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Agubernatorial election was held inVirginia on February 11, 1840. TheWhigspeaker of the Virginia House of DelegatesThomas Walker Gilmer defeated theDemocratic former member of theVirginia House of Delegates fromRockbridge CountyJames McDowell.[1]
The Whigs were the largest party in the legislature following the 1839 state elections, while theConservatives held the balance of power despite losing 11 seats. Both parties determined to cooperate in the gubernatorial election in order to defeat the Democratic candidate.[2] A caucus of the Democratic members of the legislature met prior to the election and nominated McDonnell,[3] who was popular with voters inWestern Virginia. McConnell had previously sought to succeedWilliam Cabell Rives in theUnited States Senate, but lost his bid for the Democratic nomination due to his past support for theabolition of slavery.[4]
The election was conducted by theVirginia General Assembly in joint session. No candidate had a majority on the first ballot, requiring eight consecutive rounds of voting. Gilmer was elected with a majority on the eighth ballot.[5]
| Party | Candidate | Ballot | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | |||
| Whig | Thomas Walker Gilmer | 77 | 79 | 79 | 80 | 82 | 82 | 82 | 83 | |
| Democratic | James McDowell | 66 | 76 | 80 | 80 | 80 | 52 | 40 | 50 | |
| Democratic | Joseph S. Watkins | 18 | 7 | 1 | N/a | 11 | N/a | |||
| Conservative | William M. Peyton | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | N/a | ||||
| Democratic | John Rutherfoord | 1 | N/a | |||||||
| Democratic | Andrew Beirne | N/a | 1 | N/a | ||||||
| Democratic | Joseph H. Samuels | N/a | 1 | N/a | ||||||
| Whig | Lewis Summers | N/a | 1 | N/a | ||||||
| N/a | Edwin S. Duncan | N/a | 1 | N/a | ||||||
| Democratic | John Winston Jones | N/a | 1 | N/a | 1 | |||||
| Democratic | Philip N. Nicholas | N/a | 1 | N/a | 19 | 41 | 11 | |||
| Democratic | John Brockenbrough | N/a | 2 | N/a | ||||||
| Whig | Thomas H. Bayly | N/a | 1 | 1 | ||||||
Total | 163 | 163 | 164 | 164 | 164 | 164 | 164 | 146 | ||
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