1822 Indiana gubernatorial election
The 1822 Indiana gubernatorial election took place on August 5, 1822. The U.S. representative from Indiana's at-large congressional district William Hendricks was elected virtually without opposition. This was the only unanimous Indiana gubernatorial election and the last before the revival of party politics following the 1824 United States presidential election.
The incumbent governor of Indiana Jonathan Jennings was ineligible for re-election due to term limits established by the Constitution of Indiana. Although Hendricks never formally announced his candidacy, his name was before the public as early as March as an "authorized" candidate for governor. In May, he resigned his congressional seat, indicating his willingness to be elected governor. Hendricks was enormously personally popular, having faced only token opposition in his most recent bid for re-election. No rival candidate emerged to contest the election, and Hendricks was understood to be running unopposed.
The Democratic-Republican Party was dominant nationally during the Era of Good Feelings, and the politics of the state were conducted on a nonpartisan basis. The factionalism of the territorial period had all but subsided, and Hendricks drew support from every section of the state. Local meetings in support of Hendricks's candidacy were held in several places, and the candidate enjoyed the backing of most of the press. Hendricks was the overwhelming choice of the voters on Election Day; so unanimous was the verdict that the editor of the Vincennes Western Sun deemed it unnecessary to publish the official returns.
Following the election, Jennings resigned as governor in order to seek the congressional seat vacated by Hendricks, briefly elevating the lieutenant governor Ratliff Boon to the governorship.