A presidential election was held in Delaware on January 7, 1789, as part of the 1788–89 United States presidential election. The Federalists carried the state's three counties unanimously, choosing three electors who voted for George Washington.
Washington was widely expected to be the first choice of the Electoral College in the first elections held under the Constitution of the United States. Some uncertainty persisted concerning the choice of the first vice president, however, due partly to the electoral system established by Article II of the Constitution. Under this system, each elector voted for two candidates; the candidate with the largest majority was elected president, and the runner-up vice president. With Washington likely to become president, many observers expected John Adams, the U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom, to receive the other vote of most of the electors. Some, such as Alexander Hamilton, feared Adams's popularity would be so great as to result in a tied vote, throwing the election to the United States House of Representatives. Hamilton believed this event would be deeply embarrassing to the new government and personally intervened with the electors to urge them not to vote for Adams.
Voters in each county voted for one elector, with the three candidates with the most votes statewide being elected. John Banning, George Mitchell, and Gunning Bedford Sr. were each unanimously elected. All three subsequently voted for Washington and John Jay at the meeting of the Electoral College on February 4.
General election Summary Delaware chose three electors statewide, based on the cumulative vote in the state's three counties. Early election laws required voters to elect the members of the Electoral College individually, rather than as a block. The following table calculates the sum of all votes for electors in each county to give an approximate sense of the statewide popular vote.
Results by county + 1788–89 United States presidential election in Delaware by county County George WashingtonFederalists Margin Total Votes % Votes % Kent 100.00 New Castle 163 100.00 163100.00 163 Sussex 522 100.00 522 100.00% 522 TOTAL 685 100.00 685 100.00 685
Electors
Electoral College Presidential candidate Party Home state Electoralvote George Washington Independent Virginia 3 John Jay Federalists New York 3 Total votes 3 Source: A New Nation Votes: American Election Results, 1787–1825. American Antiquarian Society.
See also United States presidential elections in Delaware
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