Attorney General, 1879 Election

General

Date: November 4, 1879
Cycle: 1879
Office: Attorney General
State: Minnesota
District: Statewide
Candidate Gender Party Votes Percent Margin
Charles M. (C.M.) Start Man Republican 60,816 57.28 +20.92
P.M. Babcock Man Democrat 38,604 36.36
Oscar Stephenson Man Greenback-Labor 4,064 3.83
Alfred W. Bangs Man Prohibition 2,697 2.54

The official canvass did not include the results of Watonwan County due to the county auditor mislabeling the envelope when submitting county and state election results to the Secretary of State. The results above include the tally from Watonwan.

Start was an attorney from Rochester and Olmsted County Attorney who resigned on March 12, 1881 after being appointed to the Third Judicial District Court. Governor John Pillsbury appointed Republican attorney William Hahn to fill the vacated seat. In 1894, Start was elected Chief Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court.

Babcock was a Hennepin County attorney.

Stephenson was an attorney from Ramsey County, former Ramsey County probate judge, and former Democratic state Representative (HD 02, 1859-1861).

Bangs was later elected to the South Dakota Senate as a Democrat (1889-1890).

Sources

  • The Rochester Post, December 5, 1879 (p. 2).