Yes, incumbent Whig Erastus Fairbanks got a plurality, but he apparently made enough enemies at the time over the issue of prohibition (successfully passed in the House during his Governorship), and enough anti-Fairbanks Whigs and Brainerd supporters, along with regular Democrats, handed Robinson the Governorship by a single vote.
Interesting that Robinson never tried to run again, although he probably saw the writing on the wall with the collapse of the Whigs and Free-Soilers, reforming into the super-powerful Republican party in 1854. There were no longer going to be any more competitive three-way splits, as the new GOP would usually get at, above, or a bit below 2/3rds of the vote for decades to come. Indeed, not until 1926 did another regular Democrat eclipse his 38% showing for the Governorship (and they got 39%).
Robinson’s last action in public life was when he was elected to attended the raucus 1860 Democrat National Convention in Charleston as the chairman of the VT delegation — so raucus, in fact, that the 55-year old ex-Governor had a massive stroke two days into the April meeting and died there. His short bio said he didn’t even leave any children behind.
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Regarding VT’s political decay, I’ve written about that in posts in the past (you’d probably have to go hunting for them as I’m lazy about documenting my essays - shame on me). The short version is essentially when the GOP decided to go with its more liberal wing over its Conservative one in the mid-century, that was the recipe for disaster. Democrats made gains by the late ‘50s and into the ‘60s, partly sped up by the influx of liberal out-of-staters. NH, conversely, went with their Conservative GOP wing for the most part, which kept the state from going downhill for awhile — although now we’re seeing how long they held off the barbarians for.
Here’s some of your musings about Vermont’s political slide into liberalism:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1757723/posts?page=7#7
When was it the rats first won the legislature? As far as I can surmise it was 1986.
Weird stuff it Vermont with the supposed strict ladder of succession to office working your way up to US Senator.
I talked online to this guy allegedly the scion of rich Vermont family, he said his family knew Jeffwhores. He was thrilled with party switch.