1788–89 United States presidential election in Connecticut

none June 2025 September 2023 1788–89 United States presidential election 1788–89 United States presidential election in Connecticut Connecticut File:Flag of the United States (1777–1795).svg presidential no 1792 United States presidential election in Connecticut 1792 January 7, 1789 160x160px File:George Washington Painting (3x4 close cropped).jpg George Washington Independent (United States) Virginia 7 File:Official Presidential portrait of John Adams (by John Trumbull, circa 1792) (farther 3x4 cropped) (cropped).jpg John Adams Federalists (United States) Massachusetts 5 File:Samuel Huntington - Charles Willson Peale (3x4 cropped).jpg Samuel Huntington Federalists (United States) Connecticut 2 President Office established George Washington Independent (United States) A presidential election was held in Connecticut on January 7, 1789, as part of the 1788–89 United States presidential election. The Connecticut General Assembly chose seven electors, all Federalists, who voted for George Washington.DenBoer Brown Hagermann 1986 47 Washington was widely expected to be the first choice of the Electoral College in the first elections held under the Constitution of the United States. Some uncertainty persisted concerning the choice of the first vice president, however, due partly to the electoral system established by Article II of the Constitution. Under this system, each elector voted for two candidates; the candidate with the largest majority was elected president, and the runner-up vice president. With Washington likely to become president, many observers expected John Adams, the U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom, to receive the other vote of most of the electors. Some, such as Alexander Hamilton, feared Adams's popularity would be so great as to result in a tied vote, throwing the election to the United States House of Representatives. Hamilton believed this event would be deeply embarrassing to the new government.Cunliffe 2002 7, 12–13 Through his associate, Samuel Blachley Webb, Hamilton personally intervened with the electors to urge them not to vote for Adams. Hamilton's appeal persuaded two unknown electors to withhold their votes from Adams, who received five votes from Connecticut to Washington's seven.DenBoer Brown Hagermann 1986 47 General election Electors The Council and the House of Representatives met separately on January 7 to conduct the election. The House nominated seven electors, of whom five were accepted without debate. The Council attempted to replace Thaddeus Burr and Jedediah Huntington with Abraham Davenport and George Wyllys on the list of electors, but withdrew its objection when the House refused to agree to the substitution.DenBoer Brown Hagermann 1986 47–48 Nominated by theHouse Nominated by theCouncil Appointed by theGeneral Assembly text-align:center Samuel Huntington Oliver Wolcott Sr. Richard Law Matthew Griswold Erastus Wolcott Thaddeus Burr Jedediah Huntington text-align:center Samuel Huntington Oliver Wolcott Sr. Richard Law Matthew Griswold Erastus Wolcott Thaddeus Burr Jedediah Huntington Abraham Davenport George Wyllys text-align:center Samuel Huntington Oliver Wolcott Sr. Richard Law Matthew Griswold Erastus Wolcott Thaddeus Burr Jedediah Huntington Electoral College When the electors met in Hartford, Connecticut, on February 4, all seven electors voted for Washington. Five of the seven also voted for Adams, but at Hamilton's urging, two electors instead voted for the governor of Connecticut, Samuel Huntington.DenBoer Brown Hagermann 1986 47, 49 Presidential candidate Party Home state ElectoralvoteEach elector voted for two candidates. George Washington Independent Virginia 7 John Adams Federalists Massachusetts 5 Samuel Huntington Federalists Connecticut 2 Total votes 7 Source: A New Nation Votes: American Election Results, 1787–1825. American Antiquarian Society.Lampi 2012 See also United States presidential elections in Connecticut Notes References Bibliography Cunliffe Marcus Schlesinger Arthur M. Jr. Israel Fred L. History of American Presidential Elections, 1789–2001 1 Chelsea House Publishers Philadelphia 2002 Elections of 1789 and 1792 1–56 https://archive.org/details/historyofamerica01schl/page/1/mode/2up DenBoer Gordon Brown Lucy Trumbull Hagermann Charles D. The Documentary History of the First Federal Elections, 1788–1790 2 1986 University of Wisconsin Press Madison https://archive.org/details/documentaryhisto0002unse_n1m7 Lampi Philip J. 1789 President of the United States, Electoral College https://elections.lib.tufts.edu/catalog/zp38wf06k A New Nation Votes American Antiquarian Society April 18, 2026 2012 Connecticut 1788-789 United States President