James K. Polk

★ President

Born: November 2, 1795
Died: June 15, 1849
Age at death: 53
Home state: Tennessee
Party: Democratic
In office: 1845–1849
On the ballot: 1825–1844

Career timeline

1825Rep 1827Rep 1831Rep 1833Rep 1839Gov 1841Gov

1843Gov 1844Pres

6-2

RecordWin–Loss

Total Popular Votes

Polk1.5M

Opponents1.5M

Total Electoral Votes

Polk170

Opponents105

Elections run

Between 1825 and 1844, James K. Polk ran in 8 elections across 3 offices (U.S. House, Governor, and President), winning 6 and losing 2. Polk's biggest single-election total was 1,337,243 votes, in the 1844 U.S. presidential election. Polk's closest win came in the 1825 U.S. House election in Tennessee's District 6, decided by 917 votes.

Browse every U.S. presidential election, every governor election in Tennessee, or every U.S. House race in Tennessee's District 9.

How many votes has James K. Polk received?

James K. Polk has received 1,517,872 popular votes across 8 U.S. elections, with a career record of 6–2, plus 170 electoral votes.

Election history

James K. Polk’s election history
Year	Office	Result	Votes	Opponent(s)
1844	Presidentwith George M. Dallas	Won	1,337,243 (49.5%)170 EV	Henry Clay
1843	GovernorTennessee	Lost	54,47048.3%	James C. Jones (head-to-head)
1841	GovernorTennessee	Lost	50,34348.44%	James C. Jones (head-to-head)
1839	GovernorTennessee	Won	54,06251.27%	Newton Cannon
1833	U.S. HouseTennessee	Won	4,75168.52%	Porter T F Bradford
1831	U.S. HouseTennessee	Won	6,99399.37%	Lunsford M Bramlett (head-to-head)
1827	U.S. HouseTennessee	Won	6,35156.56%	Lunsford M Bramlett (head-to-head)
1825	U.S. HouseTennessee	Won	3,65935.32%	W W Erwin Lunsford M Bramlett (head-to-head) James Sanford Francis Willis

Identity & sources. Identity verified against the Congressional Bioguide (P000409) and Wikidata (Q11891). Election results come from official certified totals and the MIT Election Data and Science Lab; see methodology.

Cite this profile. PolitiFinder, “James K. Polk: election history & vote totals.” https://politifinder.com/p/james-k-polk. Accessed [date].

Compiled by PolitiFinder. Election results from official certified sources and the MIT Election Lab. See Data & sources and methodology. Data last verified July 28, 2026.