Governor, 1896 Election
General
| Candidate | Gender | Party | Votes | Percent | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| David Clough Incumbent | Man | Republican | 165,806 | 49.17 | +1.05 |
| John Lind | Man | Democrat-People's | 162,254 | 48.11 | |
| William J. (W.J.) Dean | Man | Prohibition | 5,154 | 1.53 | |
| Albert Alonzo (A.A.) Ames | Man | Independent | 2,890 | 0.86 | |
| William B. Hammond | Man | Socialist | 1,125 | 0.33 |
Clough's victory gave Republicans their 19th consecutive gubernatorial race. This was the first Minnesota gubernatorial election with five candidates on the ballot.
Governor Clough, who became governor on January 31, 1895 after Knute Nelson resigned to become U.S. Senator, was elected to a second term.
Lind was a Swedish-born attorney and former Republican U.S. Representative (1887-1893). Lind would later become the state’s 14th Governor (1899-1901) and a Democratic U.S. Representative (CD 05, 1903-1905).
Dean was a resident of Minneapolis who ran for Mayor of Minneapolis three times, twice as the Prohibition nominee (1888, 1896) and once as an independent (1900). He was also the Prohibition nominee for the U.S. House in the 4th CD (1890) and gubernatorial nominee (1892).
Ames was a physician and Mayor of Minneapolis who served multiple nonconsecutive terms in that office over the course of multiple decades (1876-77, 1882-84, 1886-89, 1901-02). Ames was also the Democratic U.S. House nominee for the 4th CD seat in 1882 and gubernatorial nominee in 1886.
Related Reports
Sources
- The Legislative Manual of the State of Minnesota, 1897 (p. 487).