1816 Indiana gubernatorial election

The 1816 Indiana gubernatorial election took place on August 5, 1816. Jonathan Jennings, the longtime U.S. delegate representing the Indiana Territory's at-large congressional district and former president of the Indiana constitutional convention, defeated the incumbent territorial governor Thomas Posey.^[2]

Quick facts Nominee, Party ...

1816 Indiana gubernatorial election

August 5, 1816 1819 â†’

Nominee Jonathan Jennings Thomas Posey Party Nonpartisan Nonpartisan Popular vote 5,211 3,934 Percentage 56.98% 43.02%

County results[1] Jennings:      80–90% Posey:      50–60%      70–80%      80–90%

Governor before election Thomas Posey[a] Nonpartisan Elected Governor Jonathan Jennings Nonpartisan

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This was the first gubernatorial election held following ratification of the Constitution of Indiana. The short turnaround between the adjournment of the constitutional convention on June 29 and the date of the election left a narrow window for electioneering.^[3] Of the roughly 12,000 eligible voters, more than 9,000 cast ballots for governor, indicating substantial popular interest in the election.^[4]

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. Jennings and Posey represented political factions held over from the territorial period.^[5] Jennings, a resident of Clark County, was the leader of the antislavery eastern faction, while Posey was associated with the proslavery western faction based out of Vincennes.^[6]

Posey, a Federalist and a slaveholder, was unpopular, politically isolated, and too ill to actively campaign. He had opposed the movement for statehood as premature, for which he was accused of seeking to retain his position as the unelected territorial governor.^[7] With his residence in Jeffersonville, he was too far from the territorial capital in Corydon to effectively respond to events. Jennings conducted a campaign typical of the era, speaking to voters directly at log rollings, militia musters, and other public functions, while maintaining the pretense of indifference to his election expected of nineteenth-century candidates.^[8] Posey's surrogates attempted to link Jennings to the recent unpopular congressional salary increase and the non-payment of militiamen during the War of 1812. Charges that Jennings had pursued statehood against the wishes of the western counties failed to mobilize the electorate against the new constitution. On Election Day, Jennings defeated Posey with strong support from voters in the eastern counties, while Posey performed well in the western part of the state.^[9]