1848 Wisconsin gubernatorial election

1848 Wisconsin gubernatorial election
	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

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

Hiram Barber, of Dodge County, was a businessman and investor. He had been a delegate to Wisconsin's first constitutional convention in 1846.^[2] Prior to moving to Wisconsin, he had been a Judge in Warren County, New York, for 14 years.
Morgan Lewis Martin, of Brown County, had most recently served as President of Wisconsin's second constitutional convention.^[2] Prior to this, he had served as the Wisconsin Territory's non-voting representative to the United States House of Representatives for the 29th Congress. He served in the Wisconsin Territorial Legislature from 1838 to 1844,^[2] and had served in the Michigan Territorial Legislature from 1831 to 1835, when the land which is now Wisconsin was a part of the Michigan Territory.

Whig Party

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

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

Results

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

County^[4]	Nelson Dewey Democratic		John H. Tweedy Whig		Charles Durkee Independent		Scattering Write-in		Margin		Total votes cast
County^[4]	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	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

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

References

^ 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.
^ ^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.
^ 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.
^ ^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.

[5] Includes Chippewa, La Pointe, and St. Croix counties

[6] Includes Richland County

[blue-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.

[bb1882-2] ^ ^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.

[journal-4] 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.

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