1849 Wisconsin gubernatorial election
{{short description|none}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2023}}
{{Infobox election
| election_name = 1849 Wisconsin gubernatorial election
| type = presidential
| previous_election = 1848 Wisconsin gubernatorial election
| previous_year = 1848
| next_election = 1851 Wisconsin gubernatorial election
| next_year = 1851
| election_date = November 6, 1849
| image1 = Nelson Dewey (cropped).jpg
| nominee1 = Nelson Dewey
| party1 = Democratic Party (United States)
| popular_vote1 = 16,649
| percentage1 = 52.42%
| image2 = Collins alexander l 1880 Crop.png
| nominee2 = Alexander L. Collins
| party2 = Whig Party (United States)
| popular_vote2 = 11,317
| percentage2 = 35.63%
| image3 = Warren P. Chase Ambrotype Crop.jpg
| nominee3 = Warren Chase
| party3 = Free Soil Party
| popular_vote3 = 3,761
| percentage3 = 11.84%
| map_image = 1849 Wisconsin gubernatorial election results map by county.svg
| map_size = 250px
| map_caption = County results
Dewey: {{legend0|#7996E2|50–60%}} {{legend0|#6674DE|60–70%}} {{legend0|#584CDE|70–80%}}
Collins: {{legend0|#FEE391|40–50%}} {{legend0|#FED463|50–60%}}
Chase: {{legend0|#d4dcaf|30–40%}}
| title = Governor
| before_election = Nelson Dewey
| before_party = Democratic Party (United States)
| after_election = Nelson Dewey
| after_party = Democratic Party (United States)
}}
{{ElectionsWI}}
The 1849 Wisconsin gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 1849. Democrat Nelson Dewey won the election with 52% of the vote, winning his second term as Governor of Wisconsin. Dewey defeated Whig Party candidate Alexander L. Collins and Free Soil Party candidate Warren Chase.{{cite book |author=Joint Committee on Legislative Organization, Wisconsin Legislature |date=2015 |title=Wisconsin Blue Book 2015–2016 |location=Madison, Wisconsin |publisher=Wisconsin Department of Administration |pages=699–701 |isbn=978-0-9752820-7-6}}
This was the second Wisconsin gubernatorial election, and the first election for a full two-year gubernatorial term.
Nominations
=Democratic party=
Nelson Dewey was the incumbent governor, having been elected in the 1848 election. He 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.{{cite report|url=http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/WI.WIBlueBk1882 |title= The Blue Book of the state of Wisconsin, 1882 |year= 1882 |editor-last=Heg |editor-first= J.E.|publisher= State of Wisconsin |chapter= Annals of the legislature |pages=161–171, 175–176 |access-date= June 15, 2019}}
==Other candidates==
Although Dewey was renominated on the first ballot, two other names were placed in candidacy for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination at the 1849 State Democratic Convention, held in Madison:
- Harrison Carroll Hobart, of Sheboygan, was a state senator and prominent lawyer. He had also served in the Wisconsin Territorial House of Representatives.
- William Rudolph Smith, of Mineral Point, had been a colonel in the War of 1812 and served in the Pennsylvania General Assembly before moving to the Wisconsin Territory. In Wisconsin, he negotiated an important treaty with the Chippewa, obtaining a portion of their land, and had been a delegate to Wisconsin's first constitutional convention.
==Nomination==
{{Election box begin no change| title=1849 Wisconsin Democratic convention{{cite news|url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/56827988/wisconsin-democratic-convention-1849/ |title= Proceedings of the Democratic State Convention |newspaper= Wisconsin Argus |location= Madison, Wisconsin |date= September 18, 1849 | page= 2 |access-date= August 6, 2020 |via= Newspapers.com }}}}
| colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| Vote of the Wisconsin Democratic Convention, September 6, 1849
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change|
|party = Democratic Party (United States)
|candidate = Nelson Dewey (incumbent)
|votes = 37
|percentage = 58.73%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change|
|party = Democratic Party (United States)
|candidate = Harrison Carroll Hobart
|votes = 13
|percentage = 20.63%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change|
|party = Democratic Party (United States)
|candidate = William Rudolph Smith
|votes = 11
|percentage = 17.46%
}}
{{Election box candidate no party link no change|
|party =
|candidate = Blank
|votes = 1
|percentage = 1.59%
}}
{{Election box plurality no change|
|votes = 24
|percentage = 38.09%
}}
{{Election box total no change
|votes = 63
|percentage = 100.0%
}}
{{Election box end}}
=Whig party=
Alexander L. Collins was a prominent lawyer in Madison. At the time of the 1849 election, he was a member of the first Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin. He had been the Whig Party candidate for United States Congress in the 2nd congressional district in 1848. He also served in the Wisconsin Territorial Legislature from 1846 until the territorial government was replaced by the state government in 1848.{{cite book |last=Reed |first=Parker McCobb |url=https://archive.org/details/benchandbarwisc01reedgoog |title=The Bench and Bar of Wisconsin |publisher=P. M. Reed |year=1882 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/benchandbarwisc01reedgoog/page/n131 105], 106 |access-date=June 17, 2019}}
=Free Soil party=
Warren Chase was, at the time of the 1849 election, a member of the Wisconsin State Senate, having been elected on the Democratic Party ticket in 1848. He represented Fond du Lac and Winnebago counties. Chase was an abolitionist and temperance advocate, and was one of only three delegates to attend both the first and second Wisconsin constitutional conventions. Chase was also notable for his fourierist beliefs, having participated in the founding of the Wisconsin phalanx (commune) at Ceresco, Wisconsin.
Results
{{Election box begin | title=1849 Wisconsin gubernatorial election{{cite book|title=The Wisconsin Almanac and Annual Register for the Year 1856|section=Votes Cast for Governor|author=Wisconsin Secretary of State|location=Milwaukee, Wisconsin|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hxipey&seq=69}}
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link|
|party = Democratic Party (United States)
|candidate = Nelson Dewey (incumbent)
|votes = 16,649
|percentage = 52.42%
|change = -3.20%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|
|party = Whig Party (United States)
|candidate = Alexander L. Collins
|votes = 11,317
|percentage = 35.63%
|change = -5.50%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|
|party = Free Soil Party
|candidate = Warren Chase
|votes = 3,761
|percentage = 11.84%
|change =
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|
|party =
|candidate = Scattering
|votes = 32
|percentage = 0.10%
|change =
}}
{{Election box majority|
|votes = 5,332
|percentage = 16.79%
|change =
}}
{{Election box total
|votes = 31,759
|percentage = 100.00%
|change =
}}
{{Election box hold with party link|
|winner = Democratic Party (United States)
|swing = +2.30%
}}
{{Election box end}}
=Results by county=
| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" | |||||||||||
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | County
! colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | Nelson Dewey ! colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | Alexander L. Collins ! colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | Warren Chase ! colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | Scattering ! colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | Margin ! rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | Total votes cast | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| style="text-align:center;" data-sort-type="number"| #
! style="text-align:center;" data-sort-type="number"| % ! style="text-align:center;" data-sort-type="number"| # ! style="text-align:center;" data-sort-type="number"| % ! style="text-align:center;" data-sort-type="number"| # ! style="text-align:center;" data-sort-type="number"| % ! style="text-align:center;" data-sort-type="number"| # ! style="text-align:center;" data-sort-type="number"| % ! style="text-align:center;" data-sort-type="number"| # ! style="text-align:center;" data-sort-type="number"| % | |||||||||||
| style="text-align:center;"
| {{party shading/Democratic}}|Brown | {{party shading/Democratic}}|281 | {{party shading/Democratic}}|61.76% | {{party shading/Whig}}|171 | {{party shading/Whig}}|37.58% | {{party shading/Free Soil}}|3 | {{party shading/Free Soil}}|0.66% | {{party shading/Others}}|0 | {{party shading/Others}}|0.00% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|110 | {{party shading/Democratic}}|24.18% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|455 | |||||||||||
| style="text-align:center;"
| {{party shading/Democratic}}|Calumet | {{party shading/Democratic}}|135 | {{party shading/Democratic}}|53.36% | {{party shading/Whig}}|117 | {{party shading/Whig}}|46.25% | {{party shading/Free Soil}}|1 | {{party shading/Free Soil}}|0.40% | {{party shading/Others}}|0 | {{party shading/Others}}|0.00% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|18 | {{party shading/Democratic}}|7.11% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|253 | |||||||||||
| style="text-align:center;"
| {{party shading/Whig}}|Columbia | {{party shading/Democratic}}|410 | {{party shading/Democratic}}|47.79% | {{party shading/Whig}}|432 | {{party shading/Whig}}|50.35% | {{party shading/Free Soil}}|16 | {{party shading/Free Soil}}|1.86% | {{party shading/Others}}|0 | {{party shading/Others}}|0.00% | {{party shading/Whig}} | |||||||||||
| 22
| {{party shading/Whig}} | |||||||||||
| 2.56%
| {{party shading/Whig}}|858 | |||||||||||
| style="text-align:center;"
| {{party shading/Democratic}}|Crawford | {{party shading/Democratic}}|152 | {{party shading/Democratic}}|82.61% | {{party shading/Whig}}|32 | {{party shading/Whig}}|17.39% | {{party shading/Free Soil}}|0 | {{party shading/Free Soil}}|0.00% | {{party shading/Others}}|0 | {{party shading/Others}}|0.00% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|120 | {{party shading/Democratic}}|65.22% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|184 | |||||||||||
| style="text-align:center;"
| {{party shading/Whig}}|Dane | {{party shading/Democratic}}|666 | {{party shading/Democratic}}|43.67% | {{party shading/Whig}}|759 | {{party shading/Whig}}|49.77% | {{party shading/Free Soil}}|86 | {{party shading/Free Soil}}|5.64% | {{party shading/Others}}|14 | {{party shading/Others}}|0.92% | {{party shading/Whig}} | |||||||||||
| 93
| {{party shading/Whig}} | |||||||||||
| 6.10%
| {{party shading/Whig}}|1,525 | |||||||||||
| style="text-align:center;"
| {{party shading/Democratic}}|Dodge | {{party shading/Democratic}}|1,255 | {{party shading/Democratic}}|60.31% | {{party shading/Whig}}|714 | {{party shading/Whig}}|34.31% | {{party shading/Free Soil}}|112 | {{party shading/Free Soil}}|5.38% | {{party shading/Others}}|0 | {{party shading/Others}}|0.00% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|541 | {{party shading/Democratic}}|26.00% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|2,081 | |||||||||||
| style="text-align:center;"
| {{party shading/Democratic}}|Fond du Lac | {{party shading/Democratic}}|640 | {{party shading/Democratic}}|51.24% | {{party shading/Whig}}|389 | {{party shading/Whig}}|31.14% | {{party shading/Free Soil}}|220 | {{party shading/Free Soil}}|17.61% | {{party shading/Others}}|0 | {{party shading/Others}}|0.00% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|251 | {{party shading/Democratic}}|20.10% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|1,249 | |||||||||||
| style="text-align:center;"
| {{party shading/Whig}}|Grant | {{party shading/Democratic}}|1,030 | {{party shading/Democratic}}|47.93% | {{party shading/Whig}}|1,103 | {{party shading/Whig}}|51.33% | {{party shading/Free Soil}}|16 | {{party shading/Free Soil}}|0.74% | {{party shading/Others}}|0 | {{party shading/Others}}|0.00% | {{party shading/Whig}} | |||||||||||
| 73
| {{party shading/Whig}} | |||||||||||
| 3.40%
| {{party shading/Whig}}|2,149 | |||||||||||
| style="text-align:center;"
| {{party shading/Democratic}}|Green | {{party shading/Democratic}}|443 | {{party shading/Democratic}}|55.38% | {{party shading/Whig}}|324 | {{party shading/Whig}}|40.50% | {{party shading/Free Soil}}|26 | {{party shading/Free Soil}}|3.25% | {{party shading/Others}}|7 | {{party shading/Others}}|0.88% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|119 | {{party shading/Democratic}}|14.88% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|800 | |||||||||||
| style="text-align:center;"
| {{party shading/Democratic}}|Iowa | {{party shading/Democratic}}|688 | {{party shading/Democratic}}|51.00% | {{party shading/Whig}}|655 | {{party shading/Whig}}|48.55% | {{party shading/Free Soil}}|6 | {{party shading/Free Soil}}|0.44% | {{party shading/Others}}|0 | {{party shading/Others}}|0.00% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|33 | {{party shading/Democratic}}|2.45% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|1,349 | |||||||||||
| style="text-align:center;"
| {{party shading/Democratic}}|Jefferson | {{party shading/Democratic}}|897 | {{party shading/Democratic}}|52.58% | {{party shading/Whig}}|649 | {{party shading/Whig}}|38.04% | {{party shading/Free Soil}}|158 | {{party shading/Free Soil}}|9.26% | {{party shading/Others}}|2 | {{party shading/Others}}|0.12% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|248 | {{party shading/Democratic}}|14.54% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|1,706 | |||||||||||
| style="text-align:center;"
| {{party shading/Democratic}}|Lafayette | {{party shading/Democratic}}|1,094 | {{party shading/Democratic}}|72.45% | {{party shading/Whig}}|416 | {{party shading/Whig}}|27.55% | {{party shading/Free Soil}}|0 | {{party shading/Free Soil}}|0.00% | {{party shading/Others}}|0 | {{party shading/Others}}|0.00% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|678 | {{party shading/Democratic}}|44.90% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|1,510 | |||||||||||
| style="text-align:center;"
| {{party shading/Democratic}}|Marquette | {{party shading/Democratic}}|259 | {{party shading/Democratic}}|40.72% | {{party shading/Whig}}|247 | {{party shading/Whig}}|38.84% | {{party shading/Free Soil}}|130 | {{party shading/Free Soil}}|20.44% | {{party shading/Others}}|0 | {{party shading/Others}}|0.00% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|12 | {{party shading/Democratic}}|1.89% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|636 | |||||||||||
| style="text-align:center;"
| {{party shading/Democratic}}|Milwaukee | {{party shading/Democratic}}|2,108 | {{party shading/Democratic}}|71.05% | {{party shading/Whig}}|718 | {{party shading/Whig}}|24.20% | {{party shading/Free Soil}}|141 | {{party shading/Free Soil}}|4.75% | {{party shading/Others}}|0 | {{party shading/Others}}|0.00% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|1,390 | {{party shading/Democratic}}|46.85% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|2,967 | |||||||||||
| style="text-align:center;"
| {{party shading/Democratic}}|Portage | {{party shading/Democratic}}|287 | {{party shading/Democratic}}|52.47% | {{party shading/Whig}}|259 | {{party shading/Whig}}|47.35% | {{party shading/Free Soil}}|1 | {{party shading/Free Soil}}|0.18% | {{party shading/Others}}|0 | {{party shading/Others}}|0.00% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|28 | {{party shading/Democratic}}|5.12% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|547 | |||||||||||
| style="text-align:center;"
| {{party shading/Free Soil}}|Racine | {{party shading/Democratic}}|761 | {{party shading/Democratic}}|32.03% | {{party shading/Whig}}|716 | {{party shading/Whig}}|30.13% | {{party shading/Free Soil}}|899 | {{party shading/Free Soil}}|37.84% | {{party shading/Others}}|0 | {{party shading/Others}}|0.00% | {{party shading/Free Soil}} | |||||||||||
| 138
| {{party shading/Free Soil}} | |||||||||||
| 5.81%
| {{party shading/Free Soil}}|2,376 | |||||||||||
| style="text-align:center;"
| {{party shading/Whig}}|Rock | {{party shading/Democratic}}|604 | {{party shading/Democratic}}|26.11% | {{party shading/Whig}}|1,168 | {{party shading/Whig}}|50.50% | {{party shading/Free Soil}}|541 | {{party shading/Free Soil}}|23.39% | {{party shading/Others}}|0 | {{party shading/Others}}|0.00% | {{party shading/Whig}} | |||||||||||
| 564
| {{party shading/Whig}} | |||||||||||
| 24.38%
| {{party shading/Whig}}|2,313 | |||||||||||
| style="text-align:center;"
| {{party shading/Democratic}}|Sauk | {{party shading/Democratic}}|355 | {{party shading/Democratic}}|60.79% | {{party shading/Whig}}|226 | {{party shading/Whig}}|38.70% | {{party shading/Free Soil}}|3 | {{party shading/Free Soil}}|0.51% | {{party shading/Others}}|0 | {{party shading/Others}}|0.00% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|129 | {{party shading/Democratic}}|22.09% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|584 | |||||||||||
| style="text-align:center;"
| {{party shading/Democratic}}|Sheboygan | {{party shading/Democratic}}|635 | {{party shading/Democratic}}|65.87% | {{party shading/Whig}}|322 | {{party shading/Whig}}|33.40% | {{party shading/Free Soil}}|7 | {{party shading/Free Soil}}|0.73% | {{party shading/Others}}|0 | {{party shading/Others}}|0.00% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|313 | {{party shading/Democratic}}|32.47% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|964 | |||||||||||
| style="text-align:center;"
| {{party shading/Democratic}}|St. Croix | {{party shading/Democratic}}|56 | {{party shading/Democratic}}|70.89% | {{party shading/Whig}}|21 | {{party shading/Whig}}|26.58% | {{party shading/Free Soil}}|0 | {{party shading/Free Soil}}|0.00% | {{party shading/Others}}|2 | {{party shading/Others}}|2.53% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|35 | {{party shading/Democratic}}|44.30% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|79 | |||||||||||
| style="text-align:center;"
| {{party shading/Free Soil}}|Walworth | {{party shading/Democratic}}|646 | {{party shading/Democratic}}|30.44% | {{party shading/Whig}}|667 | {{party shading/Whig}}|31.43% | {{party shading/Free Soil}}|806 | {{party shading/Free Soil}}|37.98% | {{party shading/Others}}|3 | {{party shading/Others}}|0.14% | {{party shading/Free Soil}} | |||||||||||
| 139{{efn|Chase's margin over Collins}}
| {{party shading/Free Soil}} | |||||||||||
| 6.54%
| {{party shading/Free Soil}}|2,122 | |||||||||||
| style="text-align:center;"
| {{party shading/Democratic}}|Washington | {{party shading/Democratic}}|1,610 | {{party shading/Democratic}}|84.38% | {{party shading/Whig}}|208 | {{party shading/Whig}}|10.90% | {{party shading/Free Soil}}|86 | {{party shading/Free Soil}}|4.51% | {{party shading/Others}}|4 | {{party shading/Others}}|0.21% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|1,402 | {{party shading/Democratic}}|73.48% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|1,908 | |||||||||||
| style="text-align:center;"
| {{party shading/Democratic}}|Waukesha | {{party shading/Democratic}}|1,319 | {{party shading/Democratic}}|55.94% | {{party shading/Whig}}|669 | {{party shading/Whig}}|28.37% | {{party shading/Free Soil}}|370 | {{party shading/Free Soil}}|15.69% | {{party shading/Others}}|0 | {{party shading/Others}}|0.00% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|650 | {{party shading/Democratic}}|27.57% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|2,358 | |||||||||||
| style="text-align:center;"
| {{party shading/Whig}}|Winnebago | {{party shading/Democratic}}|318 | {{party shading/Democratic}}|40.46% | {{party shading/Whig}}|335 | {{party shading/Whig}}|42.62% | {{party shading/Free Soil}}|133 | {{party shading/Free Soil}}|16.92% | {{party shading/Others}}|0 | {{party shading/Others}}|0.00% | {{party shading/Whig}} | |||||||||||
| 17
| {{party shading/Whig}} | |||||||||||
| 2.16%
| {{party shading/Whig}}|786 | |||||||||||
| Total | 16,649 | 52.42% | 11,317 | 35.63% | 3,761 | 11.84% | 32 | 0.10% | 5,332 | 16.79% | 31,759 |
==Counties that flipped from Whig to Democratic==
==Counties that flipped from Democratic to Whig==
==Counties that flipped from Democratic to Free Soil==
Notes
{{notelist}}