The 1855 Vermont gubernatorial election for governor of Vermont was held on September 4. With the Whig Party defunct after 1854, incumbent

Stephen Royce Stephen Royce (August 12, 1787November 11, 1868) was an American lawyer, judge and politician. Originally a Democratic-Republican, and later a Whig Party, he became a Republican when the party was formed in the mid-1850s. Royce served as an ass ...

, who had run with the support of both Whigs and the new

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...

in 1854, ran as the nominee of the Republicans. The Democratic candidate was Merritt Clark, who had run unsuccessfully against Royce in 1854. James M. Slade, the Clerk of the

Vermont House of Representatives The Vermont House of Representatives is the lower house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The House comprises 150 members, with each member representing around 4,100 citizens. Representatives ar ...

was the nominee of the

Know Nothing The Know Nothing party was a nativist political party and movement in the United States in the mid-1850s. The party was officially known as the "Native American Party" prior to 1855 and thereafter, it was simply known as the "American Party". ...

Party, also called the American Party. With Vermont firmly in the anti-slavery camp and the Republican Party established as the main abolitionist party, Royce was easily re-elected with 58.4 percent of the vote to 22.9 for Clark and 8.4 for Slade. Royce took the oath of office and began a one-year term on October 13, 1855. The 1855 election also marked Republican extension of the " Mountain Rule" for the governor's and lieutenant governor's offices. As originally implemented, the Mountain Rule called for one U.S. Senator to be from the west side of the

Green Mountains The Green Mountains are a mountain range in the U.S. state of Vermont. The range runs primarily south to north and extends approximately from the border with Massachusetts to the border with Quebec, Canada. The part of the same range that is in ...

, and one from the east, and for the governorship and lieutenant governorship to rotate between east and west. With the Republican Party's expansion of the rule, it dictated that the governor and lieutenant governor would not only be from alternate sides of the Green Mountains, but that they would also be limited to two years in office.

General election

Results

References

{{1855 United States elections

1855 Events January–March * January 1 – Ottawa, Ontario, is incorporated as a city. * January 5 – Ramón Castilla begins his third term as President of Peru. * January 23 ** The first bridge over the Mississippi River opens ...

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

Gubernatorial A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political_regions, political region, ranking under the Head of State, head of state and in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of ...

October 1855 events