# 1851 Georgia gubernatorial election

Elections in Georgia :
Federal government
Presidential elections
1788–89
1792
1796
1800
1804
1808
1812
1816
1820
1824
1828
1832
1836
1840
1844
1848
1852
1856
1860
1868
1872
1876
1880
1884
1888
1892
1896
1900
1904
1908
1912
1916
1920
1924
1928
1932
1936
1940
1944
1948
1952
1956
1960
1964
1968
1972
1976
1980
1984
1988
1992
1996
2000
2004
2008
2012
2016
2020
2024
Presidential primaries
Democratic
2000
2004
2008
2016
2020
2024
Republican
2008
2012
2016
2020
2024
U.S. Senate elections
1789
1792
1793
1794
1795
1798
1799
1800
1804
1806
1813
1816
1818
1819
1823
1824
1825
1828
1834
1837
1840
1843
1846
1847
1852
1858
1867
1871
1873
1877
1879
1883
1885
1888
1891
1894
1896
1900
1902
1909
1913
1914
1918
1920
1924
1926
1930
1932
1936
1938
1942
1944
1948
1950
1954
1956
1960
1962
1966
1968
1972
1974
1978
1980
1984
1986
1990
1992
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
2008
2010
2014
2016
2020
2022
2026
2028
U.S. House elections
1789
1791
1792
1794
1796
1798
1800
1802
1804
1806
1808
1810
1812
1814
1816
1818
1820
1822
1824
1826
1828
1830
1832
1834
1836
1838
1840
1842
1844
1846
1848
1851
1853
1855
1857
1859
1868
1870
1872
1874
1876
1878
1880
1882
1884
1886
1888
1890
1892
1894
1896
1898
1900
1902
1904
1906
1908
1910
1912
1914
1916
1918
1920
1922
1924
1926
1928
1930
1932
1934
1936
1938
1940
1942
1944
1946
1948
1950
1952
1954
1956
1958
1960
1962
1964
1966
1968
1970
1972
1974
6
1976
1978
1980
1982
1984
1986
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
2006
4
2008
2010
2012
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
2024
Special elections
Senate
1796
1806
1807
1809
1813
1816
1818
1819
1821
1824
1828
1829
1833
1835
1837
1845
1880
1882
1894
1907
1911
1914
1922
1932
1972
2000
2020
House
At-large
1801
1802
1803
1806
1812
1813
1816
1819
1824
1829
1831
1835
1836
1837
1841
1843
1844
1st
1792
1827
1879
1906
1931
2nd
1827
1910
1913
1953
3rd
1846
1896
1932
4th
1871
1872
1918
1939
5th
1870
1929
1946
1977
2020
6th
1870
1932
1999
2017
7th
1958
1983
8th
1873
1882
1917
1940
9th
1875
1877
2010
10th
1895
1933
2007 :
State government
State elections
2000
2006
2008
2010
2012
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
2024
Gubernatorial elections
1825
1827
1829
1831
1833
1835
1837
1839
1841
1843
1845
1847
1849
1851
1853
1855
1868
1871 (sp)
1872
1876
1880
1882
1883 (sp)
1884
1886
1888
1890
1892
1894
1896
1898
1900
1902
1904
1906
1908
1910
1922
1924
1926
1928
1930
1932
1934
1936
1938
1940
1942
1946
1948
1950
1954
1958
1962
1966
1970
1974
1978
1982
1986
1990
1994
1998
2002
2006
2010
2014
2018
2022
2026
Lieutenant gubernatorial elections
1990
1994
1998
2002
2018
2022
Secretary of State elections
2018
2022
Attorney General elections
2014
2018
2022
State Senate elections
2010
2012
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
2024
House of Representatives elections
2010
2012
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
2024
Judicial elections
2024
Special elections
Governor
1871
1883
1948 :
Ballot measures
2004
Flag referendum
Amendment 1
2020
Amendment 1
Amendment 2
Tax referendum :
Atlanta
City elections
2009
Mayoral elections
1973
1977
1981
1985
1989
1993
1997
2001
2005
2009
2013
2017
2021
2025 :
Savannah
Mayoral elections
2015
2019
2023 :
Mableton
Mayoral elections
2023 :
vte :
The 1851 Georgia gubernatorial election was held on October 6, 1851, to elect the governor of Georgia. Howell Cobb, nominee for the newly formed Constitutional Union Party, defeated the Southern Rights Candidate, Charles McDonald.

## Background
### Old local party system

Until 1840 Georgian politics were dominated by two local parties, the Union Party and the State Rights Party. The Union party was the product of the forces of liberal democracy that brought white manhood suffrage and popular elections in the 1800s. The State Rights Party, on the other hand, was the successor to the Troup Party, a political anomaly whose conservative politics and organization were more closely related to those of the late 1800s.
After the 1836 presidential election the Union and State Rights parties slowly began to merge with the Democratic and Whig parties respectively. By the 1840 presidential election, the national Whig and Democratic parties had crystallized in Georgia, creating a strong two-party system that would last in the state for the next decade and a half.

### Mexican-American War

The Mexican-American War greatly intensified the national debate over slavery and created disruptions within the previously stable party lines. This rift occurred at the General Assembly of 1847 over the issue of the Wilmot Proviso. The Whigs presented resolutions denying that Congress had the power to restrict slavery in the territories. The Democrats were opposed to this and argued for an endorsement of the war and seizer of Mexican land. The debate dragged on for awhile as each side attempted to get the other to contradict the aims of their respective national party.
In the 1848 presidential election, Georgia Whigs endorsed the unpopular Zachary Taylor for president. Many Whigs revolted against the decision of the party, denouncing Taylor and criticizing Alexander Stephens for not supporting the Clayton Compromise. The only thing that saved the Whigs from breaking up entirely was when Stephens was gravely injured by a knife-wielding man twice his size. Ultimately, Taylor won the Georgia vote but only thanks to Democratic dissidents who found Democratic nominee Lewis Cass as the least satisfactory on the issue of slavery. However, the divisions within the Whig party would cost them more than they could handle.

### Compromise of 1850

The state of Georgia was once again absorbed into sectional debates during 1849 and 1850 that resulted in the Compromise of 1850. Both sides had come to see the Wilmot Proviso, admission of California, abolishment of slavery in Washington DC, and refusal of the North to follow the fugitive slave act as a threat to the South. The democrats passed an act forcing the governor to call a state convention to meet in the event of any of these. The Whigs were opposed to this as state convention would most likely make them the minority.
Around the same time, Alexander Stephens and Robert Toombs, leading members of the Georgia Whigs, had departed its ranks and entered into negotiations with Speaker Howell Cobb and other Democratic members to support compromise measures. Many political leaders discussed the need for a compromise spirt to preserve the union and save the South from "the miserable free soil policy of General Taylor." A movement to create a Union of the parties began at Macon and rapidly spread throughout the state.
An anti-union or "Resistance" group, also originating from Macon, led by prominent Democrats, old State Rights Whigs, and fire-eaters was formed.

### Georgia Platform

In response to the admission of California as a state and his mistaken belief that white Georgians supported the radical cause, Governor Towns scheduled elections for a December 1850 state convention in the hopes of launching the state toward secession. The resulting vote was essentially a referendum on the Compromise of 1850 and saw the pro-Unionists win with a nine-to-one majority.
In three caucuses from December 11–13, the Democratic and Whig state parties merged into the Constitutional Union Party.

## General election
### Results

1851 Georgia gubernatorial election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Union | Howell Cobb | 57,417 | 59.66% | |
| | Southern Rights | Charles McDonald | 40,824 | 40.34% | |