Concession (politics)
The first time in the United States that a candidate lost a presidential election and privately conceded was Federalist John Adams to Democratic-Republican Thomas Jefferson in 1800.
[7] The concession speech consists of four elements: A losing candidate usually thanks their supporters for their valiant efforts and points to the non-electoral successes of the campaign in building party strength and raising issues to attention that would not otherwise be in public discussion.
[8] The speech could be ultrashort or last for minutes, and there is variation in how lighthearted they present their loss, and how warmly they congratulate the winner; it depends on whatever the defeated candidate prefers.
[7] In the broadcast age, the concession speech of a candidate for high office reaches a wide audience and is seen as the final swan song of a lost campaign.
"[9] Republican Richard Nixon's 1962 California gubernatorial concession speech is notorious for not being reconciliatory, but begrudging toward his winning rival, Democrat Pat Brown.
[citation needed] One of the slowest concessions ever in American history was in 1916, when the counting took days and Republican Charles Evans Hughes was initially reported to be the winner by several newspapers, because he had a large lead over incumbent Democrat Woodrow Wilson.
[2][6] However, when election campaigns have been very polarized and the race close, conceding one's loss was important in order to get the losing candidate's supporters to accept the outcome and ensure social and political stability in any form.
[7] After an unexpected defeat in the 1916 election, Republican Charles Evans Hughes waited two weeks before sending a concession telegram to President Woodrow Wilson.
"[10] After losing the 1944 election, Republican Thomas E. Dewey conceded publicly in a radio address the following morning, but declined to personally call or send a telegram to President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
"[11] In the 1960 election, Republican Richard M. Nixon considered refusing to concede to his Democratic opponent John F. Kennedy and challenging the results in Illinois and Texas because of allegations of voter fraud in those states.
[10][12][13][14] However, he found that the United States had no legal framework for a losing candidate to challenge an election and decided that a lengthy constitutional crisis would destabilize the country and weaken its international standing, as well as damage Nixon's own political reputation.
On the night of the 2004 election, Democratic John Kerry also considered waiting to concede to Bush pending a challenge of the results in Ohio, but ultimately decided against a potential repeat of the contentious events of 2000.
He has alleged that there has been electoral fraud or miscounts in close races which negatively impacted him, despite there being no evidence of this according to election officials and media outlets.
[28] In the 2022 Arizona gubernatorial election, Republican Kari Lake did not concede to Democrat Katie Hobbs and had filed lawsuits against the state's largest county Maricopa, citing voting irregularities.
[29][30] After losing the 2017 United States Senate special election in Alabama, Republican Roy Moore refused to concede defeat to Democrat Doug Jones.
'[34] In the New Zealand political system, because of mixed-member proportional representation, it is difficult for one party to win enough seats to govern alone and there are examples of concession speeches not being given until coalitions are confirmed.
With almost 46% of the vote counted on election night it was looking promising for the National Party and their leader Bill English, was confident that he would form the coalition with NZ First and be able to govern.
[35] On the night, however, the leader of the Labour Party, Jacinda Ardern said she was hoping for a better result and had phoned Bill English, with both agreeing that neither of them would decide the outcome.
[36] The battle was close and early in the evening Ardern said she took responsibility for Labour's 10-point loss at that stage, but ended her address on a positive note, neither confirming or conceding.
English immediately conceded and paid tribute to his opponent saying "Ms Ardern did a remarkable job in turning around the party after such a short time in the role, and said he hoped the incoming government took the opportunity provided by the 'pretty good shape' of the economy".
