A special election in Indiana's at-large congressional district took place on August 5, 1822. Governor Jonathan Jennings defeated judge Davis Floyd to represent Indiana for the remainder of the 17th United States Congress.

William Hendricks won the 1820 election for this seat, but resigned in May 1822 to run for governor of Indiana in the 1822 Indiana gubernatorial election. Jennings was popular following his tenure as governor and entered the race at the behest of his supporters. On Election Day, Jennings defeated Floyd by a greater than two-to-one margin.

Political parties did not play an important role in Indiana congressional elections during the 1820s. Both Floyd and Jennings belonged to the eastern, antislavery political faction that came to power after 1809.

Candidates Jennings Jennings was born in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, in 1794 and read law in Washington, Pennsylvania. He moved to Indiana Territory in 1807, where he worked as an attorney at law. Jennings settled first in Vincennes, Indiana, where he briefly served as clerk of the territorial legislature, but left the capital sometime after 1808. He settled next in Corydon, Indiana, where he emerged as a leader in the eastern, antislavery faction in territorial politics. Jennings's victory in the 1809 United States House of Representatives election in Indiana Territory signaled the rise of the antislavery movement in Indiana and the decline of the formerly-dominant proslavery faction.

Jennings presided over the Indiana constitutional convention in 1816 and was elected governor later that year. As governor, Jennings negotiated the Treaty of St. Mary's and supported legislation to penalize kidnapping free people of color by slavecatchers. He resisted calls to increase taxes to address the state budget deficit, relying on issuing treasury notes and projected future revenues from the settlement of new lands to reduce the deficit over time.

Floyd Floyd was in Indiana Territory as early as 1801, when he opened a tavern at Clarksville, Indiana. He later moved to Corydon, Indiana, and represented Clark County in the territorial legislature in 1805. He was implicated in the Burr conspiracy, but received only a light sentence, and was subsequently elected clerk of the Indiana House of Representatives. He was a delegate to the Indiana constitutional convention from Harrison County, Indiana, and served as presiding judge of one of the Indiana circuit courts from 1816 to 1823.

An opponent of slavery, Floyd belonged to the antislavery faction in the Indiana Territory. He served as secretary of a Clark County convention that petitioned Congress to uphold the ban on slavery in Indiana in 1807. Following statehood, Floyd's antislavery judicial record earned him the nickname "the great emancipator." His attempts to secure the extradition of a Kentucky resident for the 1818 kidnapping of a freedom seeker living in Indiana brought him into conflict with the Kentucky General Assembly and the proslavery sheriff of Harrison County, Indiana, John Tipton.

General election Campaign Floyd was the first to announce his candidacy. Jennings entered the race several weeks later at the behest of his supporters in different parts of the state. The special election took place concurrently with regular elections for the 18th United States Congress, in which Jennings was a candidate to represent Indiana's newly-created 2nd congressional district. Floyd campaigned on his record and long residence in the state. Jennings's opponents distributed handbills attacking his official conduct, but these efforts did little to damage the governor's popularity.

Results

Results by county County Jonathan Jennings Davis Floyd Others Margin Total Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Bartholomew — Clark 800 74.63 267 24.91 5 0.47 533 49.72 1,072 Crawford 185 69.29 82 30.71 — 103 38.58 267 Daviess 268 61.05 171 38.95 — 97 22.10 439 Dearborn 1,006 63.83 570 36.17 — 436 27.66 1,576 Decatur 104 73.24 38 26.76 — 66 46.48 142 Dubois 121 79.60 31 20.39 — 90 59.21 152 Fayette 558 78.92 149 21.07 — 409 57.85 707 Floyd 321 89.66 37 10.34 — 284 79.33 358 Franklin 789 69.27 350 30.73 — 439 38.54 1,139 Gibson 57 14.21 344 85.78 — -287 -71.57 401 Greene 75 51.72 70 48.28 — 5 3.45 145 Harrison 724 65.46 382 34.54 — 342 30.92 1,106 Henry 34 34.34 65 65.66 — -31 -31.31 99 Jackson 460 80.56 111 19.44 — 349 61.12 571 Jefferson 392 34.66 739 65.34 — -347 -30.68 1,131 Jennings 351 93.85 23 6.15 — 328 87.70 374 Knox 158 25.82 454 74.18 — -296 -48.37 612 Lawrence 384 90.14 42 9.86 — 342 80.28 426 Marion 282 92.46 15 4.92 8 2.62 267 87.54 305 Martin 177 93.16 13 6.84 — 164 86.32 190 Monroe 296 71.67 117 28.33 — 179 43.34 413 Morgan 125 86.11 16 11.11 3 2.08 109 75.69 144 Orange 422 81.62 95 18.38 — 327 63.25 517 Owen 61 47.29 68 52.71 — -7 -5.43 129 Parke 225 100.00 — — 225 100.00 225 Perry 160 77.67 46 22.33 — 114 55.37 206 Pike 148 83.62 29 16.38 — 119 67.23 177 Posey 307 69.77 133 30.23 — 174 39.54 440 Putnam 81 81.00 19 19.00 — 62 62.00 100 Randolph 107 99.07 — 1 0.92 106 98.15 108 Ripley 335 90.54 35 9.46 — 300 81.08 370 Rush Scott 204 54.99 167 45.01 — 37 9.97 371 Shelby 192 87.27 28 12.73 — 164 74.54 220 Spencer 180 78.60 49 21.40 — 131 57.20 229 Sullivan 288 80.22 71 19.78 — 217 60.44 359 Switzerland 566 83.98 108 16.02 — 458 67.95 674 Union 286 63.98 161 36.02 — 127 28.41 447 Vanderburgh 117 49.37 120 50.63 — -3 -1.26 237 Vigo 412 98.56 6 1.44 — 406 97.13 418 Warrick 226 89.68 26 10.32 — 200 79.36 252 Washington 824 74.10 288 25.90 — 536 48.20 1,112 Wayne 724 63.01 425 36.99 — 299 26.02 1,149 TOTAL 13,531 69.32 5,971 30.59 17 0.09 7,560 39.19 19,519

See also List of special elections to the United States House of Representatives

References

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