Election 1888 Results
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1888 governor election results by state and county
Benjamin Harrison's presidential win came with 14 Republican governorships, while West Virginia, Indiana and Missouri were each decided by under half a point.
26 governor races were held in 1888. Democrats won 12 and Republicans 14.
The closest were West Virginia (R+0.1), Indiana (R+0.4) and New Hampshire (R+0.7). 3 governorships changed party: Colorado to the Republicans, Indiana to the Republicans and Rhode Island to the Republicans.
Early projection, based on early and incomplete polling: the likely matchups, each weighted by the betting markets' odds of both nominations, not a result. Each county is its 2024 presidential margin moved by its state's projected swing; set a national vote and every state, district and county moves by the same amount from our projection. Colours run in 100 steps from a safe Republican to a safe Democratic margin. Boundaries: US Census Bureau.
About the 1888 governor elections
Benjamin Harrison won the presidency in 1888 by carrying the Electoral College while losing the popular vote to Grover Cleveland. The governor races were also close. Republicans won 14 and Democrats 11, and several states were decided by a fraction of a point. In West Virginia, Nathan Goff Jr. led A. Brooks Fleming by about 0.1 points, but Fleming contested the result and the legislature eventually seated him in 1890. Alvin P. Hovey won Indiana, Harrison's home state, by 0.4 points, and David R. Francis held Missouri for the Democrats by the same margin. David H. Goodell won New Hampshire by under a point. In Connecticut, Luzon B. Morris led Morgan G. Bulkeley by under a point, but without a majority the legislature chose Bulkeley. David B. Hill was re-elected in New York by under 2 points even as Cleveland lost the state. In Illinois, Joseph W. Fifer beat John M. Palmer by about 2 points, and William D. Hoard, the dairy publisher, won Wisconsin by about 6.
Every race
| State | Democrat | Votes | Republican | Votes | Others | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Thomas Seay | 149,591 (77.6%) | W. T. Ewing | 42,805 (22.2%) | 301 | D+55.4 |
| Arkansas | James P. Eagle | 99,229 (54.1%) | none | Charles M. Norwood (Union Labor) 84,223 (45.9%) |
D+54.1 | |
| Colorado flip | Thomas M. Patterson | 39,197 (42.6%) | Job A. Cooper | 49,490 (53.8%) | 3,233 | R+11.2 |
| Connecticut | Luzon B. Morris | 75,074 (48.9%) | Morgan G. Bulkeley | 73,659 (47.9%) | 4,894 | D+0.9 |
| Connecticut: No candidate won a majority; the legislature chose Morgan Bulkeley. | ||||||
| Florida | Francis P. Fleming | 40,195 (60.4%) | V. J. Shipman | 26,385 (39.6%) | D+20.7 | |
| Georgia | John B. Gordon | 121,999 (100.0%) | none | D+100.0 | ||
| Illinois | John McAuley Palmer | 355,313 (47.5%) | Joseph W. Fifer | 367,856 (49.1%) | 25,305 | R+1.7 |
| Indiana flip | Courtland Cushing Matson | 260,994 (48.6%) | Alvin P. Hovey | 263,194 (49.0%) | 12,628 | R+0.4 |
| Kansas | John Martin | 107,582 (32.5%) | Lyman U. Humphrey | 180,841 (54.7%) | Peter Percival Elder (Labor) 35,847 (10.8%) |
R+22.2 |
| Louisiana | Francis T. Nicholls | 136,747 (72.5%) | Henry C. Warmoth | 51,993 (27.5%) | D+44.9 | |
| Maine | William L. Putnam | 61,348 (42.2%) | Edwin C. Burleigh | 79,401 (54.6%) | 4,655 | R+12.4 |
| Massachusetts | William E. Russell | 152,780 (44.5%) | Oliver Ames | 180,849 (52.7%) | 9,485 | R+8.2 |
| Michigan | Wellington R. Burt | 216,330 (45.6%) | Cyrus G. Luce | 233,592 (49.2%) | 24,730 | R+3.6 |
| Minnesota | Eugene M. Wilson | 110,251 (42.1%) | William R. Merriam | 134,355 (51.3%) | Hugh G. Harrison (Prohibition) 17,026 (6.5%) |
R+9.2 |
| Missouri | David Rowland Francis | 255,764 (49.4%) | E. E. Kimball | 242,531 (46.8%) | 19,827 | D+2.6 |
| Nebraska | J. A. McShane | 85,420 (42.1%) | John M. Thayer | 103,982 (51.3%) | 13,462 | R+9.2 |
| New Hampshire | Charles H. Amsden | 44,217 (48.8%) | David H. Goodell | 44,809 (49.5%) | 1,567 | R+0.7 |
| New York | David B. Hill | 650,464 (49.5%) | Warner Miller | 631,283 (48.0%) | 33,563 | D+1.5 |
| North Carolina | Daniel G. Fowle | 148,405 (52.0%) | Oliver H. Dockery | 134,035 (46.9%) | 3,124 | D+5.0 |
| Rhode Island flip | John W. Davis | 17,556 (44.3%) | Royal C. Taft | 20,744 (52.3%) | 1,341 | R+8.0 |
| South Carolina | John P. Richardson | 58,730 (100.0%) | none | 16 | D+100.0 | |
| Tennessee | Robert L. Taylor | 156,493 (51.9%) | Samuel W. Hawkins | 138,426 (45.9%) | 6,888 | D+6.0 |
| Texas | Lawrence S. Ross | 250,338 (71.8%) | none | Francis Marion Martin (Prohibition) 98,447 (28.2%) |
D+71.8 | |
| Vermont | Stephen C. Shurtleff | 19,527 (28.1%) | William P. Dillingham | 48,522 (69.9%) | 1,377 | R+41.8 |
| West Virginia | A. Brooks Fleming | 78,798 (49.2%) | Nathan Goff Jr. | 78,904 (49.3%) | 2,437 | R+0.1 |
| West Virginia: Nathan Goff Jr. led the initial count, but the legislature resolved the contested result in favor of Aretas B. Fleming. | ||||||
| Wisconsin | James Morgan | 155,423 (43.8%) | William D. Hoard | 175,696 (49.5%) | 23,586 | R+5.7 |
Margin: the Democrat's share of all votes minus the Republican's. Margins are Democrat minus Republican, of all votes. Certified results, from the states' own archives, the MIT Election Data and Science Lab, Heideman (2026) and Algara & Amlani (2021). By county: "As they were" draws each county as it stood on election day; "Today's" shares the old votes among today's counties by area, so its county detail is an estimate. County boundaries: Newberry Library, Atlas of Historical County Boundaries (CC BY-NC-SA 2.5). How these results were checked.