| Election Name: | 1898 South Dakota gubernatorial election |
| Country: | South Dakota |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1896 South Dakota gubernatorial election |
| Previous Year: | 1896 |
| Next Election: | 1900 South Dakota gubernatorial election |
| Next Year: | 1900 |
| Election Date: | November 8, 1898 |
| Image1: | File:Andrew E. Lee.jpg |
| Nominee1: | Andrew E. Lee |
| Party1: | Fusion Party (South Dakota) |
| Popular Vote1: | 37,319 |
| Percentage1: | 49.65% |
| Nominee2: | Kirk G. Phillips |
| Party2: | Republican Party (United States) |
| Popular Vote2: | 36,949 |
| Percentage2: | 49.16% |
| Map Size: | 250px |
| Governor of South Dakota | |
| Before Election: | Andrew E. Lee |
| Before Party: | People's Party (United States) |
| After Election: | Andrew E. Lee |
| After Party: | Fusion Party (South Dakota) |
The 1898 South Dakota gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1898. Incumbent governor Andrew E. Lee, elected in 1896 as a Populist, he ran for re-election as a Fusion candidate. He was challenged by Republican nominee Kirk G. Phillips, the state treasurer. Lee narrowly defeated Phillips to win his second term as governor, but most of his Fusion allies lost their elections, leaving him as the lone statewide officeholder.
Prior to the separate conventions of the Democrats, Populists, and Free Silver Republicans, U.S. Senator Richard F. Pettigrew worked behind the scenes to continue the coalition's success. To ensure that anti-silver Democrats didn't bolt from the coalition, he convinced the three parties that the Democrats should be granted four positions on the statewide ticket, which the parties embraced.[1] In the end, the nominations were divvied up among the three parties as follows:[2]
State Treasurer Kirk G. Phillips entered the Republican convention, held on August 24, 1898, in Mitchell, as the clear frontrunner for the Republican nomination. He ended up winning the nomination in a landslide, winning 449 votes to O. S. Gifford's 449 and H. M. Finnerud's 43.[3]