1871 Minnesota gubernatorial election

1871 Minnesota gubernatorial election

←  1869 November 7, 1871 1873  →

Nominee Horace Austin Winthrop Young Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 46,950 30,376 Percentage 60.06% 38.86%

County results Austin:     50-60%     60-70%     70-80%     80-90%     90-100% Young:     50-60%     60-70%     70-80% No Date/Vote:

Governor before election Horace Austin Republican Elected Governor Horace Austin Republican

The 1871 Minnesota gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1871, to elect the governor of Minnesota. Incumbent Horace Austin was reelected to a second term.

Candidates

• Horace Austin, Incumbent (Republican)
• Samuel Mayall, Former member of the House of Representatives (Prohibition)
• Winthrop Young, former Mayor of St. Anthony (Democrat)

Campaigns

Incumbent Horace Austin ran a campaign focused on controlling the Railroad Barons, promising to "Shake the railroads over hell". ^[1]

Democratic nominee Winthrop Young largely resorted to accusations of corruption against Austin, such as claiming Austin had taken bribes of "several thousand dollars". ^[2] Young's campaign collapsed in the final week of the campaign, as a 'Land-Grabber' scandal broke. The scandal claimed he was collaborating in secret with Anti-Austin Republicans to sabotage Austin's campaign. The goal was to reverse Austin's veto of the Land Division bill, which would have allowed the conspirators to buy 500,000 acres of land from the state. ^[3]

Young denied all and any involvement in the conspiracy, or even that such an conspiracy existed. Young would state he was not in support of the Land Division bill. Despite this, in his acceptance speech at the Democratic State Convention he spoke of supporting it. ^[4] By the time election day arrived, Young's campaign consisted largely of personal insults and attacks against Austin. ^[5]

Results

Minnesota gubernatorial election, 1871 ^{[6] [7]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Horace Austin (incumbent)	46,950	60.06
	Democratic	Winthrop Young	30,376	38.86
	Prohibition	Samuel Mayall	846	1.08
Total votes			78,172	100
	Republican hold

References

1. "March of the Governors".
2. "AN INFAMOUS SLANDER BROUGHT TO THE TEST OF A PLAIN PROPOSITION". October 27, 1871.
3. "THE LAND GRAB CONSPIRACY". November 2, 1871.
4. "WINTHROP YOUNG'S DENIAL PROVED TO BE A FALSEHOOD". November 3, 1871.
5. "WHAT THE PEOPLE THINK OF GOVERNOR AUSTIN'S SLANDERERS". November 4, 1871.
6. "Our Campaigns - MN Governor Race - Nov 07, 1871" . Retrieved May 6, 2016.
7. "Minnesota Legislative Manual (Blue Book) - Chapter 10 Minnesota Elections" (PDF). Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State. April 1, 2015. Retrieved May 7, 2016.