# 1856 Massachusetts gubernatorial election

"none" is preferred when the title alone is adequate; see [[WP:SDNONE]]
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Class 1: 1788
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Massachusetts portal :
vte :
The 1856 Massachusetts gubernatorial election on November 4. Incumbent Know-Nothing governor Henry J. Gardner was re-elected to a third term. He benefited greatly from a deal with the state's new Republican Party, which agreed not to field a candidate in exchange for Gardner's support of presidential nominee John C. Frémont. With no serious challenger in the field against him, Gardner easily defeated Democrat Erasmus Beach and George W. Gordon, an American Party member running in support of the national ticket.
This was the last election in which the Whig Party participated.

## Whig convention
### Candidates

* Thomas Aspinwall, former U.S. consul at London (1816–54)
* Luther Vose Bell, Superintendent of McLean Asylum and candidate for U.S. representative in 1852 and 1854
1856 Massachusetts Whig convention :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Whig | Luther Vose Bell | 215 | 56.58% |
| | Whig | Thomas Aspinwall | 104 | 27.37% |
| | Whig | Scattering | 61 | 16.05% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 380 | 100.00% |

## Know-Nothing convention

The American Party convention was held at Faneuil Hall, Boston, on July 24, 1856.

### Candidates

* Henry J. Gardner, incumbent governor
1856 Massachusetts Know-Nothing convention :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Know Nothing | Henry J. Gardner (incumbent) | unanimous | |

## General election
### Candidates

* Erasmus Beach, nominee for governor in 1855 (Democratic)
* Luther Vose Bell, superintendent of McLean Asylum (Whig)
* Henry J. Gardner, incumbent governor (American)
* George W. Gordon ("Fillmore American")
* Josiah Quincy Jr., former mayor of Boston (Independent)

### Results

1856 Massachusetts gubernatorial election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Know Nothing | Henry J. Gardner (incumbent) | 92,467 | 58.92% | N/A |
| | Democratic | Erasmus D. Beach | 40,082 | 25.54% | 0.10 |
| | Know Nothing | George W. Gordon | 10,385 | 6.62% | N/A |
| | Whig | Luther Vose Bell | 7,075 | 4.51% | 5.23 |
| | Independent Republican | Josiah Quincy Jr. | 5,625 | 3.59% | N/A |
| | Scattering | All others | 1,291 | 0.82% | 0.63 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 136,488 | 100.00% | |
| | Know Nothing hold | Know Nothing hold | Swing | | |