| South Carolina Gubernatorial Election, 1888 |
Article Index for South Carolina |
Website Links For South Carolina |
Information AboutSouth Carolina Gubernatorial Election, 1888 |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT SOUTH CAROLINA GUBERNATORIAL ELECTION, 1888 | |
| 1888 elections | |
| 1888 in the united states | |
| south carolina elections | |
| gubernatorial, 1888 | |
| gubernatorial elections in the united states | |
|
DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION In 1886 , an amendment was added to the constitution of the South Carolina Democratic Party that mandated candidates for Governor and Lieutenant Governor to have at least one meeting in Every Congressional District with the voters. Ben Tillman , an Upstate Demagogue , engaged Governor Richardson at the meetings in 1888 and soundly trounced him on the Stump . Confident of his support in the state, Tillman sought to name the next governor of South Carolina and told his henchmen to nominate Joseph H. Earle at the Democratic convention. Earle refused the nomination, but Tillman's men nominated him nevertheless stating that "This is a case of the office seeking the man, and not the man seeking the office."Cooper, p184 A friend of Earle's from Sumter County rose to withdraw his name and Earle's brother declared that Earle would not serve if elected. However, many delegates still voted for Earle and Tillman's growing strength in the Democratic party became evident when his candidate for governor obtained almost 40% of the vote, despite publicly disavowing any candidacy. GENERAL ELECTION The general election was held on November 6 , 1888 and John Peter Richardson III was reelected as Governor Of South Carolina without opposition. There were very few contested races and Turnout increased for this election over the Previous Election solely because of a Presidential Election on the ballot.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||