1811 Virginia gubernatorial election

none January 2025 December 2025 ly File:Flag of the United States (1795-1818).svg 1811 Virginia gubernatorial election Virginia Presidential no 1811 Virginia gubernatorial special election 1811 (special) 1812 Virginia gubernatorial special election 1812 (special) December 5, 1811 150x150px 1st ballot 2nd ballot File:George William Smith Governor of Virginia (3x4 cropped).jpg George W. Smith 98 100 File:Portrait of James Barbour, by Chester Harding (3x4 cropped).jpg James Barbour 97 97 Governor George W. Smith (acting) Democratic-Republican Party George W. Smith Democratic-RepublicanLampi lists no parties for this election.Lampi 2012a Lampi 2012b Kallenbach and Kallenbach list Smith as a Jeffersonian Republican during his tenure,Kallenbach Kallenbach 1977 613 while Sobel and Raimo do not indicate a partySobel Raimo 1978 1629–30. A gubernatorial election was held in Virginia on December 5, 1811.Virginia n.d. 13 The acting governor of Virginia George W. Smith defeated the speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates James Barbour.Lampi 2012b The previous governor James Monroe resigned on April 3, 1811, to accept an appointment as U.S. secretary of state. Smith succeeded to office in his capacity as president of the Council of State and acted as governor for the remainder of the unexpired term.Sobel Raimo 1978 1627, 1629 Barbour had been mentioned as a possible candidate in the preceding special election to succeed John Tyler Sr., but declined to challenge Monroe, who defeated Smith on the joint ballot. With Monroe's resignation, Barbour's allies now believed his election was assured.Lowery 1984 60 The election was conducted by the Virginia General Assembly in joint session.Sobel Raimo 1978 1629 No candidate had a majority after the first ballot, requiring a second round of voting.Lampi 2012a Smith was elected with a majority on the second ballot.Lampi 2012b Barbour was disheartened by the defeat and considered retiring from politics, but would shortly succeed Smith in the next election following the latter's death three weeks later.Lowery 1984 60–61 General election + 1811 Virginia gubernatorial electionLampi 2012a Lampi 2012b Candidate First ballot Second ballot Count Percent Count Percent George W. Smith (incumbent) 98 50.00 100 50.76 James Barbour 97 49.49 97 49.24 Others 1 0.51colspan=2 Total 196 100.00 197 100.00 Notes Bibliography Kallenbach Joseph E. Kallenbach Jessamine S. American State Governors, 1776–1976 1 1977 Oceana Publications Dobbs Ferry, NY https://archive.org/details/americanstategov0000kall Lampi Philip J. Virginia 1811 Governor, Special https://elections.lib.tufts.edu/catalog/hq37vp41x A New Nation Votes American Antiquarian Society 2025-10-23 2012a Lampi Philip J. Virginia 1811 Governor, Special, Ballot 2 https://elections.lib.tufts.edu/catalog/jw827c55h A New Nation Votes American Antiquarian Society 2025-10-23 2012b Lowery Charles D. James Barbour: A Jeffersonian Republican 1984 University of Alabama Press University, AL https://archive.org/details/jamesbarbourjeff0000lowe Sobel Robert Raimo John Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States 1789–1978 4 1978 Meckler Books Westport, CT https://archive.org/details/biographicaldire0004unse Virginia Journal of the House of Delegates [...] n.d. none Richmond https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433014925303&seq=1 collapsed Gubernatorial Category:Virginia gubernatorial elections Virginia Category:November 1811 Category:Indirect gubernatorial elections in the United States