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1848 Wisconsin gubernatorial election

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1848 Wisconsin gubernatorial election
May 8, 1848 1849 →
 
Nominee Nelson Dewey John H. Tweedy
Party Democratic Whig
Popular vote 19,538 14,449
Percentage 55.62% 41.14%

County results
Dewey:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%
Tweedy:      50–60%

Elected Governor

Nelson Dewey
Democratic

The 1848 Wisconsin gubernatorial election was held on May 8, 1848. This was the election for the first Governor of Wisconsin, which became a U.S. state that year, as it was held concurrent with a public referendum to ratify the Constitution of Wisconsin.

Democrat Nelson Dewey, of Grant County, won the election with nearly 56% of the vote. Dewey defeated Whig Party candidate John Hubbard Tweedy, of Milwaukee.[1] This is one of only three gubernatorial elections in which Walworth County has voted for a Democrat; it would not do so again until 1920.

Democratic Party

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Nelson Dewey was a prominent lawyer and real-estate investor in Grant County, Wisconsin. He did extensive business with the lead-mining industry, which was a major component of the economy of the Wisconsin Territory. He had been a member of nearly every session of the Wisconsin Territorial Legislature, first as a member of the Territorial Assembly, from 1838 to 1842, then as a member of the Territorial Council from 1842 to 1846. He served as Speaker of the Territorial Assembly in 1840, and President of the Territorial Council in 1846.[2]

Dewey was chosen as a compromise candidate at the Democratic Party Convention after delegates became deadlocked between the lead-mining region's preferred candidate, Hiram Barber, and the eastern region's preferred candidate, Morgan Lewis Martin.[3]

Other candidates

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Whig Party

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John Hubbard Tweedy was, at the time of the 1848 election, the non-voting representative of the Wisconsin Territory to the United States House of Representatives for the 30th Congress. He had been a delegate to Wisconsin's first constitutional convention, and had served in the Wisconsin Territorial Assembly during the second session of the third legislature (Winter of 1841-1842).[2]

Independent candidate

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Charles Durkee was a merchant, and one of the founders of Southport (now Kenosha, Wisconsin). He was a member of the Wisconsin Territorial Assembly for the first legislature (1836 to 1838).[2]

General election

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Results

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1848 Wisconsin Gubernatorial Election[4]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Nelson Dewey 19,538 55.62%
Whig John H. Tweedy 14,449 41.14%
Independent Charles Durkee 1,134 3.23%
Scattering 4 0.01
Majority 5,089 14.49%
Total votes 35,125 100.00%
Democratic win (new seat)

Results by county

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County[4] Nelson Dewey
Democratic
John H. Tweedy
Whig
Charles Durkee
Independent
Scattering
Write-in
Margin Total votes cast
# % # % # % # % # %
Brown 311 69.42 137 30.58 0 0.00 0 0.00% 174 38.84 448
Calumet 113 63.13 66 36.87 0 0.00 0 0.00% 47 26.26 179
Columbia 328 44.38 411 55.62 0 0.00 0 0.00% -83 -11.23 739
Crawford[a] 270 71.62 107 28.38 0 0.00 0 0.00% 163 43.24 377
Dane 1,098 58.94 751 40.31 13 0.70 1 0.05% 347 18.63 1,863
Dodge 1,116 59.55 706 37.67 52 2.77 0 0.00% 410 21.88 1,874
Fond du Lac 622 49.05 510 40.22 136 10.73 0 0.00% 112 8.83 1,268
Grant 1,199 44.92 1,467 54.96 3 0.11 0 0.00% -268 -10.04 2,669
Green 481 53.44 406 45.11 13 1.44 0 0.00% 75 8.33 900
Iowa[b] 847 53.20 745 46.80 0 0.00 0 0.00% 102 6.41 1,592
Jefferson 1,157 54.81 893 41.19 0 0.00 0 0.00% 369 17.61 2,095
Lafayette 1,232 58.81 863 41.19 0 0.00 0 0.00% 369 17.61 2,095
Marquette 230 45.01 258 50.49 23 4.50 0 0.00% -28 -5.48 511
Milwaukee 2,201 63.17 1,194 34.27 89 2.55 0 0.00% 1,007 28.90 3,484
Portage 160 51.12 153 48.88 0 0.00 0 0.00% 7 2.24 313
Racine 1,765 54.90 1,209 37.60 238 7.40 3 0.09% 556 17.29 3,215
Rock 1,394 48.04 1,475 50.83 33 1.14 0 0.00% -81 -2.79 2,902
Sauk 187 52.97 157 44.48 9 2.55 0 0.00% 30 8.50 353
Sheboygan 554 57.77 384 40.04 21 2.19 0 0.00% 170 17.73 959
Walworth 1,478 49.12 1,356 45.06 175 5.82 0 0.00% 122 4.05 3,009
Washington 1,598 85.87 263 14.13 0 0.00 0 0.00% 1,335 71.74 1,861
Waukesha 1,197 49.81 938 39.03 268 11.15 0 0.00% 259 10.78 2,403
Total 19,538 55.62% 14,449 41.14% 1,134 3.23% 4 0.01% 5,089 14.49% 35,125

Notes

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  1. ^ Includes Chippewa, La Pointe, and St. Croix counties
  2. ^ Includes Richland County

References

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  1. ^ Joint Committee on Legislative Organization, Wisconsin Legislature (2015). Wisconsin Blue Book 2015–2016. Madison, Wisconsin: Wisconsin Department of Administration. pp. 699–701. ISBN 978-0-9752820-7-6.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Heg, J.E., ed. (1882). "Annals of the legislature". The Blue Book of the state of Wisconsin, 1882 (Report). State of Wisconsin. pp. 161–171, 175–176. Retrieved June 15, 2019.
  3. ^ Toepel, M. G.; Kuehn, Hazel L., eds. (1960). "Wisconsin's former governors, 1848-1959". The Wisconsin Blue Book, 1960 (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. p. 73. Retrieved June 15, 2019.
  4. ^ a b Wisconsin State Assembly. "Appendix "A"". Journal of the Assembly of the First Legislature of the State of Wisconsin, Held at Madison June 5th, A.D. 1848. Madison, Wisconsin.