1849 Wisconsin gubernatorial election

The 1849 gubernatorial election in Wisconsin 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.[1]

1849 Wisconsin gubernatorial election

November 6, 1849

Nominee Nelson Dewey Alexander L. Collins Warren Chase Party Democratic Whig Free Soil Popular vote 16,649 11,317 3,761 Percentage 52.42% 35.63% 11.84%

County results Dewey:      30–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Collins:      30–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Chase:      30–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

Governor before election Nelson Dewey Democratic Elected Governor Nelson Dewey Democratic

This was the second Wisconsin gubernatorial election, and the first election for a full two-year gubernatorial term.

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.[2]

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

Wisconsin Gubernatorial Election, 1849[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
Vote of the Wisconsin Democratic Convention, September 6, 1849
	Democratic	Nelson Dewey (incumbent)	37	58.73%
	Democratic	Harrison Carroll Hobart	13	20.63%
	Democratic	William Rudolph Smith	11	17.46%
	N/A	Blank	1	1.59%
Plurality			24	38.09%
Total votes			63	100.0%

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.

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.[4]

Results

Wisconsin Gubernatorial Election, 1849[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
General Election, November 6, 1849
	Democratic	Nelson Dewey (incumbent)	16,649	52.42%
	Whig	Alexander L. Collins	11,317	35.63%
	Free Soil	Warren Chase	3,761	11.84%
		Scattering	32	0.10%
Total votes			'31,759'	'100.0%'
	Democratic hold

Results by County

	Dewey Democratic		Collins Whig		Chase Free Soil		Margin		County Total[5]
County	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#
Brown	281	61.76%	171	37.58%	3	0.66%	110	24.18%	455
Crawford	152	82.61%	32	17.39%	0	0.0%	120	65.22%	152
Dane	666	44.08%	759	50.23%	86	5.69%	93	6.15%	1,511
Dodge	1,255	60.31%	714	34.31%	112	5.38%	541	26.00%	2,081
Fond du Lac	640	51.24%	389	31.14%	220	17.61%	251	20.10%	1,249
Grant	1,036	48.07%	1,103	51.18%	16	0.74%	67	3.11%	2,155
Green	443	55.38%	324	40.50%	33	4.13%	119	14.88%	800
Iowa	688	51.00%	655	48.55%	6	0.44%	33	2.45%	1,349
Jefferson	897	52.64%	649	38.09%	158	9.27%	248	14.55%	1,704
Lafayette	1,094	72.45%	416	27.55%	0	0.0%	678	44.90%	1,510
Marquette	259	40.72%	247	38.84%	130	20.44%	12	1.89%	636
Milwaukee	2,108	71.05%	718	24.20%	141	4.75%	1,390	46.85%	2,967
Portage	287	52.47%	259	47.35%	1	0.18%	28	5.12%	547
Racine	761	32.03%	716	30.13%	899	37.84%	138	5.81%	2,376
Rock	604	26.11%	1,168	50.50%	541	23.39%	564	24.38%	2,313
Sauk	355	60.79%	226	38.70%	3	0.51%	129	22.09%	584
Sheboygan	635	65.87%	322	33.40%	7	0.73%	313	32.47%	964
St. Croix	56	72.73%	21	27.27%	0	0.0%	35	45.45%	77
Walworth	646	30.49%	667	31.48%	806	38.04%	139	6.56%	2,119
Washington	1,616	84.61%	208	10.89%	86	4.50%	1,408	73.72%	1,910
Waukesha	1,319	55.94%	669	28.37%	370	15.69%	650	27.57%	2,358
Winnebago	318	40.46%	335	42.62%	133	16.92%	17	2.16%	786

References

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. 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. "Proceedings of the Democratic State Convention". Wisconsin Argus. Madison, Wisconsin. September 18, 1849. p. 2. Retrieved August 6, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
4. Reed, Parker McCobb (1882). The Bench and Bar of Wisconsin. P. M. Reed. pp. 105, 106. Retrieved June 17, 2019.
5. Dubin, Michael J. (2003). United States gubernatorial elections, 1776-1860. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland.