1879 Wisconsin gubernatorial election

The 1879 Wisconsin gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1879. Incumbent Republican Governor William E. Smith ran for re-election to a second term. The Democratic convention initially nominated Alexander Mitchell for Governor, but Mitchell declined the nomination; in his place, Milwaukee attorney James Graham Jenkins received the nomination.[1] Smith and Jenkins also faced a Greenback candidate and a nominee from the nascent Prohibition Party in the general election.[2] Jenkins ultimately won re-election in a landslide, winning 53% of the vote Jenkins's 40%. Reuben May, the Greenback nominee, received only 7% of the vote, a significant erosion from the Party's 15% in 1877.

1879 Wisconsin gubernatorial election

November 4, 1879
 
Nominee William E. Smith James Graham Jenkins Reuben May
Party Republican Democratic Greenback
Popular vote 100,535 75,030 26,216
Percentage 53.19% 39.70% 6.88%

County results
Smith :      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90%
Jenkins :      40-50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

Governor before election

William E. Smith
Republican

Elected Governor

William E. Smith
Republican

General election

1879 Wisconsin gubernatorial election[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican William E. Smith (incumbent) 100,535 53.19% +8.98%
Democratic James Graham Jenkins 75,030 39.70% +0.13%
Greenback Reuben May 12,996 6.88% -7.84%
Prohibition W. R. Bloomfield 387 0.20%
Write-ins 57 0.03%
Majority 25,505 13.49% +8.85%
Turnout 189,005 100.00%
Republican hold

References

  1. Nesbit 1985, p. 577.
  2. "Capital Notes". Mineral Point Weekly Tribune. Mineral Point, Wis. September 25, 1879. p. 4. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
  3. Truesdell, J. A. (1880). The Blue Book of the State of Wisconsin (PDF). pp. 270–271.

Bibliography

  • Nesbit, Robert C. (1985). Thompson, William Fletcher (ed.). The History of Wisconsin: Urbanization and Industrialization, 1873-1893. Vol. 3. Madison, Wis.: State Historical Society of Wisconsin. ISBN 0-87020-122-0.
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