| Election Name: | 1888 United States gubernatorial elections |
| Country: | United States |
| Flag Year: | 1877 |
| Type: | legislative |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1887 United States gubernatorial elections |
| Previous Year: | 1887 |
| Next Election: | 1889 United States gubernatorial elections |
| Next Year: | 1889 |
| Seats For Election: | 26 state governorships |
| Election Date: | November 6, 1888 |
| Party1: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| Last Election1: | 22 governorships |
| Seats Before1: | 22 |
| Seats After1: | 19 |
| Seat Change1: | 3 |
| Party2: | Republican Party (United States) |
| Last Election2: | 16 governorships |
| Seats Before2: | 16 |
| Seats After2: | 19 |
| Seat Change2: | 3 |
United States gubernatorial elections were held in 1888, in 26 states, concurrent with the House, Senate elections and presidential election, on November 6, 1888 (except in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Maine, Rhode Island and Vermont, which held early elections).
In New Hampshire, the newly elected Governor's term began in the June following the election for the last time. Following an 1889 amendment to the State Constitution, the Governor's term would begin in the January following the election, beginning in 1890.
| State | Incumbent | Party | Status | Opposing candidates | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama (held, 6 August 1888) | Thomas Seay | Democratic | Re-elected, 77.60% | W. T. Ewing (Republican) 22.24% J. C. Orr (Prohibition) 0.15% Scattering 0.01% [1] [2] | |
| Arkansas (held, 3 September 1888) | Democratic | Lost re-nomination,[3] [4] Democratic victory | James Philip Eagle (Democratic) 54.09% Charles M. Norwood (Union Labor) 45.91% [5] | ||
| Colorado | Alva Adams | Democratic | Job Adams Cooper (Republican) 53.87% Thomas M. Patterson (Democratic) 42.67% William C. Stover (Prohibition) 2.28% Gilbert De La Matyr (Prohibition) 1.18% [6] [7] [8] | ||
| Connecticut | Phineas C. Lounsbury | Republican | Retired, Republican victory | Morgan Bulkeley (Republican) 47.94% Luzon B. Morris (Democratic) 48.86% Hiram Camp (Prohibition) 3.01% F. A. Andrews (Labor) 0.17% Scattering 0.01%[9] [10] (Legislative election) (held, 10 January 1889) Morgan Bulkeley, 159 votes Luzon B. Morris, 95 votes [11] | |
| Florida | Democratic | Term-limited, Democratic victory | Francis P. Fleming (Democratic) 60.32% V. J. Shipman (Republican) 39.68% [12] [13] [14] [15] | ||
| Georgia (held, 3 October 1888) | John Brown Gordon | Democratic | Re-elected, 100.00% [16] [17] | ||
| Illinois | Richard J. Oglesby | Republican | Retired, Republican victory | Joseph W. Fifer (Republican) 50.50% John M. Palmer (Democratic) 46.03% David H. Harts (Prohibition) 2.59% Willis W. Jones (Union Labor) 0.88% [18] [19] [20] | |
| Indiana | Isaac P. Gray | Democratic | Term-limited, Republican victory | Alvin Peterson Hovey (Republican) 49.03% Courtland C. Matson (Democratic) 48.62% Jasper Hughes (Prohibition) 1.85% John B. Milroy (Union Labor) 0.50% [21] [22] | |
| Kansas | Republican | Retired,[23] Republican victory | Lyman U. Humphrey (Republican) 54.70% John Martin (Democratic) 32.51% Peter Percival Elder (Union Labor) 10.84% Jeremiah D. Botkin (Prohibition) 1.95% [24] [25] [26] [27] | ||
| Louisiana (held, 17 April 1888) | Samuel D. McEnery | Democratic | Lost renomination,[28] [29] Democrat victory | Francis T. Nicholls (Democratic) 72.73% Henry C. Warmoth (Republican) 27.27% [30] [31] [32] [33] | |
| Maine (held, 10 September 1888) | Sebastian Streeter Marble (acting) | Republican | Lost re-nomination,[34] Republican victory | Edwin C. Burleigh (Republican) 52.12% William LeBaron Putnam (Democratic) 42.19% Volney B. Cushing (Prohibition) 2.14% William H. Simmons (Union Labor) 1.05% Scattering 0.01% [35] [36] [37] | |
| Massachusetts | Oliver Ames | Republican | Re-elected, 52.71% | William E. Russell (Democratic) 44.53% William H. Earle (Prohibition) 2.73% Scattering 0.03% [38] [39] | |
| Michigan | Cyrus G. Luce | Republican | Re-elected, 49.20% | Wellington R. Burt (Democratic) 45.59% Amherst B. Cheney (Prohibition) 4.57% William Mills (Union Labor) 0.92% [40] [41] | |
| Minnesota | Andrew Ryan McGill | Republican | Lost re-nomination,[42] [43] Republican victory | William Rush Merriam (Republican) 51.28% Eugene McLanahan Wilson (Democratic) 42.08% Hugh G. Harrison (Prohibition) 6.50% J. H. Paul (Labor) 0.15% [44] [45] | |
| Missouri | Albert P. Morehouse (acting) | Democratic | Lost renomination,[46] Democratic victory | David R. Francis (Democratic) 49.36% Elbert E. Kimball (Republican) 46.81% Ahira Manning (Union Labor) 2.98% Frank M. Lowe (Prohibition) 0.85% [47] [48] | |
| Nebraska | John Milton Thayer | Republican | Re-elected, 51.26% | John A. McShane (Democratic) 42.11% George Bigelow (Prohibition) 4.69% David Butler (Labor) 1.94% [49] | |
| New Hampshire | Charles H. Sawyer | Republican | David H. Goodell (Republican) 49.45% Charles H. Amsden (Democratic) 48.79% Edgar L. Carr (Prohibition) 1.73% [50] [51] (Legislative election) (held, 5 June 1889) David H. Goodell, 168 votes Charles H. Amsden, 114 votes Edgar L. Carr, 1 vote | ||
| New York | David B. Hill | Democratic | Re-elected, 49.44% | Warner Miller (Republican) 47.98% W. Martin Jones (Prohibition) 2.30% J. Edward Hall (Socialist Labor) 0.25% Lewis E. Page (Union Labor) 0.02% Nathan Wardner (United Labor) 0.00% [52] [53] [54] | |
| North Carolina | Alfred Moore Scales | Democratic | Term-limited, Democratic victory | Daniel Gould Fowle (Democratic) 51.97% Oliver H. Dockery (Republican) 46.93% William T. Walker (Prohibition) 1.09% [55] [56] | |
| Rhode Island (held, 4 April 1888) | John W. Davis | Democratic | Defeated, 44.29% | Royal C. Taft (Republican) 52.33% George W. Gould (Prohibition) 3.34% Scattering 0.04% [57] [58] | |
| South Carolina | John Peter Richardson III | Democratic | Re-elected, 99.97% | Scattering 0.03% [59] [60] | |
| Tennessee | Robert Love Taylor | Democratic | Re-elected, 51.80% | Samuel W. Hawkins (Republican) 45.92% J. C. Johnson (Prohibition) 2.28% [61] [62] | |
| Texas | Lawrence Sullivan Ross | Democratic | Re-elected, 71.77% | Marion Martin (Fusion) 28.23% [63] [64] [65] | |
| Vermont (held, 4 September 1888) | Ebenezer J. Ormsbee | Republican | Retired, Republican victory | William P. Dillingham (Republican) 69.89% Stephen C. Shurtleff (Democratic) 28.13% Henry M. Seeley (Prohibition) 1.98% Scattering 0.01% [66] [67] | |
| West Virginia | Democratic | Term-limited, Democratic victory following disputed election | (Original count) Nathan Goff Jr. (Republican) 49.27% Aretas B. Fleming (Democratic) 49.21% Scattering 1.52% [68] [69] (Revised count, conducted by legislature) Aretas B. Fleming (Democratic) 49.31% Nathan Goff Jr. (Republican) 49.16% Scattering 1.53% [70] [71] | ||
| Wisconsin | Jeremiah McLain Rusk | Republican | Retired, Republican victory | William D. Hoard (Republican) 49.53% James Morgan (Democratic) 43.82% E. G. Durant (Prohibition) 4.05% David Frank Powell (Labor) 2.59% Scattering 0.01% [72] [73] |