1816 Indiana gubernatorial election
August 5, 1816
 
Nominee Jonathan Jennings Thomas Posey
Party Nonpartisan Nonpartisan
Popular vote 5,211 3,934
Percentage 56.98% 43.02%
Governor before election

Thomas Posey (governor of the Indiana Territory)
Nonpartisan

 Elected Governor

Jonathan Jennings
Nonpartisan

The 1816 Indiana gubernatorial election took place on August 5, 1816, under the provisions of the recently ratified Constitution of Indiana. It was the first gubernatorial election in the State of Indiana. Jonathan Jennings, the longtime U.S. territorial delegate from Indiana and president of the state's constitutional convention, defeated Thomas Posey, the incumbent territorial governor, with 56.9% of the vote.[1] The election was held concurrently with elections for lieutenant governor and members of the Indiana General Assembly.[2]

At the time of the election, the Democratic-Republican Party was dominant nationally following the War of 1812, and the politics of the new state were conducted on a nonpartisan basis. Geographic factionalism and the personal reputation of the candidates provided the ammunition with which the campaign would be fought.[3] In spite of this, the campaign was spirited: of the barely more than 12,000 eligible voters, more than 9,000 cast ballots in the gubernatorial election.[4]

Jennings was well known to the voting public, having represented the Indiana Territory in the United States Congress for more than half a decade. A resident of Clark County, he was associated with the Eastern faction in territorial politics and a leading opponent of slavery. In a campaign typical of the era, he presented his visits with voters as personal in nature in order to avoid the appearance of electioneering. Posey, the incumbent, was unpopular and, due to his absence from the territorial capital in Corydon, lacked the necessary political connections to wage an effective campaign. On election day, Jennings defeated Posey handily by a margin of well over 1,000 votes.[5]

Results

1816 Indiana gubernatorial election[6][7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Nonpartisan Jonathan Jennings 5,211 56.98% +56.98%
Nonpartisan Thomas Posey (incumbent) 3,934 43.02% +43.02%
Total votes 9,145 100.00%
Turnout 9,145 75.50%
Registered electors 12,112

Results by county

The official election returns appear to have been lost. The Vincennes Western Sun in its editions of August 17 and 24, 1816 gives the returns of four of the state's fifteen counties as follows.[8]

Jonathan Jennings
Nonpartisan		 Thomas Posey
Nonpartisan		 County total
County Votes Percent Votes Percent
Jackson 124 84.93 22 15.07 146
Knox 174 23.36 571 76.64 745
Orange 66 12.86 447 86.94 513
Washington 257 41.72 359 58.28 616

References

  1. ↑ Riker and Thornbrough, p. 137
  2. ↑ Riker and Thornbrough, p. 183
  3. ↑ Riker and Thornbrough, p. xvi
  4. ↑ Riker and Thornbrough, p. xii
  5. ↑ Riker, pp. 228-33
  6. ↑ Capitol & Washington
  7. ↑ Riker and Thornbrough, p. 137
  8. ↑ Riker and Thornbrough, p.137

Bibliography

  • Riker, Dorothy; Thornbrough, Gayle (1960). Indiana Election Returns: 1816-1851. Indiana Historical Bureau.
  • Riker, Dorothy (December 1932). "Jonathan Jennings". Indiana Magazine of History. 28 (4): 223–239.
  • Foughty, Trevor. "1816 Indiana General Election Results: Governor". Capitol & Washington. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
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