1838 Massachusetts gubernatorial election

none January 2025 September 2023 1838 Massachusetts gubernatorial election Massachusetts presidential No 1837 Massachusetts gubernatorial election 1837 1839 Massachusetts gubernatorial election 1839 1838 11 12 150x150px File:Unknown (American) - Edward Everett - 29.193 - Detroit Institute of Arts.jpg Edward Everett Whig Party (United States) 51,642 54.97% File:Marcus Morton (MHS).jpg Marcus Morton Democratic Party (United States) 41,795 44.49% 1838 Massachusetts gubernatorial election results map by county.svg 300px County resultsEverett: #FED463 50–60% #FE9929 60–70%Morton: #7996E2 50–60% Governor Edward Everett Whig Party (United States) Edward Everett Whig Party (United States) The 1838 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 12. Incumbent Whig Governor Edward Everett was re-elected to a fourth term in office, defeating Democrat Marcus Morton. General election Candidates Edward Everett, incumbent governor since 1836 (Whig) Marcus Morton, former acting governor and nominee since 1828 (Democratic) The newly formed temperance movement considered putting a candidate into the race but was satisfied that Everett had linked himself to their movement through his support and signature of a strict temperance law.Darling 1925 239–40 Campaign The Whigs presented a united front in opposition to "Van Burenism." Alongside Governor Everett, the campaign was led by Senator Daniel Webster, who Whigs identified as the key Washington opponent to Van Buren.Political Changes in Massachusetts, 1824–1848 Darling Arthur Yale University Press New Haven, Conn. 1925 https://archive.org/details/politicalchanges00darl/page/231/mode/1up 231 Behind the scenes, however, there was a growing divide between supporters of William Henry Harrison for president in 1840, including Webster, and those who supported Henry Clay, like Abbott Lawrence.Darling 1925 232 As it had in 1837, the Whig Atlas assailed Morton as an "office-seeking" judge who was "false to the spirit of the Constitution." The Atlas once more called for his impeachment, arguing that he was "annually tucking up his Judicial robes for a bout at political fisticuffs" and could not rule impartially. The journal also attacked new Collector of Boston George Bancroft and Benjamin F. Hallett as exercising "imperial control over the total Loco Focoism of the state."Darling 1925 232 The Democratic campaign was led by Bancroft, who focused the effort on a radical declaration of financial principles. He attempted to recruit John Quincy Adams to the campaign, arguing that as a national bank was now out of the question, "old Federalists and Whigs" should join with Democrats against the state banking system. Adams did not respond.Darling 1925 233 The Democrats once again pressed the issue of anti-Masonry, arguing that no member of the soon-defunct Anti-Masonic Party could join with the Whigs in support of the "overbearing despotism of Nicholas Biddle's Bank when... Antimasonry 'plumed itself on equal rights and free privileges among all,' and uniformly denounced corporate dictation or supremacy."Darling 1925 233 During the campaign, future U.S. Senator Isaac C. Bates allegedly led a gang of Northampton Whigs in serial assaults against Mr. Munn, a local Democratic newspaper editor.Darling 1925 234 Whig "disorganizers" were also alleged in Gloucester, where Robert Rantoul Jr. claimed that fisherman returning from months at sea for the election were misinformed that Joseph S. Cabot was the Democratic nominee for Congress, causing a large number of votes erroneously cast in his name.Darling 1925 235 Results Everett defeated Morton for the fourth consecutive year, but the margin narrowed from its peak in 1837. The overall turnout reached a record of 93,941, with nearly all of the gains going to Morton.Darling 1925 234 The result may have been attributable to Massachusetts's rapid recovery from the Panic of 1837, which was the major theme of the Whig campaign against Van Buren.Darling 1925 236 1838 Massachusetts gubernatorial electionMA Governor, 1838 https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=233012 OurCampaigns 17 May 2021 Whig Party (United States) Edward Everett (incumbent) 51,642 54.97% 5.34 Democratic Party (United States) Marcus Morton 41,795 44.49% 5.14 504 0.54% 0.20 93,941 100.00% See also 1838 Massachusetts legislature References Governor 1838 Massachusetts Category:November 1838