1969 Maryland special gubernatorial election
The Maryland special gubernatorial election, 1969 was not a direct election, but a vote in the Maryland General Assembly to determine who would assume the governorship of Maryland after Spiro Agnew's resignation, following his election to the U.S. vice presidency.
 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Elections in Maryland | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.svg.png) | ||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Elections by year |
||||||||
 | ||||||||
At this time Maryland didn't have a position of lieutenant governor, and state law did not designate a person who would assume the office of governor in case of vacancy (unlike most states, when there is always a designated person such as lieutenant governor, Senate President or Secretary of State).
In case of vacancy, the General Assembly would choose a governor.
In 1969 the Assembly had a Democratic majority, so it was clear that Republican Agnew's successor would be a Democrat.
The election was held on January 7, 1969. State representative Marvin Mandel was elected governor. He took office that same day, upon Agnew's resignation.
Candidates
- State Senator William S. James (D)
- State Representative Francis X. Gallagher (D)
- State Representative Marvin Mandel (D)
- U.S. Representative Rogers Morton (R)
Vote
- Mandel (D) – 126 (70.00%):[1]
- Morton (R) – 26 (14.44%)
- Gallagher (D) – 15 (8.33%)
- James (D) – 13 (7.22%)
Although there were three Democrats and only one Republican on the ballot, Mandel was elected easily. He was elected in regular direct election in 1970 and re-elected in 1974.
References
- "MD Governor-Special Election". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 7 December 2014.