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November 6, 1900 | |||||||||||||||||
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 County results Sant: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% Lind: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% | |||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in Minnesota |
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The 1900 Minnesota gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 1900. Republican Party of Minnesota candidate Samuel Rinnah Van Sant narrowly defeated incumbent Democratic Party of Minnesota Governor John Lind. This was the third of three successive elections in which Lind headed a coalition of the Democrats with the People's Party.
The Republican State Convention was held on June 21, 1900. Seeing as the Republicans were not running as incumbents for the first time since 1859, the stakes were high for them. Van Sant was nominated unanimously. [1]
Lind had opposition from within the Democratic party, but faced much more opposition from within the Populist party. Running a primary campaign against him was Adolphe Paradis. The Populist convention, held August 30, 1900, would split, with one behind Paradis, and another, nicknamed the 'Bolter's Convention', nominating Lind. Paradis would not continue his run for governor independent of Lind, instead asking Lind to return to the convention for a 'fair fight', and a primary. Lind did not return to the Populist convention, and as Paradis was no longer officially running, Lind won by default. [2] Within the Democratic party, Lind faced continued opposition from Party Boss Michael Doran. Doran stated "Let him with the nomination, he will be slaughtered at the polls." [3]
Both Van Sant and Lind competed for the labor vote, and both advocated in favor of legal trade unions. Lind mostly adopted the labor policy already championed by Van Sant. [4]
Van Sant campaigned with Joseph Bobleter, on a statewide tour, giving speeches in nearly evert town. Notably, in New Ulm, which was Lind's hometown. [5]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Samuel Rinnah Van Sant | 152,905 | 48.67% | +4.41% | |
| Democratic-People's | John Lind (incumbent) | 150,651 | 47.95% | −4.31% | |
| Prohibition | Bernt B. Haugan | 5,430 | 1.73% | −0.37% | |
| Social Democratic | Thomas H. Lucas | 3,546 | 1.13% | n/a | |
| Socialist Labor | Edward Kriz | 886 | 0.28% | −0.39% | |
| Midroad-Populist | Sylvester M. Fairchild | 763 | 0.24% | −0.47% | |
| Majority | 2,254 | 0.72% | |||
| Turnout | 314,181 | ||||
| Republican gain from Democratic | |||||
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