1857 Wisconsin gubernatorial election explained

Election Name:	1857 Wisconsin gubernatorial election
Type:	presidential
Ongoing:	no
Previous Election:	1855 Wisconsin gubernatorial election
Previous Year:	1855
Next Election:	1859 Wisconsin gubernatorial election
Next Year:	1859
Election Date:	November 3, 1857
Nominee1:	Alexander W. Randall
Party1:	Republican Party (United States)
Popular Vote1:	45,059
Percentage1:	50.03%
Party2:	Democratic Party (United States)
Popular Vote2:	44,941
Percentage2:	49.90%
Map Size:	250px
Governor
Before Election:	Coles Bashford
Before Party:	Republican Party (United States)
After Election:	Alexander W. Randall
After Party:	Republican Party (United States)

The 1857 Wisconsin gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1857. After incumbent Governor Coles Bashford declined to seek re-election, Republican Party candidate Alexander Randall narrowly defeated Democratic candidate James B. Cross by a margin of just 118 votes.^[1]

Richland County would not vote for a Democrat again until 1924, nor would Polk County until 1918 and Juneau County until 1892. Conversely, Marquette County would not vote for a Republican again until 1886.

Nominations

Republican party

Alexander W. Randall was a Wisconsin circuit court judge in Milwaukee prior to the 1857 gubernatorial election, having been appointed by the previous Governor, Coles Bashford. Randall had been an attorney for Governor Bashford in his challenge of the 1855 Wisconsin gubernatorial election results. Earlier, in 1846, Randall had been a delegate to the first Wisconsin constitutional convention and had successfully advocated for including a provision by which African American suffrage could be legalized via referendum. Randall served as a Democrat in the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1855, but became a Republican later that year when he ran unsuccessfully for election to be Attorney General of Wisconsin.

Randall became a compromise choice for gubernatorial nominee at the 1857 Wisconsin Republican Convention after delegates became deadlocked between the two leading candidates, Edward Holton and Walter McIndoe.

Other candidates

• Edward D. Holton, of Milwaukee, had previously been a candidate for Governor in the 1853 election, running as an independent. Holton was a strident abolitionist and was well-connected to the Milwaukee elite as a businessman and banker.
• Walter D. McIndoe, of Wausau, had served three terms in the Wisconsin State Assembly representing the frontier northern counties of the state. McIndoe was a Scottish immigrant and worked in the lumber industry.

Democratic party

James B. Cross was the incumbent Mayor of Milwaukee at the time of the 1857 gubernatorial election, serving his third consecutive term in that role. He had also represented Milwaukee in the Wisconsin State Assembly for three terms. Cross was a lawyer and had previously served as a probate judge in Milwaukee County. He was a Wisconsin delegate to the 1856 Democratic National Convention.

James B. Cross was nominated on the third ballot at the Wisconsin Democratic Party Convention. He received 89 votes; Jairus C. Fairchild received 37; Francis Huebschmann received 14.^[2]

Other candidates

• Jairus C. Fairchild, of Madison, had been the first State Treasurer of Wisconsin. He was also the first mayor of Madison after its incorporation as a city in 1856.
• Francis Huebschmann, of Milwaukee, was a physician and German American immigrant. He had served in the Wisconsin State Senate in the 1851 and 1852 sessions of the legislature, and was a member of the Milwaukee City Council and County Board.

Results

Results by county

County	Alexander Randall Republican		James B. Cross Democratic		Scattering Write-in		Margin		Total votes cast
		%		%		%		%
	Adams		397		60.33%		261		39.67%		0		0.00%		136		20.67%		658
	Bad Ax		549		55.23%		445		44.77%		0		0.00%		104		10.46%		994
	Brown		143		19.92%		575		80.08%		0		0.00%		-432		-60.17%		718
	Buffalo		179		33.09%		362		66.91%		0		0.00%		-183		-33.83%		541
	Calumet		361		42.52%		488		57.48%		0		0.00%		-127		-14.96%		849
	Chippewa		70		21.47%		256		78.53%		0		0.00%		-186		-57.06%		326
	Clark		59		60.20%		39		39.80%		0		0.00%		20		20.41%		98
	Columbia		1,731		57.47%		1,280		42.50%		1		0.03%		451		14.97%		3,012
	Crawford		278		43.17%		366		56.83%		0		0.00%		-88		-13.66%		644
	Dane		2,668		47.30%		2,959		52.46%		14		0.25%		-291		-5.16%		5,641
	Dodge		2,647		48.43%		2,819		51.57%		0		0.00%		-172		-3.15%		5,466
	Door		39		50.65%		38		49.35%		0		0.00%		1		1.30%		77
	Douglas		28		16.18%		145		83.82%		0		0.00%		-117		-67.63%		173
	Dunn		204		64.76%		111		35.24%		0		0.00%		93		29.52%		315
	Eau Claire		199		59.94%		133		40.06%		0		0.00%		66		19.88%		332
	Fond du Lac		2,097		53.44%		1,826		46.53%		1		0.03%		271		6.91%		3,924
	Grant		1,681		57.16%		1,260		42.84%		0		0.00%		421		14.31%		2,941
	Green		1,156		58.15%		832		41.85%		0		0.00%		324		16.30%		1,988
	Iowa		765		45.54%		915		54.46%		0		0.00%		-150		-8.93%		1,680
	Jackson		336		50.91%		324		49.09%		0		0.00%		12		1.82%		660
	Jefferson		1,804		51.32%		1,711		48.68%		0		0.00%		93		2.65%		3,515
	Juneau		499		49.70%		505		50.30%		0		0.00%		-6		-0.60%		1,004
	Kenosha		932		57.35%		693		42.65%		0		0.00%		239		14.71%		1,625
	Kewaunee		51		22.27%		178		77.73%		0		0.00%		-127		-55.46%		229
	La Crosse		684		44.19%		861		55.62%		3		0.19%		-177		-11.43%		1,548
	La Pointe		0		0.00%		43		100.00%		0		0.00%		-43		-100.00%		43
	Lafayette		758		35.79%		1,360		64.21%		0		0.00%		-602		-28.42%		2,118
	Manitowoc		631		33.67%		1,241		66.22%		2		0.11%		-610		-32.55%		1,874
	Marathon		197		48.52%		209		51.48%		0		0.00%		-12		-2.96%		406
	Marquette		1,475		55.10%		1,202		44.90%		0		0.00%		273		10.20%		2,677
	Milwaukee		2,248		28.81%		5,531		70.89%		23		0.29%		-3,283		-42.08%		7,802
	Monroe		555		56.12%		434		43.88%		0		0.00%		121		12.23%		989
	Oconto		160		46.24%		186		53.76%		0		0.00%		-26		-7.51%		346
	Outagamie		416		42.06%		573		57.94%		0		0.00%		-157		-15.87%		989
	Ozaukee		266		18.56%		1,167		81.44%		0		0.00%		-901		-62.88%		1,433
	Pierce		306		64.15%		171		35.85%		0		0.00%		135		28.30%		477
	Polk		111		41.89%		154		58.11%		0		0.00%		-43		-16.23%		265
	Portage		571		53.62%		494		46.38%		0		0.00%		77		7.23%		1,065
	Racine		1,752		54.68%		1,452		45.32%		0		0.00%		300		9.36%		3,204
	Richland		538		46.95%		608		53.05%		0		0.00%		-70		-6.11%		1,146
	Rock		3,425		67.71%		1,633		32.29%		0		0.00%		1,792		35.43%		5,058
	Sauk		1,239		59.74%		835		40.26%		0		0.00%		404		19.48%		2,074
	Shawano		15		20.27%		59		79.73%		0		0.00%		-44		-59.46%		74
	Sheboygan		1,276		54.91%		1,047		45.05%		1		0.04%		229		9.85%		2,324
	St. Croix		358		47.99%		388		52.01%		0		0.00%		-30		-4.02%		746
	Trempealeau		164		75.23%		54		24.77%		0		0.00%		110		50.46%		218
	Walworth		2,335		68.16%		1,089		31.79%		2		0.06%		1,246		36.38%		3,426
	Washington		341		19.10%		1,433		80.28%		11		0.62%		-1,092		-61.18%		1,785
	Waukesha		2,269		54.83%		1,869		45.17%		0		0.00%		400		9.67%		4,138
	Waupaca		936		65.27%		498		34.73%		0		0.00%		438		30.54%		1,434
	Waushara		978		77.25%		288		22.75%		0		0.00%		690		54.50%		1,266
	Winnebago		2,058		59.00%		1,430		41.00%		0		0.00%		628		18.00%		3,488
	Wood		124		52.77%		111		47.23%		0		0.00%		13		5.53%		235
Total	45,059	50.03%	44,941	49.90%	58	0.06%	118	0.13%	90,058

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Clark
• Dunn
• Racine
• Sheboygan
• Waupaca

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Dane
• Outagamie
• Richland
• Shawano

Notes and References

1. Book: Joint Committee on Legislative Organization, Wisconsin Legislature . 2015 . Wisconsin Blue Book 2015-2016 . Madison, Wisconsin . Wisconsin Department of Administration . 699–701 . 978-0-9752820-7-6.
2. Book: Tuttle, Charles R.. An Illustrated History of the State of Wisconsin. B. B. Russell & Co.. 341. 1875. June 13, 2019.