1796 Virginia gubernatorial election

The 1796 Virginia gubernatorial election was held on 30 November 1796 in order to elect the Governor of Virginia. Incumbent Federalist member of Virginia's Executive Council James Wood defeated former Governor of Virginia Beverley Randolph, incumbent member of the Virginia House of Delegates representing Botetourt County Thomas Madison and William Clarke in a Virginia General Assembly vote.^[1]^[2]

General election

On election day, 30 November 1796, Federalist nominee James Wood won the election against his foremost opponent Beverley Randolph. Wood was sworn in as the 11th Governor of Virginia on 1 December 1796.^[3]

Virginia gubernatorial election, 1796^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Federalist	James Wood	115	66.09
		Beverley Randolph	56	32.18
		Thomas Madison	2	1.15
		William Clarke	1	0.58
Total votes			174	100.00
	Federalist gain from Democratic-Republican

^ "Virginia 1796 Governor". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved June 24, 2023.
^ "Gov. Beverley Randolph". nga.org. January 13, 2018. Retrieved June 24, 2023.
^ "VA Governor". ourcampaigns.com. October 14, 2018. Retrieved June 24, 2023.
^ Dubin, Michael J. (2003). United States Gubernatorial Elections, 1776-1860: The Official Results by State and County. Jefferson: McFarland & Company. ISBN 9780786414390.