A presidential election was held in Maryland on January 7, 1789, as part of the 1788–1789 United States presidential election to elect the first President. Voters chose eight representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president. However, two electors did not vote.
Early elections were quite different from modern ones. Voters voted for individual electors, who were pledged to vote for certain candidates. Often, which candidate an elector intended to support was unclear. Prior to the ratification of the 12th amendment, each elector did not distinguish between a vote cast for president and Vice President and simply cast two votes.
All electors were pledged to Washington, but there was a Federalist slate which supported Robert Hanson Harrison for vice president and an Anti-Federalist slate which supported George Clinton for vice president. Additionally, there were two electors supported by both parties. Maryland chose the Federalist electors over the Anti-Federalist electors by a large margin. The two highest electors John Rogers and George Plater, were supported by both parties, with both electors receiving 7,665 and 7,573 total votes respectively. John Rogers voted for federalist Robert Hanson Harrison, while George Plater and one other elected candidate, William Richardson, did not cast a vote. Despite not casting a vote, George was still a federalist. The highest Federalist elector, Alexander C. Hanson, received 5,596 votes. The highest Anti-Federalist elector, Jeremiah T. Chase, received 2,278 votes.
Results by presidential candidates
Results by county +1788–89 United States presidential election in MarylandCountyGeorge WashingtonIndependentMarginTotal#%#% Anne Arundel678100.00%678100.00%678 Baltimore745100.00%745100.00%745 Baltimore Town843100.00%843100.00%843 Calvert258100.00%258100.00%258 Caroline129100.00%129100.00%129 Cecil519100.00%519100.00%519 Charles190100.00%190100.00%190 Dorchester114100.00%114100.00%114 Frederick790100.00%790100.00%790 Harford444100.00%444100.00%444 Kent209100.00%209100.00%209 Montgomery322100.00%322100.00%322 Prince George's510100.00%510100.00%510 Queen Anne's55100.00%55100.00%55 St. Mary's116100.00%116100.00%116 Somerset212100.00%212100.00%212 Talbot254100.00%254100.00%254 Washington1,164100.00%1,164100.00%1,164 Worcester154100.00%154100.00%154Total7,706100.00%7,706100.00%7,706
Results by district +1788-89 United States presidential election in MarylandDistrictGeorge WashingtonIndependentMarginTotal#%#% 1st 8564100.00% 6564100.00%564 2nd1,037100.00%1,037100.00%1,037 3rd1,188100.00%1,188100.00%1,188 4th2,032100.00%2,032100.00%2,032 5th609100.00%609100.00%609 6th2,276100.00%2,276100.00%2,276Total87,706100.00%67,706100.00%7,706
Results by presidential electors
Results by county +1788–89 United States presidential election in MarylandCountyFederalists electorsAnti-Federalists electorsMarginTotal#%#%#% Anne Arundel24630.87%55169.13%-305-38.26%797 Baltimore15218.65%66381.35%-511-62.70%815 Baltimore Town49156.44%37943.56%11212.88%870 Calvert16862.92%9937.08%6925.84%267 Caroline12899.22%10.78%12798.44%129 Cecil519100.00%00.00%519100.00%519 Charles15291.02%158.98%13782.04%167 Dorchester11462.64%6837.36%4625.28%182 Frederick79099.62% 3 0.38%78799.24%793 Harford43964.56%24135.44%19829.12%680 Kent20979.77%5320.23%15659.54%262 Montgomery32187.95%4412.05%27775.90%365 Prince George's27352.91%24347.09%305.82%516 Queen Anne's5151.00%4949.00%22.00%100 St. Mary's10071.94%3928.06%6143.88%139 Somerset21299.07%20.93%21098.14%214 Talbot254100.00%00.00%254100.00%254 Washington1,164100.00%00.00%1,164100.00%1,164 Worcester15464.44%8535.56%6928.88%239Total5,93770.08%2,53529.92%3,40240.16%8,472
Results by district +1788-89 United States presidential election in MarylandDistrictFederalists electorsAnti-Federalists electorsMarginTotal#%#%#% 1st 842073.30% 615326.70% 026746.60%573 2nd1,03391.01%1028.99%93182.02%1,135 3rd51939.53%79460.47%-275-20.94%1,313 4th1,08245.75%1,28354.25%-201-8.50%2,365 5th60879.58%15620.42%45259.16%764 6th2,27597.98%472.02%2,22895.96%2,322Total85,93770.08%62,53529.92%03,40240.16%8,472
Results by elector +1788-89 United States presidential election in Maryland Party Candidate Votes % Fusion John Rogers 7,665 12.51% style="width: 3em" Fusion George Plater 7,573 12.36% style="width: 3em" Federalists William Tilghman 5,746 9.38% style="width: 3em" Federalists Alexander C. Hanson 5,596 9.14% style="width: 3em" Federalists Philip Thomas 5,456 8.91% Federalists Robert Smith 5,455 8.91% Federalists William Richardson 5,402 8.82% Federalists William Matthews 5,291 8.64% Anti-Federalists Jeremiah T. Chase 2,278 3.72% Anti-Federalists John Seney 2,209 3.61% Anti-Federalists Charles Ridgely 2,199 3.59% Anti-Federalists James Shaw 2,130 3.48% Anti-Federalists Henry Waggaman 1,669 2.72% Anti-Federalists Lawrence O'Neale 1,241 2.03% Anti-Federalists Thomas Johnson 718 1.17% Federalists John Done 165 0.27% Anti-Federalists Moses Rawlings 157 0.26% Anti-Federalists William Thomas Jr. 125 0.20% Anti-Federalists William Paca 83 0.14% Federalists Nathaniel Ramsey 70 0.11% Anti-Federalists John A. Thomas 19 0.03% Federalists George Dent 1 0.00% Total votes 61,248 100.00%
See also United States presidential elections in Maryland 1788–89 United States presidential election 1788–89 United States elections
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