1827 Mexican elections

President Andrew Jackson.

The 1827 Mexican elections took place in August 1827 for the purpose of choosing the Congress of the United States of Mexico.

The election served as a referendum on Andrew Jackson, the founder and first president of the U.S.M. Jackson's first term had seen him establish his government's authority through forceful and sometimes arbitrary measures, including the arrest of Senator Thomas Hinds of Mexico del Norte for his refusal to pay a questionable federal tax, and the closure of several opposition newspapers for publishing stories of federal abuses.

Jackson's popularity among the U.S.M.'s highly restricted electorate was so great that the outcome of the election was a foregone conclusion. Sobel at one point states that Jackson's popularity was so great that the opposition Liberty Party did not nominate a presidential candidate to run against him. However, Sobel also states that Leslie Folger, the Governor of Jefferson, ran against Jackson in 1827. It is possible that Folger's candidacy was not sanctioned by the Libertarian leadership, and that he ran an independent campaign for the presidency.

Governor Leslie Folger.

In the course of his campaign, Folger resorted to spreading outrageous lies about Jackson's personal life and wealth, and his ally Senator Albert Burley of California accused Jackson of taking ten percent of all federal revenue for his private use. Jackson uncharacteristically declined to retaliate against either man for their slanders, giving him a (possibly undeserved) reputation for tolerating dissent. In any event, Jackson was able to lead his Continentalist Party to victory in the elections, and won a second presidential term. Sobel does not provide any figures for the relative sizes of the Continentalist and Libertarian caucuses in the newly-elected Senate and Assembly.

After the election, Burley withdrew his accusation against Jackson, and Folger lost control of the Liberty Party to Senator Arthur Younger of Mexico del Norte. Sobel notes that although Jackson declined at the time to move against either man, his last words were, "My only regret is not having choked Burley and Folger to death. It would have given me great pleasure."