With Vermont firmly in the anti-slavery camp and the Republican Party established as the main abolitionist party, Royce was easily re-elected with 58.4 percent of the vote to 22.9 for Clark and 8.4 for Slade.[6] Royce took the oath of office and began a one-year term on October 13, 1855.[7]
The 1855 election also marked Republican extension of the "Mountain Rule" for the governor's and lieutenant governor's offices.[8] As originally implemented, the Mountain Rule called for one U.S. Senator to be from the west side of the Green Mountains, and one from the east, and for the governorship and lieutenant governorship to rotate between east and west.[8] With the Republican Party's expansion of the rule, it dictated that the governor and lieutenant governor would not only be from alternate sides of the Green Mountains, but that they would also be limited to two years in office.[8]