence were rejected by the General Assembly
  2. ^ a b The figures for Randolph include the results from Wayne County.

References[]

  1. ^ Riker and Thornbrough, p. 138
  2. ^ Riker and Thornbrough, p. 186
  3. ^ Riker, p. 233
  4. ^ Constitution of 1816
  5. ^ Riker, p. 234
  6. ^ Riker and Thornbrough, p. xvi
  7. ^ Riker, p. 233
  8. ^ Capitol & Washington
  9. ^ Riker and Thornbrough, pp. 137-38
  10. ^ Riker and Thornbrough, p. 138
  11. ^ A New Nation Votes
  12. ^ A New Nation Votes

Bibliography[]

  • Riker, Dorothy; Thornbrough, Gayle (1960). Indiana Election Returns: 1816-1851. Indiana Historical Bureau.
  • Riker, Dorothy (December 1932). "Jonathan Jennings". Indiana Magazine of History. 28 (4): 223–239.
  • Foughty, Trevor. "1819 Indiana General Election Results: Governor". Capitol & Washington. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
  • Lampi, Philip. "Indiana 1819 Governor". A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787-1825. American Antiquarian Society. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
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