1852 United States House of Representatives election in Florida explained

The 1852 United States House of Representatives election in Florida was held on Tuesday, October 5, 1852, to elect the single United States Representative from the state of Florida, one from the state's single at-large congressional district, to represent Florida in the 33rd Congress. The election coincided with the elections of other offices, including the presidential election, the gubernatorial election, and various state and local elections.^[1]

The winning candidate would serve a two-year term in the United States House of Representatives from March 4, 1853, to March 4, 1855.

Candidates

Whig

Nominee

• Edward Carrington Cabell, incumbent U.S. representative

Democratic

Nominee

• Augustus Maxwell, former state senator and former Florida Attorney General

Campaign

Despite a very popular tenure as a compromise candidate, by 1852, Cabell became very unpopular among Democrats in Florida after a number of smear campaigns accused him of supporting abolitionism. In reality, Cabell was one of Congress' biggest supporters of slavery, and was one of the spearheads behind the Compromise of 1850. Cabell also refused to support the Whig candidate for president, General Winfield Scott, as Scott was perceived to be a trojan horse for abolitionism among many Southern Whigs, most of whom supported President Millard Fillmore at the 1852 Whig National Convention.^[2] Cabell opted instead to support the Democratic candidate, former New Hampshire Senator Franklin Pierce, drawing the ire of many staunch Whig supporters in Pensacola.^{[3] [4]}

By the time of the election, after guaranteeing that no Democrat would vote for him and Whig turnout for him would be significantly lower, Cabell narrowly lost the election to Maxwell by just 22 votes.

General election

Results by County

County[5] [6]	Augustus Maxwell Democratic		Edward Carrington Cabell Whig		Total votes
		%		%
	231	58.63%	163	41.37%	394
Calhoun	78	43.09%	103	56.91%	181
	255	47.22%	285	52.78%	540
Dade*	0	0%	0	0%	0
Duval	275	45.30%	332	54.70%	607
Escambia	212	45.89%	250	54.11%	462
Franklin	167	65.23%	89	34.77%	256
Gadsden	432	50.76%	419	49.24%	851
Hamilton	159	50.00%	159	50.00%	318
Hernando	106	61.63%	66	38.37%	172
Hillsborough	189	59.62%	128	40.38%	317
Holmes	39	25.83%	112	74.17%	151
Jackson	248	40.39%	366	59.61%	614
Jefferson	268	64.11%	150	35.89%	418
Leon	395	54.33%	332	45.67%	727
Levy	32	42.67%	43	57.33%	75
Madison	254	44.33%	319	55.67%	573
Marion	253	50.91%	244	49.09%	497
Monroe	160	70.80%	66	29.20%	223
Nassau	57	48.31%	61	51.69%	118
Orange	27	39.71%	41	60.29%	68
Putnam	55	42.64%	74	57.36%	129
Santa Rosa	167	39.39%	257	60.61%	424
St. Johns	138	60.26%	91	39.74%	229
St. Lucie	7	87.50%	1	12.50%	8
Wakulla	151	47.94%	164	52.06%	315
Walton	111	39.36%	171	60.64%	282
Washington	124	60.19%	82	39.81%	206
Totals	4,590	50.12%	4,568	49.88%	9,158
Dade County had no returns.

See also

• 1852 United States presidential election in Florida
• United States House of Representatives elections, 1852
• 1852 Florida gubernatorial election

References

1. Web site: Our Campaigns - FL At Large Race - Oct 05, 1852. 2020-10-17. www.ourcampaigns.com.
2. Book: Holt, Michael F.. The Rise and Fall of the American Whig Party: Jacksonian Politics and the Onset of the Civil War. 1999-06-17. Oxford University Press. 978-0-19-977203-2. en.
3. News: 1852-07-31. Mr. Cabell and the Whig State Convention. 2. Pensacola Gazette. 2020-10-17.
4. News: 1852-09-11. Hon. E. C. Cabell. 2. Pensacola Gazette. 2020-10-17.
5. News: Clisby . Joseph . November 23, 1852 . State of Florida . 2 . Florida Sentinel . September 7, 2022.
6. News: Dyke . Charles E. . October 30, 1852 . Florida Elections . 2 . Floridian & Journal . September 7, 2022.