A presidential election was held in New Hampshire on December 15, 1788, and January 7, 1789, as part of the 1788–89 United States presidential election. Federalists outpolled their competitors in the first round of voting. The New Hampshire General Court subsequently chose five electors from among the 10 leading candidates, who voted for George Washington and John Adams.

Washington was widely expected to be the first choice of the Electoral College in the first elections held under the Constitution of the United States. Some uncertainty persisted concerning the choice of the first vice president, however, due partly to the electoral system established by Article II of the Constitution. Under this system, each elector voted for two candidates; the candidate with the largest majority was elected president, and the runner-up vice president. With Washington likely to become president, many observers expected Adams to receive the other vote of most of the electors. Some, such as Alexander Hamilton, feared Adams's popularity would be so great as to result in a tied vote, throwing the election to the United States House of Representatives. Hamilton believed this event would be deeply embarrassing to the new government and personally intervened with the electors to urge them not to vote for Adams.

The leaders of the state's major political factions had declared a temporary truce in 1788 in order to jointly support ratifying the Constitution. In the absence of organized parties, the election was in effect a local contest between favorite sons. Several tickets were proposed including the names of prominent citizens, without indicating for whom the candidates would vote if elected. None of the candidates won a majority in the first round, sending the election to the General Court. Following a lengthy standoff with the upper chamber, the House of Representatives dropped its demand to choose the electors on a joint ballot of both houses. Voting proceeded separately in the Senate and the House of Representatives; the five candidates with the most popular votes were appointed by the legislature. The electors met subsequently on February 4 and voted unanimously for Washington and Adams.

General election Summary New Hampshire chose five electors on a statewide general ticket. Early election laws required voters to elect each member of the Electoral College individually, rather than as a block. The following table compares the sum of the votes for the leading Federalist and Anti-Federalist electors to give an approximate sense of the statewide popular vote.

Results by county Complete returns are missing for most townships. This table compares the votes for the leading Federalist and Anti-Federalist electors in each county based on partial returns. + 1788–89 United States presidential election in New Hampshire County George WashingtonFederalists George WashingtonAnti-Federalists Margin Total Votes % Votes % Votes % Cheshire2160.00%1440.00%720.00%35 Grafton9690.57%109.43%8681.14%106 Hillsborough9565.97%4934.03%4631.94%144 Rockingham30894.48%185.52%29088.96%326 Strafford6848.57%7251.43%-4-2.86%140 TOTAL 588 78.30% 163 21.70% 425 56.60% 751

Electors Complete returns are missing for most townships. The joint committee of the Senate and the House of Representatives reported a total of 20,142 votes between all the candidates. Phil Lampi identifies 80 candidates who received at least one vote in any of the 21 townships with surviving returns, in addition to 9,527 scattering votes. Between five and 10 candidates received votes in the majority of townships surveyed; in no township was the number of candidates greater than 25. The following table shows the statewide totals for the 10 leading candidates as recorded in the published proceedings of the General Court; the votes for the remaining candidates are based on the incomplete township returns.

Electoral College Presidential candidate Party Home state Electoralvote George Washington Independent Virginia 5 John Adams Federalists Massachusetts 5 Total votes 5 Source: A New Nation Votes: American Election Results, 1787–1825. American Antiquarian Society.

See also United States presidential elections in New Hampshire

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