The 1825 Vermont gubernatorial election was held in September 1825 to elect the state’s governor for the term beginning in October 1825. The election resulted in the re‑election of incumbent Governor Cornelius P. Van Ness, who was serving his second year in office after first being elected in 1823. Van Ness was affiliated with the Democratic‑Republican (later National Republican) political alignment that dominated Vermont politics during the era.
Key points
- Date of election: The statewide vote was conducted on the first Tuesday in September, in accordance with Vermont’s constitution of the period; the exact date was September 6, 1825.
- Incumbent: Cornelius P. Van Ness, who had been elected governor in 1823 and inaugurated in October 1823.
- Outcome: Van Ness was returned to office for a third consecutive one‑year term. The vote was certified by the Vermont General Assembly, which met in October 1825 to confirm the election results.
- Political context: The election took place during a period of relative political continuity in Vermont, with the Democratic‑Republican Party (which would soon split into the National Republican and Democratic factions) retaining broad support.
- Succession: Van Ness continued to serve as governor until 1826, after which he was appointed United States Minister to Spain.
Historical significance
The 1825 gubernatorial election illustrates the stability of early‑19th‑century Vermont politics, characterized by low partisan turnover and the dominance of a single political coalition. It also marks the final election before Van Ness’s diplomatic appointment, after which he left state office.
No detailed vote tallies or percentages are widely published in contemporary state records; the primary source confirming the result is the journal of the Vermont General Assembly for 1825‑1826.
