1867 Minnesota gubernatorial election

1867 Minnesota gubernatorial election

November 5, 1867

Nominee William Rainey Marshall Charles Eugene Flandrau Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 34,874 29,502 Percentage 54.17% 45.83%

County Results: Marshall:      50-60%      60-70%      70-80%      80-90%      90-100% Flandrau:      50–60%      60–70%      70-80%      80-90%      90-100% Unknown/No Vote:

Governor before election William Rainey Marshall Republican Elected Governor William Rainey Marshall Republican

The 1867 Minnesota gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 1867, to elect the governor of Minnesota. Incumbent governor William Rainey Marshall was reelected to a second term.

Candidates

• Charles Eugene Flandrau, associate justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court (Democrat)
• William Rainey Marshall, Incumbent (Republican)

Campaigns

The Democratic State Convention took place on July 10, 1867. Flandrau was nominated without opposition, and voted by acclamation. Flandrau was not actually present at the convention. The party took a clear stance against Black suffrage in the state, a policy Governor Marshall had attempted to pass previously.^[1] Like the Democratic nominee before him, Henry Mower Rice, Flandrau had difficulties in proving to the public he had no Confederate sympathies. Flandrau had an advantage, being a veteran, however never fought the Confederacy, only the Dakota in combat. Flandrau had also been an opponent of the war and refused to join the Union Army for any purpose of aggression against the Confederates, damaging his credibility further.^[2]

On September 7, 1867, the Republican State Convention took place. Every attending delegate had already pledged to re-nominate Marshall before the Convention even began.^[3] Marshall was renominated unanimously.

In mid-September of 1867, Flandrau gave a speech using racial slurs, garnering him national attention for his explicit opposition to protections for African-Americans and support for racial violence. Secretary of State William H. Seward urged Minnesotans not to vote for Flandrau.^[4]

Results

Minnesota gubernatorial election, 1867^[5][6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	William Rainey Marshall (incumbent)	34,874	54.17
	Democratic	Charles Eugene Flandrau	29,502	45.83
Total votes			64,376	100
	Republican hold

References

1. "DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION". July 11, 1867.
2. "FLANDRAU'S MILITARY RECORD HOW IT ENDED BEFORE IT BEGAN AND WHY". October 18, 1867.
3. "THE GREAT CONVENTION DAY". September 8, 1867.
4. "FLANDRAU'S BENEFICENT STATESMANSHIP". September 17, 1867.
5. "Our Campaigns - MN Governor Race - Nov 05, 1867". Retrieved May 7, 2016.
6. "Minnesota Legislative Manual (Blue Book) - Chapter 10 Minnesota Elections" (PDF). Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State. April 1, 2015. Retrieved May 7, 2016.