 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
 County results Gardner: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
The1856 Massachusetts gubernatorial election on November 4. IncumbentKnow-Nothing governorHenry J. Gardner was re-elected to a third term. He benefited greatly from a deal with the state's newRepublican Party, which agreed not to field a candidate in exchange for Gardner's support of presidential nomineeJohn 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 theKnow-Nothing won a Massachusetts gubernatorial election.
This was the last election in which the Whig Party participated.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whig | Luther Vose Bell | 215 | 56.58% | |
| Whig | Thomas Aspinwall | 104 | 27.37% | |
| Whig | Scattering | 61 | 16.05% | |
| Total votes | 380 | 100.00% | ||
The American Party convention was held atFaneuil Hall,Boston, on July 24, 1856.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Know Nothing | Henry J. Gardner (incumbent) | unanimous | ||
| 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 | 136,488 | 100.00% | |||
| Know Nothinghold | Swing | ||||
