 Morehead was among these; he claimed that the Know Nothing Party was more "Union" than the Democratic Party.The ex-Whigs hoped to take over the Know Nothing Party and reshape it into a Unionist Whig organization.Accordingly, when the Know Nothing candidate for governor, Judge William Loving, withdrew from the race due to failing health, the influx of ex-Whigs nominated Morehead to replace him for the gubernatorial election of 1855.