1888 United States elections

Elections occurred during the Third Party System, and elected the members of the 51st United States Congress. North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Washington, Idaho, and Wyoming were admitted during the 51st Congress. This election was the first time that one party had won a majority in both chambers of Congress since the 1874 elections.^[3][4]

1888 United States elections

← 1886          1887          1888          1889          1890 → Presidential election year
Election day	November 6
Incumbent president	Grover Cleveland (Democratic)
Next Congress	51st
Presidential election
Partisan control	Republican gain
Popular vote margin	Democratic +0.8%
Electoral vote
Benjamin Harrison (R)	233
Grover Cleveland (D)	168
1888 presidential election results. Red denotes states won by Harrison, blue denotes states won by Cleveland. Numbers indicate the electoral votes won by each candidate.
Senate elections
Overall control	Republican hold
Seats contested	26 of 76 seats[1]
Net seat change	Readjuster -1[2]
Results of the elections:      Democratic gain      Democratic hold      Republican gain      Republican hold      Legislature failed to elect
House elections
Overall control	Republican gain
Seats contested	All 332 voting members
Net seat change	Republican +27[2]
Results:      Democratic gain      Democratic hold      Republican gain      Republican hold

In the presidential election, Democratic President Grover Cleveland was defeated by Republican former Senator Benjamin Harrison of Indiana.^[5] At the 1888 Republican National Convention, Harrison was nominated on the eighth ballot, defeating Ohio Senator John Sherman, former Governor Russell A. Alger of Michigan, and several other candidates. As in 1876, the Republican candidate won the presidency despite the Democratic candidate's greater share of the popular vote, albeit with widespread allegations of voter suppression and fraud aimed at Republican black voters in the South, also as in 1876. This situation would not be repeated until the 2000 election. Despite the popular vote margin, Harrison won a comfortable majority of the Electoral College and took most of the states outside the South.

Despite the close presidential race, Republicans picked up several seats in both houses of Congress. Republicans won major gains in the House, retaking the majority for the first time since 1883.^[3] In the Senate, the Republicans won major gains, growing their majority in the chamber.^[4]

See also

• 1888 United States presidential election
• 1888 United States House of Representatives elections
• 1888–89 United States Senate elections