1869 Mississippi gubernatorial election

1869 Mississippi gubernatorial election

November 30, 1869

Nominee James L. Alcorn Lewis Dent Party Republican National Union Republican Party Alliance Democratic Popular vote 76,186 38,097 Percentage 66.66% 33.34%

County results Alcorn:      50-60%     60-70%     70-80%     80-90%     >90% Dent:      50-60%     60-70%      70-80%     80-90%      No Returns

Governor before election Adelbert Ames Republican Elected Governor James L. Alcorn Republican

The 1869 Mississippi gubernatorial election was held on November 30, 1869, in order to elect the Governor of Mississippi. James L. Alcorn, Republican and moderate planter who had previously served in the Confederate Army, defeated National Union Republican Party nominee Judge Lewis Dent, the brother-in-law of President Ulysses S. Grant and former Union Army official. The Democratic Party supported Dent rather than nominating their own candidate.^[1][2][3] It was the first election following the Reconstruction era military governorship of Adelbert Ames.^[4]

General election

The rapidly shifting political alliances of the post-Civil War period saw conservative white supremacists in both parties allied with Dent, while most African-Americans and some whites allied with Alcorn. The former Confederate Alcorn was more racially progressive than former Union Army official Dent, and civil rights for formerly enslaved African Americans defined the campaign. White terrorism, including murders by the Ku Klux Klan occurred regularly throughout the campaign in violent opposition to the newly granted voting rights for African Americans. Following its 1869 constitutional convention, Mississippi also voted on a new state constitution, that granted expanded rights to African-Americans and paved the way for the establishment of new state institutions including public schools, and both houses of the state legislature on November 30, 1869.^[4][5]

Results

Mississippi gubernatorial election, 1869^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	James L. Alcorn	76,186	66.66
	National Union Republican	Lewis Dent	38,097	33.34
Total votes			114,283	100.00
	Republican hold

References

1. Michele, M. "The History of the Negro Vote in Mississippi". Loyola University Chicago eCommons. Retrieved January 5, 2022.
2. "MISSISSIPPI.; The Republican State Convention--General Alcorn Nominated for Governor". The New York Times. September 30, 1869. Retrieved January 5, 2022.
3. "POLITICAL; " National Republican" State Convention of Mississippi--Judge Dent Nominated". The New York Times. September 9, 1869. Retrieved January 5, 2022.
4. Dubois, W.E.B. (1935). Black Reconstruction in America: 1860-1880. New York: The Free Press. pp. 439–450. ISBN 0-684-85657-3.
5. Young, Patrick (September 29, 2019). "Mississippi Republicans Demand Racial Equality in 1869 Party Platform". The Reconstruction Era.
6. "MS Governor". Our Campaigns. Retrieved January 5, 2022.