The 1886 Wisconsin gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 1886.
Republican nominee Jeremiah McLain Rusk defeated Democratic nominee Gilbert M. Woodward, Union Labor Party nominee John Cochrane, and Prohibition nominee John Myers Olin with 46.53% of the vote.
General election
Candidates
Major party candidates
- Gilbert M. Woodward, Democratic, attorney, former member of the United States House of Representatives
- Jeremiah McLain Rusk, Republican, incumbent Governor
Other candidates
- John Myers Olin, Prohibition, lecturer in law at the University of Wisconsin, Prohibition nominee for Wisconsin's 3rd congressional district in 1884
- John Cochrane, Union Labor
Results
Results by county
Marquette County voted Republican for the first time since 1857. Woodward was the first Democrat since 1859 to win Bayfield County and La Crosse County; the former would not vote Democratic again until 1918. Additionally, Sawyer County would not vote Democratic again until 1932.
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican
- Crawford
- Marquette
- Waukesha
Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic
- Ashland
- Bayfield
- Chippewa
- La Crosse
- Sawyer
Counties that flipped from Republican to Union Labor
- Milwaukee
Notes
References
Bibliography
- Glashan, Roy R. (1979). American Governors and Gubernatorial Elections, 1775-1978. Meckler Books. ISBN 0-930466-17-9.
- Gubernatorial Elections, 1787-1997. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Inc. 1998. ISBN 1-56802-396-0.
- Timme, Ernst G., ed. (1887). The Blue Book of the State of Wisconsin. The Milwaukee Litho. & Engr. Co.
