1886 Wisconsin gubernatorial election

1886 Wisconsin gubernatorial election

←  1884 November 2, 1886 1888  →

Nominee Jeremiah McLain Rusk Gilbert M. Woodward Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 133,247 114,529 Percentage 46.53% 39.99%   Nominee John Cochrane John Myers Olin Party Union Labor Prohibition Popular vote 21,467 17,089 Percentage 7.50% 5.97%

County results Rusk :     30–40%     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90% Woodward :     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80% Cochrane :     40–50% No Vote:

Governor before election Jeremiah McLain Rusk Republican Elected Governor Jeremiah McLain Rusk Republican

The 1886 Wisconsin gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 1886.

Republican nominee Jeremiah McLain Rusk defeated Democratic nominee Gilbert M. Woodward, Union Labor Party nominee John Cochrane, and Prohibition nominee John Myers Olin with 46.53% of the vote.

General election

Candidates

Major party candidates

• Gilbert M. Woodward, Democratic, attorney, former member of the United States House of Representatives
• Jeremiah McLain Rusk, Republican, incumbent Governor

Other candidates

• John Myers Olin, Prohibition, lecturer in law at the University of Wisconsin, ^[1] Prohibition nominee for Wisconsin's 3rd congressional district in 1884
• John Cochrane, Union Labor

Results

1886 Wisconsin gubernatorial election ^{[2] [3]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Jeremiah M. Rusk (incumbent)	133,247	46.53%	−4.47%
	Democratic	Gilbert M. Woodward	114,529	39.99%	−4.99%
	Union Labor	John Cochrane	21,467	7.50%	+6.16%
	Prohibition	John M. Olin	17,089	5.97%	+3.30%
		Scattering	34	0.01%
		Blank	2	0.00%
Majority			18,718	6.54%
Total votes			286,368	100.00%
	Republican hold		Swing	+0.51%

Results by county

Marquette County voted Republican for the first time since 1857. Woodward was the first Democrat since 1859 to win Bayfield County and La Crosse County; the former would not vote Democratic again until 1918. Additionally, Sawyer County would not vote Democratic again until 1932.

County [2] [3]	Jeremiah M. Rusk Republican		Gilbert M. Woodward Democratic		John Cochrane Union Labor		John M. Olin Prohibition		Margin		Total votes cast
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Adams	966	73.07%	338	25.57%	2	0.15%	16	1.21%	628	47.50%	1,322
Ashland	1,240	46.18%	1,355	50.47%	49	1.82%	41	1.53%	-115	-4.28%	2.685
Barron	1,134	50.92%	646	29.01%	0	0.00%	447	20.07%	488	21.91%	2,227
Bayfield	539	47.74%	575	50.93%	0	0.00%	15	1.33%	-36	-3.19%	1,129
Brown	2,183	39.23%	2,850	51.22%	383	6.88%	147	2.64%	-667	-11.99%	5,564 [a]
Buffalo	1,552	60.67%	957	37.41%	0	0.00%	48	1.88%	595	23.26%	2,558 [a]
Burnett	461	75.08%	49	7.98%	0	0.00%	103	16.78%	358 [b]	48.30%	614 [a]
Calumet	879	31.77%	1,720	62.16%	143	5.17%	25	0.90%	-841	-30.39%	2,767
Chippewa	1,888	41.00%	2,406	52.25%	2	0.04%	309	6.71%	-518	-11.25%	4,605
Clark	1,429	49.76%	959	33.39%	257	8.95%	227	7.90%	470	16.36%	2,872
Columbia	2,820	51.31%	2,067	37.61%	6	0.11%	603	10.97%	753	13.70%	5,496
Crawford	1,547	52.18%	1,356	45.73%	0	0.00%	62	2.09%	191	6.44%	2,965
Dane	5,956	47.63%	5,219	41.73%	7	0.06%	1,322	10.57%	737	5.89%	12,506 [c]
Dodge	3,289	37.06%	5,096	57.42%	187	2.11%	303	3.41%	-1,807	-20.36%	8,875
Door	1,557	64.63%	776	32.21%	2	0.08%	74	3.07%	781	32.42%	2,409
Douglas	326	49.77%	325	49.62%	0	0.00%	3	0.46%	1	0.15%	655 [a]
Dunn	1,749	57.42%	744	24.43%	196	6.43%	357	11.72%	1,005	32.99%	3,046
Eau Claire	2,102	45.88%	1,803	39.35%	37	0.81%	640	13.97%	299	6.53%	4,582
Florence	336	81.95%	74	18.05%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	262	63.90%	410
Fond du Lac	3,403	41.39%	3,972	48.32%	443	5.39%	402	4.89%	-569	-6.92%	8,221 [a]
Forest	153	42.15%	209	57.58%	0	0.00%	1	0.28%	-56	-15.43%	363
Grant	3,642	51.70%	2,684	38.10%	37	0.53%	675	9.58%	958	13.60%	7,045 [d]
Green	2,114	46.92%	1,716	38.08%	4	0.09%	672	14.91%	398	8.83%	4,506
Green Lake	1,601	54.90%	1,155	39.61%	2	0.07%	158	5.42%	446	15.29%	2,916
Iowa	2,198	46.84%	1,961	41.79%	1	0.02%	533	11.36%	237	5.05%	4,693
Jackson	1,744	61.06%	827	28.96%	50	1.75%	235	8.23%	917	32.11%	2,856
Jefferson	2,635	41.48%	3,413	53.73%	43	0.68%	261	4.11%	-778	-12.25%	6,352
Juneau	1,882	50.71%	1,585	42.71%	4	0.11%	240	6.47%	297	8.00%	3,711
Kenosha	1,451	49.25%	1,398	47.45%	0	0.00%	95	3.22%	53	1.80%	2,946 [c]
Kewaunee	689	26.65%	1,896	73.35%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	-1,207	-46.69%	2,585
La Crosse	2,418	39.11%	2,824	45.68%	676	10.93%	264	4.27%	-406	-6.57%	6,182
Lafayette	2,264	50.21%	1,873	41.54%	22	0.49%	349	7.74%	391	8.67%	4,509 [e]
Langlade	713	44.40%	825	51.37%	0	0.00%	67	4.17%	-112	-6.97%	1,606 [a]
Lincoln	994	47.83%	939	45.19%	23	1.11%	122	5.87%	55	2.65%	2,078
Manitowoc	2,333	38.28%	3,700	60.71%	53	0.87%	9	0.15%	-1,367	-22.43%	6,095
Marathon	1,923	39.08%	2,608	53.00%	367	7.46%	23	0.47%	-685	-13.92%	4,921
Marinette	1,117	39.95%	594	21.24%	991	35.44%	94	3.36%	128 [f]	4.51%	2,796
Marquette	1,088	52.79%	886	42.99%	4	0.19%	83	4.03%	202	9.80%	2,061
Milwaukee	10,936	34.71%	7,472	23.71%	12,914	40.99%	185	0.59%	-1,978 [g]	-6.28%	31,508 [a]
Monroe	2,304	51.08%	1,844	40.88%	5	0.11%	358	7.94%	460	10.20%	4,511
Oconto	1,134	54.94%	851	41.23%	51	2.47%	28	1.36%	283	13.71%	2,064
Outagamie	2,229	35.44%	3,454	54.91%	472	7.50%	135	2.15%	-1,225	-19.48%	6,290
Ozaukee	660	24.39%	1,821	67.29%	213	7.87%	6	0.22%	-1,161	-42.90%	2,706 [h]
Pepin	850	54.63%	417	26.80%	0	0.00%	289	18.57%	433	27.83%	1,556
Pierce	2,034	63.88%	817	25.66%	0	0.00%	332	10.43%	1,217	38.22%	3,184 [a]
Polk	1,478	68.11%	341	15.71%	0	0.00%	351	16.18%	1,127 [b]	51.93%	2,170
Portage	1,858	48.47%	1,754	45.76%	1	0.03%	219	5.71%	104	2.71%	3,833 [e]
Price	688	63.59%	376	34.75%	9	0.83%	9	0.83%	312	28.84%	1,082
Racine	2,682	41.22%	1,788	27.48%	1,525	23.44%	511	7.85%	894	13.74%	6,507 [a]
Richland	2,292	54.94%	1,527	36.60%	1	0.02%	352	8.44%	765	18.34%	4,172
Rock	4,901	58.52%	2,686	32.07%	2	0.02%	786	9.39%	2,215	26.45%	8,375
Sauk	2,740	51.92%	1,982	37.56%	11	0.21%	544	10.31%	758	14.36%	5,277
Sawyer	228	30.65%	504	67.74%	0	0.00%	12	1.61%	-276	-37.10%	744
Shawano	1,299	49.75%	1,263	48.37%	10	0.38%	39	1.49%	36	1.38%	2,611
Sheboygan	2,779	42.96%	2,985	46.14%	580	8.97%	125	1.93%	-206	-3.18%	6,469
St. Croix	2,229	46.15%	1,794	37.14%	218	4.51%	589	12.19%	435	9.01%	4,830
Taylor	802	56.96%	585	41.55%	13	0.92%	6	0.43%	217	15.41%	1,408 [c]
Trempealeau	1,784	56.28%	975	30.76%	1	0.03%	409	12.90%	809	25.52%	3,170 [a]
Vernon	2,907	62.73%	1,364	29.43%	20	0.43%	343	7.40%	1,543	33.30%	4,634
Walworth	3,129	58.88%	1,205	22.68%	223	4.20%	757	14.25%	1,924	36.21%	5,314
Washburn	309	45.64%	222	32.79%	0	0.00%	146	21.57%	87	12.85%	677
Washington	1,640	38.82%	2,516	59.55%	35	0.83%	34	0.80%	-876	-20.73%	4,225
Waukesha	3,152	49.03%	2,862	44.52%	2	0.03%	413	6.42%	290	4.51%	6,429
Waupaca	2,911	64.52%	1,344	29.79%	35	0.78%	222	4.92%	1,567	34.73%	4,512
Waushara	1,926	74.74%	438	17.00%	0	0.00%	213	8.27%	1,488	57.74%	2,577
Winnebago	3,783	43.01%	3,288	37.38%	1,116	12.69%	607	6.90%	495	5.63%	8,796 [c]
Wood	1,268	42.15%	1,674	55.65%	19	0.63%	44	1.46%	-406	-13.50%	3,008 [i]
Total	133,247	46.53%	114,529	39.99%	21,467	7.50%	17,089	5.97%	18,718	6.54%	286,368

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Crawford
• Marquette
• Waukesha

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Ashland
• Bayfield
• Chippewa
• La Crosse
• Sawyer

Counties that flipped from Republican to Union Labor

• Milwaukee

Notes

1. Includes 1 Scattering vote
2. Rusk's margin over Olin
3. Includes 2 Scattering votes
4. Includes 7 Scattering votes
5. Includes 1 Blank vote
6. Rusk's margin over Cochrane
7. Cochrane's margin over Rusk
8. Includes 6 Scattering votes
9. Includes 3 Scattering votes

References

1. "Olin, John Myers 1851 - 1924". Wisconsin Historical Society. Archived from the original on July 11, 2021. Retrieved July 11, 2021.
2. Wisconsin Historical Society, Tabular Statement of the votes cast for Governor, at a general election held on the Tuesday next succeeding the first Monday in November, being the 2d day of November, 1886
3. Timme, Ernst G., ed. (1887). "Vote for State Officers, 1886 - By Counties". The Blue Book of the State of Wisconsin. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: The Milwaukee Litho. & Engr. Co. p. 250.

Bibliography

• Glashan, Roy R. (1979). American Governors and Gubernatorial Elections, 1775-1978. Meckler Books. ISBN   0-930466-17-9.
• Gubernatorial Elections, 1787-1997. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Inc. 1998. ISBN   1-56802-396-0.
• Timme, Ernst G., ed. (1887). The Blue Book of the State of Wisconsin. The Milwaukee Litho. & Engr. Co.