1886 Nebraska gubernatorial election

1886 Nebraska gubernatorial election

November 2, 1886

Nominee John Milton Thayer James E. North Harvey W. Hardy Party Republican Democratic Prohibition Popular vote 75,956 52,656 8,175 Percentage 55.0% 38.09% 5.9%

County results Thayer:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90% North:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70% No Data/Votes:

Governor before election James W. Dawes Republican Elected Governor John Milton Thayer Republican

The 1886 Nebraska gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 1886.

Details

Incumbent Republican governor James W. Dawes did not seek reelection. The two candidates from the major parties were Republican nominee John Milton Thayer, a former United States senator from Nebraska, and Democratic nominee James E. North, the former mayor of Columbus, Nebraska.^[1]

Additionally, the Prohibition Party nominated Harvey W. Hardy, a former mayor of Lincoln, Nebraska, and a newly created "National Union" party nominated Jay Burrows, one of its founders from Filley, Nebraska. The National Union Party was founded just prior to the election of 1886 and appears to have been a precursor to the later populist movement in Nebraska.^[2] One source refers to the party as the "anti-monopoly party."^[3] The party was very closely associated with various figures such as John H. Powers^[4] and Charles Van Wyck who were later prominent in the populist movement.^[2][5][6] Jay Burrows was associated with the Nebraska Farmers' Alliance, which he helped found in Filley, Nebraska in 1880.^[7] Burrows later became the founder and editor of The Farmers' Alliance, a publication associated with the Farmers' Alliance movement founded in 1889.^[8][9]

General election

Candidates

• Jay Burrows, National Union candidate^[2]
• Harvey W. Hardy, Prohibition candidate, former mayor of Lincoln, Nebraska, from 1877 to 1879^[10]
• James E. North, Democratic candidate, former mayor of Columbus, Nebraska, from 1872 to 1874^[1][11]
• John Milton Thayer, Republican candidate, former Republican United States Senator from Nebraska from 1867 to 1871 and former Governor of Wyoming Territory from 1875 to 1878^[12]

Results

Nebraska gubernatorial election, 1886^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John Milton Thayer	75,956	54.95%
	Democratic	James E. North	52,656	38.09%
	Prohibition	Harvey W. Hardy	8,175	5.91%
	National Union	Jay Burrows	1,422	1.03%
	Scattering		30
Total votes			138,239	100.0%
	Republican hold

See also

• 1886 Nebraska lieutenant gubernatorial election

References

1. "Mayors of Columbus". Columbus, Nebraska.
2. "All By Himself: Van Wyck Finally Owns a Political Party". Nebraska State Journal. October 9, 1886. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
3. "Election Returns from Beatrice". Nebraska State Journal. November 9, 1886. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
4. "Labor's Choice: Candidates Who Will Serve the People and Not the Rich Monopolies". Omaha World-Herald. July 30, 1890. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
5. "The Van Wyck Blight". Beatrice Daily Express. November 6, 1886. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
6. "Nebraska Farmers' Alliance (Guide to Microfilm) [RG2623.AM]". Nebraska State Historical Society.
7. "The Farmers' Alliance". Nebraska Newspapers.
8. "Subscribe for the Alliance! The Farmers' Own Paper!". The Farmer's Alliance. December 14, 1889. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
9. "Hard on Burrows". The Nebraska Signal. August 6, 1891. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
10. "Past Mayors". City of Lincoln, Nebraska. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
11. A. T. Andreas (1882). History of the State of Nebraska. The Western Historical Company.
12. "John Milton Thayer". National Governors Association. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
13. Addison E. Sheldon, ed. (December 1918). The Nebraska Blue Book and Historical Register. Nebraska Legislative Reference Bureau. pp. 447–448. Retrieved April 24, 2023.