1847 Massachusetts gubernatorial election

The 1847 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 8.

Incumbent Whig Governor George N. Briggs was re-elected to a fifth term in office over Democrat Caleb Cushing. This was the last election in which the Whig Party received a majority of the vote; after the emergence of the Free Soil Party in 1848, Whigs only won pluralities before fading away entirely by the 1857 election.

Democratic nomination

Candidates

• Henry W. Bishop
• Caleb Cushing, former U.S. Minister to China and U.S. representative from Newburyport
• Isaac Davis, state senator from Worcester and nominee for governor in 1845 and 1846
• David Henshaw, former U.S. Secretary of the Navy

Convention

General election

Candidates

• Francis Baylies, former U.S. Chargé d'Affaires in Buenos Aires and U.S. representative from Taunton
• Caleb Cushing, former U.S. Minister to China and U.S. representative from Newburyport (Democratic)
• George N. Briggs, incumbent governor since 1844 (Whig)
• Samuel Edmund Sewall, Liberty nominee for governor since 1842 (Liberty)

Results

See also

• 1847 Massachusetts legislature

References