1789 Vermont Republic gubernatorial election

1789 Vermont Republic gubernatorial election

← 1788 October 8, 1789 (1789-10-08) 1790 →
 
Nominee Thomas Chittenden Moses Robinson Samuel Safford
Party Independent Anti-Administration Independent
Popular vote 1,263 746 478
Percentage 43.3% 25.6% 16.4%

Governor before election

Thomas Chittenden
Independent

Elected Governor

Moses Robinson
Anti-Administration

The Vermont Republic gubernatorial election of 1789 took place in September.[1] Though incumbent Governor Thomas Chittenden won a plurality of the popular vote over his main competitor, Vermont Supreme Court Chief Justice Moses Robinson, the Vermont Constitution required that the legislature choose if no candidate won a majority.[1]

The Vermont General Assembly met in Westminster on October 8 to count the votes of the freemen for governor of the Republic of Vermont, lieutenant governor, treasurer, and members of the governor's council.[1] Joseph Marsh was easily re-elected as lieutenant governor, and Samuel Mattocks was chosen for another term as treasurer.[1]

For the first time since the founding of the Vermont Republic in 1778, Chittenden found himself in political difficulty.[2] Shortly before the election, he had granted Ira Allen title to the town of Woodbridge (now Highgate) but had neglected to first obtain the approval of the governor's council.[2] Chittenden was accused of malfeasance for supposedly favoring a clique led by the Allen family with respect to land grants.[2]

As a result of the controversy, On October 9, the legislature chose Robinson, the first time Chittenden had not been elected governor.[1][2] Robinson served a one-year term, but the controversy over the Woodbridge land grant abated, and Chittenden was returned to office in 1790.[2]

Results

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1789 Vermont Republic gubernatorial election
Party Candidate Votes %
No party affiliation Thomas Chittenden (incumbent) 1,263 43.34
Anti-Administration Moses Robinson 746 25.60
No party affiliation Samuel Safford 478 16.40
No party affiliation Joseph Marsh 94 3.23
No party affiliation Ebenezer Marvin 87 2.99
No party affiliation Stephen R. Bradley 76 2.61
No party affiliation Jonathan Arnold 47 1.61
Pro-Administration Isaac Tichenor 35 1.20
Anti-Administration Gideon Olin 32 1.10
No party affiliation Paul Spooner 11 0.38
Anti-Administration Nathaniel Niles 10 0.34
No party affiliation Alexander Harvey 8 0.27
No party affiliation Noah Smith 6 0.21
No party affiliation Joseph Smith 5 0.17
No party affiliation Job Smith 4 0.14
No party affiliation John Strong 3 0.10
No party affiliation Timothy Brownson 2 0.06
No party affiliation Samuel Mattocks 2 0.06
No party affiliation Aaron Barlow 1 0.03
No party affiliation Daniel Held 1 0.03
No party affiliation Jonathan Hunt 1 0.03
No party affiliation Jonathan Robinson 1 0.03
No party affiliation Joseph Wood 1 0.03
Total votes 2,914 100

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e Walton, E. P., ed. (1875). Records of the Governor and Council of the State of Vermont. Vol. III. Montpelier, VT: J. & J. M. Poland. pp. 185–186 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ a b c d e Bushnell, Mark (December 21, 2008). "Chipman puts a hole in Allen myth". Rutland Herald. Rutland, VT.