1852 United States House of Representatives election in Florida
The 1852 United States House of Representatives election in Florida was held on Tuesday, October 5, 1852 to elect the single United States Representative from the state of Florida, one from the state's single at-large congressional district, to represent Florida in the 33rd Congress. The election coincided with the elections of other offices, including the presidential election, the gubernatorial election, and various state and local elections.[1]
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| Elections in Florida |
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 Government |
The winning candidate would serve a two-year term in the United States House of Representatives from March 4, 1853, to March 4, 1855.
Candidates
Nominee
- Edward Carrington Cabell, incumbent U.S. representative
Nominee
- Augustus Maxwell, former state senator and former Florida Attorney General
Campaign
Despite a very popular tenure as a compromise candidate, by 1852, Cabell became very unpopular among Democrats in Florida after a number of smear campaigns accused him of supporting abolitionism. In reality, Cabell was one of Congress' biggest supporters of slavery, and was one of the spearheads behind the Compromise of 1850. Cabell also refused to support the Whig candidate for president, General Winfield Scott, as Scott was perceived to be a trojan horse for abolitionism among many Southern Whigs, most of whom supported President Millard Fillmore at the 1852 Whig National Convention.[2] Cabell opted instead to support the Democratic candidate, former New Hampshire Senator Franklin Pierce, drawing the ire of many staunch Whig supporters in Pensacola.[3][4]
By the time of the election, after guaranteeing that no Democrat would vote for him and Whig turnout for him would be significantly lower, Cabell narrowly lost the election to Maxwell by just 22 votes.
General election
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Augustus Maxwell | 4,590 | 50.12% | +3.64% | |
| Whig | Edward Carrington Cabell (inc.) | 4,568 | 49.88% | -3.64% | |
| Majority | 22 | 0.24% | -6.81% | ||
| Turnout | 9,158 | 100.00% | |||
| Democratic gain from Whig | |||||
References
- "Our Campaigns - FL At Large Race - Oct 05, 1852". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved 2020-10-17.
- Holt, Michael F. (1999-06-17). The Rise and Fall of the American Whig Party: Jacksonian Politics and the Onset of the Civil War. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-977203-2.
- "Mr. Cabell and the Whig State Convention". Pensacola Gazette. 1852-07-31. p. 2. Retrieved 2020-10-17.
- "Hon. E. C. Cabell". Pensacola Gazette. 1852-09-11. p. 2. Retrieved 2020-10-17.
- "FL At Large - 1852". Our Campaigns. Retrieved October 17, 2020.