1861 Rhode Island gubernatorial election
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 County results Sprague: 50–60% Smith: 50–60% | |||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in Rhode Island |
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A gubernatorial election was held in Rhode Island on April 3, 1861. The incumbent Constitutional Union governor William Sprague IV defeated the Republican mayor of Providence James Y. Smith.[1]
Sprague won the 1860 election leading a coalition of Conservative Republicans, former Whigs, and Democrats that formed to oppose the Radical Republican gubernatorial candidate, Seth Padelford.[2] Following the election, his supporters coalesced in the Constitutional Union Party.[3] In concurrent elections for the United States House of Representatives, the Constitutional Union candidates defeated the Republican candidates in both Rhode Island congressional districts.[4]
General election
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Constitutional Union | William Sprague IV (incumbent) | 12,005 | 53.76 | |
| Republican | James Y. Smith | 10,326 | 46.25 | |
| Total votes | 22,331 | 100.00 | ||
| Constitutional Union hold | ||||
Notes
- ^ a b Dubin 2014, p. 1.
- ^ Smith 2006, p. 90.
- ^ Smith 2017, p. 184.
- ^ McLoughlin 1986, pp. 145–46.
Bibliography
- Dubin, Michael J. (2014). United States Gubernatorial Elections, 1861–1911: The Official Results by State and County. Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-5646-8.
- McLoughlin, William G. (1986). Rhode Island: A History. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
- Smith, Adam I. P. (2006). No Party Now: Politics in the Civil War North. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-534596-4.
- Smith, Adam I. P. (2017). The Stormy Present: Conservatism and the Problem of Slavery in Northern Politics, 1846–1865. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 978-1-4696-3389-3.