1859 Wisconsin gubernatorial election explained

Election Name:	1859 Wisconsin gubernatorial election
Type:	presidential
Ongoing:	no
Previous Election:	1857 Wisconsin gubernatorial election
Previous Year:	1857
Next Election:	1861 Wisconsin gubernatorial election
Next Year:	1861
Election Date:	November 8, 1859
Nominee1:	Alexander W. Randall
Party1:	Republican Party (United States)
Popular Vote1:	59,999
Percentage1:	53.21%
Party2:	Democratic Party (United States)
Popular Vote2:	52,539
Percentage2:	46.60%
Map Size:	250px
Governor
Before Election:	Alexander W. Randall
Before Party:	Republican Party (United States)
After Election:	Alexander W. Randall
After Party:	Republican Party (United States)

The 1859 Wisconsin gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1859. Republican Party incumbent Governor Alexander Randall won re-election with 53% of the vote, defeating Democratic candidate Harrison Carroll Hobart.^[1]

This election was one of only four occasions in which a Democrat has carried Door County and the only time in the 19th century; Door County would not vote Democratic again until 1904.

Nominations

Republican party

Alexander W. Randall was the incumbent Governor, having been elected in the 1857 election. He had previously served as a Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge in Milwaukee, and served one term in the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1855. 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.

Democratic party

Harrison Carroll Hobart was a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly at the time of the election, representing Calumet County. He had previously served as Speaker of the Assembly in the 1849 session, and was state senator for the 1st district in the 1st Wisconsin Legislature.

Results

Results by county

County	Alexander Randall Republican		Harrison C. Hobart Democratic		Scattering Write-in		Margin		Total votes cast
County		%		%		%		%	Total votes cast
	Adams		594		66.89%		293		33.00%	1	0.11%	301	33.90%	888
	Bad Ax		995		61.65%		619		38.35%	0	0.00%	376	23.30%	1,614
	Brown		423		28.35%		1,066		71.45%	3	0.20%	-643	-43.10%	1,492
	Buffalo		264		38.94%		414		61.06%	0	0.00%	-150	-22.12%	678
	Calumet		518		43.13%		683		56.87%	0	0.00%	-165	-13.74%	1,201
	Chippewa		156		38.61%		248		61.39%	0	0.00%	-92	-22.77%	404
	Clark		71		62.83%		42		37.17%	0	0.00%	29	25.66%	113
	Columbia		2,595		61.19%		1,645		38.79%	1	0.02%	950	22.40%	4,241
	Crawford		619		45.28%		748		54.72%	0	0.00%	-129	-9.44%	1,367
	Dane		3,727		48.99%		3,880		51.00%	1	0.01%	-153	-2.01%	7,608
	Dodge		3,492		46.65%		3,856		51.51%	138	1.84%	-364	-4.86%	7,486
	Door		72		48.00%		78		52.00%	0	0.00%	-6	-4.00%	150
	Douglas		34		36.17%		60		63.83%	0	0.00%	-26	-27.66%	94
	Dunn		192		52.32%		175		47.68%	0	0.00%	17	4.63%	367
	Eau Claire		320		57.87%		233		42.13%	0	0.00%	87	15.73%	553
	Fond du Lac		3,214		55.92%		2,530		44.02%	3	0.05%	684	11.90%	5,747
	Grant		2,496		59.22%		1,715		40.69%	4	0.09%	781	18.53%	4,215
	Green		1,726		60.20%		1,141		39.80%	0	0.00%	585	20.40%	2,867
	Green Lake		1,453		68.70%		662		31.30%	0	0.00%	791	37.40%	2,115
	Iowa		1,454		52.30%		1,320		47.48%	6	0.22%	134	4.82%	2,780
	Jackson		494		62.77%		293		37.23%	0	0.00%	201	25.54%	787
	Jefferson		2,327		48.08%		2,512		51.90%	1	0.02%	-185	-3.82%	4,840
	Juneau		1,060		54.81%		874		45.19%	0	0.00%	186	9.62%	1,934
	Kenosha		1,321		59.32%		906		40.68%	0	0.00%	415	18.63%	2,227
	Kewaunee		167		22.75%		567		77.25%	0	0.00%	-400	-54.50%	734
	La Crosse		1,219		53.99%		1,034		45.79%	5	0.22%	185	8.19%	2,258
	La Pointe		72		39.78%		109		60.22%	0	0.00%	-37	-20.44%	181
	Lafayette		1,102		42.11%		1,514		57.85%	1	0.04%	-412	-15.74%	2,617
	Manitowoc		704		24.76%		2,134		75.06%	5	0.18%	-1,430	-50.30%	2,843
	Marathon		206		28.81%		509		71.19%	0	0.00%	-303	-42.38%	715
	Marquette		586		42.53%		792		57.47%	0	0.00%	-206	-14.95%	1,378
	Milwaukee		2,811		30.99%		6,261		69.01%	0	0.00%	-3,450	-38.03%	9,072
	Monroe		939		61.90%		578		38.10%	0	0.00%	361	23.80%	1,517
	Oconto		352		44.44%		440		55.56%	0	0.00%	-88	-11.11%	792
	Outagamie		494		40.23%		733		59.69%	1	0.08%	-239	-19.46%	1,228
	Ozaukee		627		28.45%		1,577		71.55%	0	0.00%	-950	-43.10%	2,204
	Pepin		432		62.88%		255		37.12%	0	0.00%	177	25.76%	687
	Pierce		506		62.39%		305		37.61%	0	0.00%	201	24.78%	811
	Polk		161		52.44%		141		45.93%	5	1.63%	20	6.51%	307
	Portage		743		56.08%		582		43.92%	0	0.00%	161	12.15%	1,325
	Racine		2,111		56.32%		1,634		43.60%	3	0.08%	477	12.73%	3,748
	Richland		745		53.52%		647		46.48%	0	0.00%	98	7.04%	1,392
	Rock		4,089		72.09%		1,578		27.82%	5	0.09%	2,511	44.27%	5,672
	Sauk		1,659		67.49%		799		32.51%	0	0.00%	860	34.99%	2,458
	Shawano		105		54.69%		87		45.31%	0	0.00%	18	9.38%	192
	Sheboygan		1,772		48.67%		1,839		50.51%	30	0.82%	-67	-1.84%	3,641
	St. Croix		516		47.96%		560		52.04%	0	0.00%	-44	-4.09%	1,076
	Trempealeau		366		71.91%		143		28.09%	0	0.00%	223	43.81%	509
	Walworth		3,133		68.23%		1,459		31.77%	0	0.00%	1,674	36.45%	4,592
	Washington		684		24.50%		2,106		75.43%	2	0.07%	-1,422	-50.93%	2,792
	Waukesha		2,785		54.80%		2,295		45.16%	2	0.04%	490	9.64%	5,082
	Waupaca		1,167		65.16%		624		34.84%	0	0.00%	543	30.32%	1,791
	Waushara		1,126		74.77%		380		25.23%	0	0.00%	746	49.54%	1,506
	Winnebago		2,235		58.74%		1,570		41.26%	0	0.00%	665	17.48%	3,805
	Wood		235		45.63%		280		54.37%	0	0.00%	-45	-8.74%	515
Total	59,999	53.21%	52,539	46.60%	217	0.19%	7,460	6.62%	112,755

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Notes and References

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.