1888 Illinois gubernatorial election

November 6, 1888 (1888-11-06)

1892 →


Nominee	Joseph W. Fifer	John M. Palmer
Party	Republican	Democratic
Popular vote	367,860	355,313
Percentage	49.15%	47.47%

Governor before election

Richard J. Oglesby
Republican

Elected Governor

Joseph W. Fifer
Republican

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The 1888 Illinois gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 1888.

Republican nominee Joseph W. Fifer defeated Democratic nominee John M. Palmer with 49.15% of the vote.

Democratic nomination[]

Candidates[]

John M. Palmer, former Governor
William A. J. Sparks, former U.S. Land Office Commissioner
Adlai Stevenson I, First Assistant United States Postmaster General
Murray F. Tuley, judge

Results[]

The Democratic state convention was held on May 23, 1888, at Springfield.

Democratic gubernatorial nomination, 1st ballot, May 23, 1888^[1]^[2]^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	John M. Palmer	567	72.78
	Democratic	William A. J. Sparks	210	26.96
	Democratic	Adlai Stevenson I	1	0.13
	Democratic	Murray F. Tuley	1	0.13
Total votes			779	100.00

Palmer's nomination was then made unanimous.

Republican nomination[]

Candidates[]

Clark E. Carr, unsuccessful candidate for Republican nomination for Governor in 1880
James A. Connolly former State Representative, former United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois
Joseph W. Fifer, former State Senator
John McNulta, former U.S. Congressman for Illinois's 13th congressional district
Richard J. Oglesby, incumbent Governor (not formally nominated)
John Irving Rinaker, chairman of the Board of Railroad and Warehouse Commissioners of Illinois
John C. Smith, incumbent Lieutenant Governor
Francis M. Wright

Results[]

The Republican state convention was held on May 2, 1888, at Springfield.

The results of the balloting were as follows:^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]

	Gubernatorial Ballot
	1st	2nd	3rd	4th
Joseph W. Fifer	288	349	398	606
John McNulta	136	133	144	111
Clark E. Carr	115	110	97	9
James A. Connolly	100	96	89	58
John I. Rinaker	98	77	62	32
John C. Smith	58	45	36	17
Francis M. Wright	48	33	21	14
Richard J. Oglesby	4	4	0	0

Republican gubernatorial nomination, 4th ballot, May 2, 1888
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Joseph W. Fifer	606	71.55
	Republican	John McNulta	111	13.11
	Republican	James A. Connolly	58	6.85
	Republican	John I. Rinaker	32	3.78
	Republican	John C. Smith	17	2.01
	Republican	Francis M. Wright	14	1.65
	Republican	Clark E. Carr	9	1.06
Total votes			847	100.00

Fifer's nomination was then made unanimous.

General election[]

Candidates[]

John M. Palmer, Democratic
Joseph W. Fifer, Republican
David H. Harts, Prohibition, Prohibition nominee for Illinois's 14th congressional district in 1882
Willis W. Jones, Union Labor

Results[]

Illinois gubernatorial election, 1888^[8]^[9]^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Joseph W. Fifer	367,860	49.15%
	Democratic	John M. Palmer	355,313	47.47%
	Prohibition	David H. Harts	18,874	2.52%
	Union Labor Party	Willis W. Jones	6,394	0.85%
	Scattering		6	0.00%
Majority			12,547	1.68%
Turnout			748,447
	Republican hold		Swing

References[]

^ "Palmer for Governor". St. Paul daily globe. Saint Paul, Minn. May 24, 1888. p. 1. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
^ "For Governor of Illinois". Waterbury evening Democrat. Waterbury, Conn. May 24, 1888. p. 1. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
^ "Ready for the Fray". The Elgin Advocate. Elgin, Ill. May 26, 1888. p. 1. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
^ "All Shades of Politics". Rock Island daily Argus. Rock Island, Ill. May 3, 1888. p. 2. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
^ "State Politics". Elgin Daily Courier. Elgin, Illinois. May 3, 1888. p. 1. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
^ "Illinois Republicans". Crawford avalanche. Grayling, Mich. May 10, 1888. p. 1. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
^ Raum, Green B. (1900). History of Illinois Republicanism. Chicago: Rollins Publishing Company. p. 188.
^ Illinois Official Vote 1888, pp. 5–6.
^ "IL Governor, 1888". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
^ Journal of the Senate of the Thirty-Sixth General Assembly of the State of Illinois. Springfield, Ill.: Springfield Printing Co., State Printers. 1889. p. 33.

Notes[]

Bibliography[]

Compiled and Printed by the Secretary of State (1889). Official vote of the State of Illinois cast at the General Election held November 6, 1888. Springfield, Ill.: H. W. Rokker, State Printer and Binder.

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