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  County results Beckham: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% Yerkes: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90% | |||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in Kentucky |
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The 1900 Kentucky gubernatorial special election was held on November 6, 1900. Incumbent Democratic governor J. C. W. Beckham was elected to complete William Goebel's term with 49.88% of the vote.
In the 1899 Kentucky gubernatorial election, J. C. W. Beckham was the running mate of Democratic nominee William Goebel, [1] who lost the election to Republican nominee William S. Taylor. [2] On January 31, 1900, Democrats in the Kentucky General Assembly successfully overturned the election results, handing the governorship to Goebel. [3] However, having been shot the day before, [4] he died three days later, [5] so Beckham ascended to the governorship. [6]
Due to the unusual circumstances surrounding the 1899 election, a special election was held on November 6, 1900, to determine who would complete Goebel's unexpired term. [6] Beckham won the election over Republican John W. Yerkes by fewer than 4,000 votes. [2]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | J. C. W. Beckham (incumbent) | 233,052 | 49.88% | ||
| Republican | John W. Yerkes | 229,363 | 49.09% | ||
| Prohibition | John D. White | 2,269 | 0.49% | ||
| Populist | A. H. Cardin | 1,666 | 0.36% | ||
| Social Democratic | Walter T. Roberts | 456 | 0.10% | ||
| Socialist Labor | James Doyle | 408 | 0.09% | ||
| Majority | 3,689 | 0.79% | |||
| Turnout | 467,214 | ||||
| Democratic hold | Swing | ||||
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John Crepps Wickliffe Beckham was an American attorney and politician who served as the 35th governor of Kentucky and a United States senator from Kentucky. He was the state's first popularly-elected senator after the passage of the Seventeenth Amendment.
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