1889 United States gubernatorial elections

1889 United States gubernatorial elections

←  1888 November 5, 1889; April 3, 1889 (RI); October 1, 1889 (MT, ND, SD, WA) 1890  →
11 governorships
Majority party Minority party   Party Democratic Republican Seats before 19 19 Seats after 22 20 Seat change 3 1 Seats up 3 4 Seats won 6 5
Democratic gain     Democratic hold      Republican gain     Republican hold

United States gubernatorial elections were held in 1889, in eleven states.

Virginia holds its gubernatorial elections in odd numbered years, every 4 years, following the United States presidential election year. New Jersey at this time held gubernatorial elections every 3 years. It abandoned this practice in 1949. Massachusetts and Rhode Island both elected their respective governors to a single-year term. They abandoned this practice in 1920 and 1912, respectively. Iowa and Ohio at this time held gubernatorial elections in every odd numbered year.

Mississippi at this time held its gubernatorial elections in odd numbered years, every 4 years, following the United States presidential election year. This was the last election in which this was the case. Mississippi switched to four-year terms with elections in the year preceding the presidential election year, starting with the 1895 elections.

Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Washington held their first gubernatorial elections on achieving statehood. Each of these states held early elections on October 1, 1889.

Results

State	Incumbent	Party	Status	Opposing candidates
Iowa	William Larrabee	Republican	Lost re-nomination, [1] Democratic victory	Horace Boies (Democratic) 49.90% Joseph Hutchinson (Republican) 48.08% S. B. Downing (Union Labor) 1.60% Malcolm Smith (Prohibition) 0.38% Elias Doty (Greenback) 0.01% Scattering 0.02% [2] [3]
Massachusetts	Oliver Ames	Republican	Retired, Republican victory	John Q. A. Brackett (Republican) 48.40% William E. Russell (Democratic) 45.83% John Blackmer (Prohibition) 5.74% Scattering 0.02% [4] [5]
Mississippi	Robert Lowry	Democratic	Term-limited, Democratic victory	John Marshall Stone (Democratic) 99.98% Scattering 0.02% [6] [7]
Montana (held, 1 October 1889)	New state			Joseph Toole (Democratic) 50.75% Thomas C. Power (Republican) 49.25% [8]
New Jersey	Robert Stockton Green	Democratic	Term-limited, Democratic victory	Leon Abbett (Democratic) 51.37% Edward Burd Grubb Jr. (Republican) 46.08% George La Monte (Prohibition) 2.55% [9]
North Dakota (held, 1 October 1889)	New state			John Miller (Republican) 66.58% William N. Roach (Democratic) 33.42% [10] [11]
Ohio	Joseph B. Foraker	Republican	Defeated, 47.52%	James E. Campbell (Democratic) 48.93% John B. Helwig (Prohibition) 3.42% John H. Rhodes (Union Labor) 0.14% [12] [13]
Rhode Island (held, 3 April 1889)	Royal C. Taft	Republican	Declined re-nomination, [14] Republican victory; since no candidate received an outright majority, the result was decided by the Rhode Island General Assembly	John W. Davis (Democratic) 49.38% Herbert W. Ladd (Republican) 39.13% [a] James H. Chace (Law Enforcement) 8.34% Harrison H. Richardson (Prohibition) 3.12% Scattering 0.02% [15] [16]
South Dakota (held, 1 October 1889)	New state			Arthur C. Mellette (Republican) 69.36% P. F. McClure (Democratic) 30.64% [17] [18] [19] [20]
Virginia	Fitzhugh Lee	Democratic	Term-limited, Democratic victory	Philip W. McKinney (Democratic) 57.33% William Mahone (Republican) 42.33% Thomas E. Taylor (Prohibition) 0.31% Scattering 0.03% [21] [22] [b]
Washington (held, 1 October 1889)	New state			Elisha Peyre Ferry (Republican) 57.68% Eugene Semple (Democratic) 42.32% [37]

References

1. "Iowa Republican Convention". Wichita eagle. Wichita, Kan. August 15, 1889. p. 2. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
2. "IA Governor, 1889". Our Campaigns. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
3. "Journal of the Senate of the Twenty-Third General Assembly of the State of Iowa, which convened at the Capitol at Des Moines, January 13, 1890". Journal of the Senate of the ... General Assembly of the State of Iowa. Des Moines: G. H. Ragsdale, State Printer: 56. 1890.
4. "MA Governor, 1889". Our Campaigns. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
5. Coolidge, Henry D.; McLaughlin, Edward A. (1890). Manual for the use of the General Court, &c. Boston: Wright & Potter Printing Company, State Printers. p. 312.
6. "MS Governor, 1889". Our Campaigns. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
7. Rowland, Dunbar (1908). The Official and Statistical Register of the State of Mississippi, 1908. Nashville, Tenn.: Press of the Brandon Printing Company. p. 245.
8. "MT Governor, 1889". Our Campaigns. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
9. "NJ Governor, 1889". Our Campaigns. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
10. "ND Governor, 1889". Our Campaigns. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
11. State of North Dakota. 1907 Legislative Manual (PDF). Bismarck, N. D.: Tribune, Printers and Binders. 1907. p. 183.
12. "OH Governor, 1889". Our Campaigns. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
13. "Journal of the House of Representatives of the State of Ohio, for the Regular Session of the Sixty-Ninth General Assembly, commencing Monday, January 6, 1890". Ohio House Journal. Journal of the House of Representatives of the ... General Assembly of the State of Ohio (1975). LXXXVI. Akron, Ohio: The Werner Ptg. & Light. Co.: 32 1890.
14. "Quick Work". St. Paul daily globe. Saint Paul, Minn. March 22, 1889. p. 1. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
15. "RI Governor, 1889". Our Campaigns. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
16. Samuel H. Cross, Secretary of State (1889). Manual with Rules and Orders for the use of the General Assembly, of the State of Rhode Island. 1889-90. State of Rhode Island manual. Providence. R.I.: E. L. Freeman & Son, State Printers. p. 109.
17. "SD Governor, 1889". Our Campaigns. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
18. "1889–1900 Election Returns" (PDF). South Dakota Secretary of State. Pierre, South Dakota. p. 4. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
19. "Elections". 2005 South Dakota Legislative Manual (PDF). p. 616. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
20. "South Dakota Gubernatorial Elections, 1889-2006" (PDF). www.politicsandgovernance.org. Historical Election Archive, Center for the Study of Politics and Governance, Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 6, 2014. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
21. "Journal of the House of Delegates of the State of Virginia, for the Session of 1889-90". House Journal. 1829/30-1940: House documents. Richmond: J. H. O'Bannon, Superintendent of Public Printing: 48. 1889.
22. Journal of the Senate of the Commonwealth of Virginia begun and held at the Capitol in the City of Richmond, on Wednesday, December 4, 1889, &c., &c. Richmond: J. H. O'Bannon, Superintendent of Public Printing. 1889. p. 41.
23. "Virginia's Vote". The morning news. Savannah, Ga. December 6, 1889. p. 1. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
24. "The Official Vote". Alexandria gazette. Alexandria, Va. December 7, 1889. p. 1. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
25. Tribune Almanac 1890, pp. 85–86.
26. World Almanac 1890, p. 285.
27. Compiled by Geo. E. Plumbe, A. B., LL. B. (1890). The Daily News and Political Register for 1890. Chicago, Ill.: The Chicago Daily News Company. p. 140.
28. McBride, Alexander, ed. (1890). The Evening Journal Almanac, 1890. Albany, N.Y.: Weed, Parsons & Co. pp. 92–93.
29. Piper 1895, p. 133.
30. "1889 Governor General Election". 12 April 2021.
31. Guide to U.S. Elections, Fifth Edition. Vol. II. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press. 2005. p. 1535. ISBN   978-1-56802-981-8.
32. "VA Governor, 1889". Our Campaigns. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
33. Glashan 1979, pp. 326–327.
34. Kallenbach, Joseph E.; Kallenbach, Jessamine S., eds. (1977). American State Governors, 1776-1976. Vol. I. Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.: Oceana Publications, Inc. p. 617. ISBN   0-379-00665-0.
35. The Warrock-Richardson Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina Almanack for the Year 1892, &c., &c. Richmond: James E. Goode, Publisher. 1878. pp. 40–41.
36. Dubin 2014, p. 15.
37. "WA Governor, 1889". Our Campaigns. Retrieved April 12, 2021.

Notes

1. Since no candidate received 50% of the vote, the state legislature decided the election. Ladd was elected.
2. The result given (McKinney 164,212, Mahone 121,257, Taylor 897, Scattering 81) is that declared in joint assembly on December 7, 1889 and recorded in the journals of the two houses of the Virginia General Assembly.
   However, the various contemporary and later sources give three different results, as follows:
   1. McKinney 162,654, Mahone 120,477, Taylor 897; ^{[23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29]}
   2. McKinney 163,180, Mahone 121,240, Taylor 897; ^{[30] [31] [32] [33] [34]}
   3. McKinney 164,212, Mahone 121,257, Taylor 897. ^{[35] [36]}
   Assessment is hindered because the sources which include tabulations of the city and county results do not agree, and the sums of the individual results in no case agree with the totals. It is most likely that the actual result was McKinney 163,180, Mahone 121,240, Taylor 897.

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.
• Dubin, Michael J. (2014). United States Gubernatorial Elections, 1861-1911: The Official Results by State and County. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. ISBN   978-0-7864-4722-0.
• The World Almanac, 1890. New York, NY: Press Publishing Co. 1890.
• McPherson, Edward, ed. (1890). The Tribune Almanac and Political Register for 1890. New York, NY: The Tribune Association.
• J. A. Piper, Secretary of State (1895). Roster of Soldiers, Sailors and Marines of the War of 1812, the Mexican War, and the War of the Rebellion, Residing in Nebraska, June 1, 1895. York, Nebraska: Nebraska Newspaper Union.