| Election Name: | 1896 United States gubernatorial elections |
| Country: | United States |
| Flag Year: | 1896 |
| Type: | legislative |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1895 United States gubernatorial elections |
| Previous Year: | 1895 |
| Next Election: | 1897 United States gubernatorial elections |
| Next Year: | 1897 |
| 1Blank: | Seats up |
| 2Blank: | Seats won |
| Seats For Election: | 32 governorships |
| Election Date: | November 3, 1896 |
| Party1: | Republican Party (United States) |
| Seats Before1: | 26 |
| Seats After1: | 24 |
| Seat Change1: | 2 |
| 1Data1: | 17 |
| 2Data1: | 15 |
| Party2: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| Seats Before2: | 17 |
| Seats After2: | 16 |
| Seat Change2: | 1 |
| 1Data2: | 14 |
| 2Data2: | 13 |
| Party4: | Populist Party (United States) |
| Seats Before4: | 1 |
| Seats After4: | 4 |
| Seat Change4: | 3 |
| 1Data4: | 1 |
| 2Data4: | 4 |
| Party5: | Silver Party |
| Seats Before5: | 1 |
| Seats After5: | 1 |
| 1Data5: | 0 |
| 2Data5: | 0 |
| Map Size: | 324px |
United States gubernatorial elections were held in 1896, in 32 states, concurrent with the House, Senate elections and presidential election, on November 3, 1896 (except in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maine, Rhode Island and Vermont, which held early elections).
Following the death of Delaware Governor Joshua H. Marvil, the General Assembly scheduled the next gubernatorial election for 1896, two years into the term. Delaware's gubernatorial elections have been held in presidential election years ever since.
In Florida, the gubernatorial election was held in October for the last time. The subsequent election days were moved to the same day as federal elections from the 1900 elections.[1]
| State | Incumbent | Party | Status | Opposing candidates | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama (held, 3 August 1896) | William C. Oates | Democratic | Retired to run for U.S. Senate, Democratic victory | Joseph F. Johnston (Democratic) 59.01% Albert Taylor Goodwyn (Populist) 40.99% [2] | |
| Arkansas (held, 7 September 1896) | Democratic | Retired to run for U.S. Senate, Democratic victory | Daniel Webster Jones (Democratic) 64.26% Harmon L. Remmel (Republican) 25.28% Abner W. Files[3] [4] (Populist) 9.86% J. W. Miller (Prohibition) 0.60% [5] [6] | ||
| Colorado | Albert McIntire | Republican | Alva Adams (Democratic) 46.22% Morton Shelley Bailey (Populist) 37.98% George W. Allen (Republican) 12.66% Davis H. Waite (Midroad-Populist) 1.78% Scattering 1.36% [7] | ||
| Connecticut | Republican | Retired, Republican victory | Lorrin A. Cooke (Republican) 62.53% Joseph B. Sargent (Democratic) 32.48% Lewis Sperry (National Democratic) 3.21% Edward Manchester (Prohibition) 1.06% John A. Norton (Socialist Labor) 0.72% [8] | ||
| Delaware | William T. Watson (acting) | Democratic | Term-limited, Democratic victory | Ebe W. Tunnell (Democratic) 44.20% John H. Hoffecker (Union Republican) 31.40% John C. Higgins (Anti-Addicks Republican) 20.39% Louis N. Slaughter (Single Tax) 2.44% Daniel M. Green (Prohibition) 1.56% Scattering 0.01% [9] [10] | |
| Florida (held, 6 October 1896)[11] | Democratic | Term-limited, Democratic victory | William D. Bloxham (Democratic) 66.71% Edward R. Gunby (Republican) 20.35% William A. Wicks (Populist) 12.94% [12] [13] | ||
| Georgia (held, 7 October 1896) | William Yates Atkinson | Democratic | Re-elected, 58.47% | Seaborn Wright (Populist) 41.53% [14] [15] | |
| Idaho | Republican | Retired, Democratic victory | Frank Steunenberg (Democratic) 76.79% David Budlong (Republican) 22.38% Moses F. Fowler (Prohibition) 0.83% [16] | ||
| Illinois | Democratic | Defeated, 43.66% | John Riley Tanner (Republican) 54.10% George Washington Gere (Prohibition) 1.34% William St. John Forman (National Democratic) 0.75% Charles A. Baustian (Socialist Labor) 0.09% Isaac W. Higgs (National Prohibition) 0.07% [17] [18] | ||
| Indiana | Democratic | Term-limited, Republican victory | James A. Mount (Republican) 50.93% Benjamin F. Shively (Democratic) 46.79% Thomas Wadsworth (Populist) 1.37% Leander M. Crist (Prohibition) 0.48% A. G. Burkhart (National Prohibition) 0.40% Philip H. Moore (Socialist Labor) 0.04% [19] [20] | ||
| Kansas | Republican | Defeated, 48.30% | John W. Leedy (Populist) 50.56% Horace Hurley (Prohibition) 0.71% Henry L. Douthart (National Prohibition) 0.23% A. E. Kepford (Independent Prohibition) 0.21% [21] [22] | ||
| Louisiana (held, 21 April 1896) | Murphy J. Foster | Democratic | Re-elected, 56.27% | John N. Pharr (Populist) 43.64% A. B. Booth 0.09% [23] [24] [25] | |
| Maine (held, 14 September 1896) | Republican | Retired, Republican victory | Llewellyn Powers (Republican) 66.84% Melvin P. Frank (Democratic) 27.79% Luther C. Bateman (Populist) 2.67% Ammi S. Ladd (Prohibition) 2.19% William H. Clifford (National Democratic) 0.49% Scattering 0.03% [26] [27] | ||
| Massachusetts | Roger Wolcott (acting) | Republican | Re-elected, 67.05% | George Fred Williams (Democratic) 26.92% Frederick O. Prince (National Democratic) 3.68% Thomas C. Brophy (Socialist Labor) 1.18% Allen Coffin (Prohibition) 1.16% [28] [29] | |
| Michigan | Republican | Retired, Republican victory | Hazen S. Pingree (Republican) 55.57% Charles R. Sligh (Democratic) 40.35% Rufus S. Sprague (National Democratic) 1.78% Robert C. Safford (Prohibition) 1.00% John Gilberson (National Prohibition) 0.35% Scattering 0.94% [30] | ||
| Minnesota | David Marston Clough (acting) | Republican | Re-elected, 49.18% | John Lind (Democratic) 48.10% William J. Dean (Prohibition) 1.53% Albert Alonzo Ames (Independent) 0.86% William B. Hammond (Socialist Labor) 0.33% [31] | |
| Missouri | William J. Stone | Democratic | Term-limited, Democratic victory | Lon Vest Stephens (Democratic) 52.88% Robert E. Lewis (Republican) 46.35% Herman P. Faris (Prohibition) 0.39% J. McDowell Trimble (National Democratic) 0.27% Louis C. Fry (Socialist Labor) 0.11% [32] | |
| Montana | Republican | Lost re-nomination, Democratic victory | Robert Burns Smith (Democratic) 70.99% Alexander C. Botkin (Republican) 29.01% [33] | ||
| Nebraska | Silas A. Holcomb | Populist | Re-elected, 53.46% | John H. McColl (Republican) 43.50% Robert S. Bibb (National Democratic) 1.63% Joel Warner (Prohibition) 0.72% Richard H. Hawley (National Prohibition) 0.43% Charles Sadilek (Socialist Labor) 0.27% [34] | |
| New Hampshire | Charles A. Busiel | Republican | Retired, Republican victory | George A. Ramsdell (Republican) 61.41% Henry O. Kent (Democratic) 35.96% John C. Berry (Prohibition) 1.34% Harry H. Acton (Socialist Labor) 0.61% Gardiner J. Greenleaf (Populist) 0.36% George W. Barnard (National) 0.29% Scattering 0.02% [35] | |
| New York | Republican | Retired, Republican victory | Frank S. Black (Republican) 55.28% Wilbur E. Porter (Democratic) 40.33% Daniel G. Griffin (National Democratic) 1.87% Howard Balkam (Socialist Labor) 1.29% William W. Smith (Prohibition) 1.22% [36] | ||
| North Carolina | Democratic | Term-limited, Republican victory | Daniel Lindsay Russell (Republican) 46.46% Cyrus B. Watson (Democratic) 43.89% William A. Guthrie (Populist) 9.41% James R. Jones (National Prohibition) 0.17% Jeremiah W. Holt (Prohibition) 0.07% [37] [38] | ||
| North Dakota | Republican | Lost re-nomination, Republican victory | Frank A. Briggs (Republican) 55.61% Robert B. Richardson (Populist) 44.39% [39] | ||
| Rhode Island (held, 1 April 1896) | Charles W. Lippitt | Republican | Re-elected, 56.40% | George L. Littlefield (Democratic) 33.79% Thomas H. Peabody (Prohibition) 5.84% Edward W. Thienert (Socialist Labor) 2.52% Henry A. Burlingame (Populist) 1.45% [40] | |
| South Carolina | John Gary Evans | Democratic | Retired, Democratic victory | William Haselden Ellerbe (Democratic) 89.18% Sampson Pope (Lily-White Republican) 6.65% R. M. Wallace (Black and Tan Republican) 4.17% [41] [42] | |
| South Dakota | Charles H. Sheldon | Republican | Retired, Populist victory | Andrew E. Lee (Populist) 49.76% A. O. Ringsrud (Republican) 49.37% J. F. Hanson (Prohibition) 0.87% [43] [44] | |
| Tennessee | Democratic | Retired, Democratic victory | Robert Love Taylor (Democratic) 48.76% G. N. Tillman (Republican) 46.62% A. L. Mims (Populist) 3.74% Josephus Hopwood (Prohibition) 0.88% [45] [46] | ||
| Texas | Charles A. Culberson | Democratic | Re-elected, 55.31% | Jerome C. Kearby (Republican) 44.22% Randolph Clark (Prohibition) 0.35% Scattering 0.13% [47] [48] | |
| Vermont (held, 1 September 1896) | Republican | Retired, Republican victory | Josiah Grout (Republican) 76.41% J. Henry Jackson (Democratic) 21.25% Joseph Battell (Populist) 1.19% Rodney Whittemore (Prohibition) 1.08% Scattering 0.08% [49] | ||
| Washington | John McGraw | Republican | Retired, Populist victory | John Rankin Rogers (Populist) 55.55% Potter C. Sullivan (Republican) 41.68% Robert E. Dunlap (Prohibition) 2.78% [50] | |
| West Virginia | Democratic | Term-limited, Republican victory | George W. Atkinson (Republican) 52.41% Cornelius Clarkson Watts (Democratic) 46.44% T. C. Johnson (Prohibition) 0.67% N. W. Fitzgerald (Populist) 0.40% Scattering 0.08% [51] | ||
| Wisconsin | Republican | Retired, Republican victory | Edward Scofield (Republican) 59.67% Willis C. Silverthorn (Democratic) 38.11% Joshua H. Berkey (Prohibition) 1.83% Christ Tuttrop (Socialist Labor) 0.29% Robert Henderson (National Prohibition) 0.09% [52] |