Jump to content

1888 United States elections

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1888 United States elections
1886          1887          1888          1889          1890
Presidential election year
Election dayNovember 6
Incumbent presidentGrover Cleveland (Democratic)
Next Congress51st
Presidential election
Partisan controlRepublican gain
Popular vote marginDemocratic +0.8%
Electoral vote
Benjamin Harrison (R)233
Grover Cleveland (D)168
1888 United States presidential election in California1888 United States presidential election in Oregon1888 United States presidential election in Nevada1888 United States presidential election in Colorado1888 United States presidential election in Nebraska1888 United States presidential election in Kansas1888 United States presidential election in Texas1888 United States presidential election in Minnesota1888 United States presidential election in Iowa1888 United States presidential election in Missouri1888 United States presidential election in Arkansas1888 United States presidential election in Louisiana1888 United States presidential election in Wisconsin1888 United States presidential election in Illinois1888 United States presidential election in Michigan1888 United States presidential election in Indiana1888 United States presidential election in Ohio1888 United States presidential election in Kentucky1888 United States presidential election in Tennessee1888 United States presidential election in Mississippi1888 United States presidential election in Alabama1888 United States presidential election in Georgia1888 United States presidential election in Florida1888 United States presidential election in South Carolina1888 United States presidential election in North Carolina1888 United States presidential election in Virginia1888 United States presidential election in West Virginia1888 United States presidential election in Maryland1888 United States presidential election in Delaware1888 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania1888 United States presidential election in New Jersey1888 United States presidential election in New York1888 United States presidential election in Connecticut1888 United States presidential election in Rhode Island1888 United States presidential election in Maryland1888 United States presidential election in Vermont1888 United States presidential election in New Hampshire1888 United States presidential election in Maine1888 United States presidential election in Massachusetts1888 United States presidential election in Maryland1888 United States presidential election in Delaware1888 United States presidential election in New Jersey1888 United States presidential election in Connecticut1888 United States presidential election in Rhode Island1888 United States presidential election in Massachusetts1888 United States presidential election in Vermont1888 United States presidential election in New Hampshire
1888 presidential election results. Red denotes states won by Harrison, blue denotes states won by Cleveland. Numbers indicate the electoral votes won by each candidate.
Senate elections
Overall controlRepublican hold
Seats contested26 of 76 seats[1]
Net seat changeNone[2]
Results of the elections:
     Democratic gain      Democratic hold
     Republican gain      Republican hold
     Legislature failed to elect
House elections
Overall controlRepublican gain
Seats contestedAll 332 voting members
Net seat changeRepublican +27[2]
1888 House of Representatives election results on Election Day (the results in a number of Southern seats were later successfully contested and overturned.)

  Democratic seat
  Republican seat

  Independent seat

The 1888 United States elections occurred during the Third Party System, and elected the members of the 51st United States Congress. North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Washington, Idaho, and Wyoming were admitted during the 51st Congress. This election was the first time that one party had won a majority in both chambers of Congress since the 1874 elections.[3][4]

In the presidential election, Democratic President Grover Cleveland was defeated by Republican former Senator Benjamin Harrison of Indiana.[5] At the 1888 Republican National Convention, Harrison was nominated on the eighth ballot, defeating Ohio Senator John Sherman, former Governor Russell A. Alger of Michigan, and several other candidates. As in 1876, the Republican candidate won the presidency despite the Democratic candidate's greater share of the popular vote, albeit, also as in 1876, with widespread allegations of voter suppression and fraud aimed at Republican black voters in the South. This situation would not be repeated until the 2000 election. Despite the popular vote margin, Harrison won a comfortable majority of the electoral college and took most of the states outside the South.

Despite the close presidential race, Republicans picked up several seats in both houses of Congress. Republicans won major gains in the House, re-taking the majority for the first time since 1883.[3] In the Senate, the Republicans won major gains, growing their majority in the chamber.[4]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Not counting special elections.
  2. ^ a b Congressional seat gain figures only reflect the results of the regularly-scheduled elections, and do not take special elections into account.
  3. ^ a b "Party Divisions of the House of Representatives". United States House of Representatives. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
  4. ^ a b "Party Division in the Senate, 1789–present". United States Senate. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
  5. ^ "1888 Presidential Election". The American Presidency Project. Retrieved June 25, 2014.