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County results Dinsmoor: 30–40% 40–50% 50–60% Sawyer: 40–50% | |||||||||||||||||||||
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The1851 New Hampshire gubernatorial election was held on 11 March 1851 in order to elect thegovernor of New Hampshire.IncumbentDemocratic governorSamuel Dinsmoor Jr. won re-election againstWhig nominee Thomas E. Sawyer andFree Soil Party nominee John Atwood. Since no candidate received a majority in the popular vote, Dinsmoor was elected by the New Hampshire General Court per the state constitution.[1]
On election day, 11 March 1851, incumbentDemocratic governorSamuel Dinsmoor Jr. won re-election by a margin of 8,967 votes against his foremost opponentWhig nominee Thomas E. Sawyer, but because no candidate received a majority of the popular vote, a separate election was held by theNew Hampshire General Court, which chose Governor Dinsmoor as the winner. He thereby retainedDemocratic control over the office of governor. Dinsmoor was sworn in for his third term on 3 June 1851.[2]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Samuel Dinsmoor Jr. (incumbent) | 27,425 | 47.19 | |
| Whig | Thomas E. Sawyer | 18,458 | 31.76 | |
| Free Soil | John Atwood | 12,049 | 20.73 | |
| Scattering | 179 | 0.32 | ||
| Total votes | 58,111 | 100.00 | ||
| Democratichold | ||||