1892 Wisconsin gubernatorial election

The 1892 Wisconsin gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1892. Incumbent Democratic Governor George Wilbur Peck narrowly defeated Republican nominee John Coit Spooner, becoming the first Democratic governor of Wisconsin to be reelected since Nelson Dewey in 1849.^[a]

1892 Wisconsin gubernatorial election

← 1890 November 8, 1892 1894 →

Nominee George Wilbur Peck John Coit Spooner Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 178,095 170,497 Percentage 47.93% 45.89%

County results Peck :      40-50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Spooner :      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%

Governor before election George Wilbur Peck Democratic Elected Governor George Wilbur Peck Democratic

During this era, Wisconsin leaned Republican but was competitive, with all but two gubernatorial elections since the Civil War having been decided by single digits. The Democrats had been swept to power in the state in 1890 due to backlash against the Bennett Law and other national Republican policies such as the McKinley Tariff. The state election was held at the same time as the presidential election, with Peck eking out a similar plurality to that of Grover Cleveland. After this election, however, the state would swing heavily in favor of the Republican Party as the existing Democratic Party's coalition disintegrated during the mid-1890s. Wisconsin would not elect another Democrat as governor until 1932.

General election

Candidates

Major party candidates

• George Wilbur Peck, Democratic, incumbent Governor
• John Coit Spooner, Republican, former U.S. Senator

Other candidates

• Thomas C. Richmond, Prohibition, Prohibition nominee for Wisconsin's 3rd congressional district in 1888
• Cyrus M. Butt, Populist, former Republican State Senator

Results

1892 Wisconsin gubernatorial election^[1][2][b]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	George W. Peck (incumbent)	178,095	47.93%	−3.93%
	Republican	John C. Spooner	170,497	45.89%	+3.18%
	Prohibition	Thomas C. Richmond	13,185	3.55%	−0.09%
	Populist	Cyrus M. Butt	9,638	2.59%	+0.83%
		Scattering	2	0.00%
		Blank	142	0.04%
Majority			7,598	2.04%
Turnout			371,559	100.00%
	Democratic hold		Swing	-7.12%

Results by county

Peck was the first Democrat since James B. Cross in 1857 to win Juneau County. However, Juneau County, along with Oconto County and Shawano County would not vote Democratic again until the next Democratic victory in 1932. Marinette County would also not vote Democratic again until 1934.

This was the last election until 1958 in which Clark County, Green County, and Waupaca County voted for the losing candidate. Even more impressively, however, this was the last time until 1978 that St. Croix County failed to vote for the statewide winner; its bellwether streak that would begin in the next election would reach 40 consecutive elections of voting for the winning candidate.

County[1][2]	George W. Peck Democratic		John C. Spooner Republican		Thomas C. Richmond Prohibition		Cyrus M. Butt Populist		Margin		Total votes cast
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Adams	408	28.94%	967	68.58%	22	1.56%	13	0.92%	-559	-39.65%	1,410
Ashland	2,444	48.52%	2,396	47.57%	144	2.86%	53	1.05%	48	0.95%	5,037
Barron	781	24.70%	1,784	56.42%	196	6.20%	399	12.62%	-1,003	-31.72%	3,162[c]
Bayfield	1,391	47.80%	1,421	48.83%	68	2.34%	30	1.03%	-30	-1.03%	2,910
Brown	3,682	54.61%	2,842	42.15%	181	2.68%	37	0.55%	840	12.46%	6,742
Buffalo	1,396	45.43%	1,513	49.24%	63	2.05%	101	3.29%	-117	-3.81%	3,073
Burnett	55	7.70%	403	56.44%	165	23.11%	91	12.75%	-238[d]	-33.33%	714
Calumet	1,871	64.63%	919	31.74%	24	0.83%	81	2.80%	952	32.88%	2,895
Chippewa	2,573	51.27%	1,950	38.85%	190	3.79%	306	6.10%	623	12.41%	5,019
Clark	1,728	43.54%	2,046	51.55%	155	3.91%	40	1.01%	-318	-8.01%	3,969
Columbia	2,994	44.45%	3,288	48.82%	404	6.00%	49	0.73%	-294	-4.37%	6,735
Crawford	1,612	46.52%	1,727	49.84%	52	1.50%	74	2.14%	-115	-3.32%	3,465
Dane	6,738	46.88%	6,588	45.83%	976	6.79%	71	0.49%	150	1.04%	14,374[e]
Dodge	6,833	70.39%	2,631	27.10%	202	2.08%	41	0.42%	4,202	43.29%	9,707
Door	1,020	37.39%	1,574	57.70%	66	2.42%	68	2.49%	-554	-20.31%	2,728
Douglas	2,231	39.02%	2,932	51.29%	194	3.39%	360	6.30%	-701	-12.26%	5,717
Dunn	1,279	29.86%	2,176	50.81%	221	5.16%	607	14.17%	-897	-20.94%	4,283
Eau Claire	2,419	42.45%	2,709	47.54%	391	6.86%	179	3.14%	-290	-5.09%	5,698
Florence	198	29.95%	447	67.62%	11	1.66%	5	0.76%	-249	-37.67%	661
Fond du Lac	5,318	54.67%	4,077	41.91%	240	2.47%	93	0.96%	1,241	12.76%	9,728
Forest	239	49.90%	221	46.14%	14	2.92%	5	1.04%	18	3.76%	479
Grant	3,690	43.92%	4,206	50.07%	433	5.15%	71	0.85%	-516	-6.14%	8,401[e]
Green	2,071	40.88%	2,311	45.62%	363	7.17%	321	6.34%	-240	-4.74%	5,066
Green Lake	1,817	53.88%	1,434	42.53%	99	2.94%	22	0.65%	383	11.36%	3,372
Iowa	2,346	46.93%	2,260	45.21%	364	7.28%	29	0.58%	86	1.72%	4,999
Jackson	1,189	34.07%	2,066	59.20%	208	5.96%	27	0.77%	-877	-25.13%	3,490
Jefferson	4,676	61.74%	2,668	35.23%	213	2.81%	17	0.22%	2,008	26.51%	7,574
Juneau	2,014	48.68%	1,929	46.63%	146	3.53%	48	1.16%	85	2.05%	4,137
Kenosha	1,959	51.74%	1,608	42.47%	72	1.90%	13	0.34%	351	9.27%	3,786[f]
Kewaunee	2,039	78.42%	530	20.38%	7	0.27%	24	0.92%	1,509	58.04%	2,600
La Crosse	3,816	44.17%	3,713	42.98%	352	4.07%	758	8.77%	103	1.19%	8,639
Lafayette	2,295	46.34%	2,367	47.79%	214	4.32%	77	1.55%	-72	-1.45%	4,953
Langlade	1,298	58.76%	853	38.61%	46	2.08%	12	0.54%	445	20.14%	2,209
Lincoln	1,479	50.22%	981	33.31%	85	2.89%	400	13.58%	498	16.91%	2,945
Manitowoc	4,347	65.06%	2,254	33.73%	28	0.42%	53	0.79%	2,093	31.32%	6,682
Marathon	3,820	64.72%	1,901	32.21%	74	1.25%	107	1.81%	1,919	32.51%	5,902
Marinette	1,985	46.56%	1,817	42.62%	202	4.74%	259	6.08%	168	3.94%	4,263
Marquette	1,205	56.33%	875	40.91%	53	2.48%	6	0.28%	330	15.43%	2,139
Milwaukee	24,465	48.23%	24,480	48.26%	495	0.98%	1,282	2.53%	-15	-0.03%	50,722
Monroe	2,479	46.00%	2,530	46.95%	270	5.01%	110	2.04%	-51	-0.95%	5,389
Oconto	1,521	51.44%	1,268	42.88%	39	1.32%	129	4.36%	253	8.56%	2,957
Oneida	1,322	51.90%	1,143	44.88%	36	1.41%	46	1.81%	179	7.03%	2,547
Outagamie	4,612	60.30%	2,718	35.53%	221	2.89%	98	1.28%	1,894	24.76%	7,649
Ozaukee	2,121	75.80%	620	22.16%	10	0.36%	47	1.68%	1,501	53.65%	2,798
Pepin	535	35.88%	860	57.68%	86	5.77%	10	0.67%	-325	-21.80%	1,491
Pierce	1,244	30.79%	2,319	57.40%	300	7.43%	177	4.38%	-1,075	-26.61%	4,040
Polk	599	24.48%	1,450	59.26%	183	7.48%	215	8.79%	-851	-34.78%	2,447
Portage	2,605	50.72%	2,265	44.10%	218	4.24%	48	0.93%	340	6.62%	5,136
Price	891	42.82%	1,090	52.38%	73	3.51%	27	1.30%	-199	-9.56%	2,081
Racine	3,762	44.11%	3,924	46.01%	353	4.14%	489	5.73%	-162	-1.90%	8,528
Richland	1,696	38.57%	2,200	50.03%	233	5.30%	268	6.10%	-504	-11.46%	4,397
Rock	4,251	38.78%	6,017	54.88%	578	5.27%	117	1.07%	-1,766	-16.11%	10,963
Sauk	3,183	46.30%	3,250	47.27%	398	5.79%	44	0.64%	-67	-0.97%	6,875
Sawyer	330	42.09%	411	52.42%	37	4.72%	6	0.77%	-81	-10.33%	784
Shawano	2,055	55.63%	1,326	35.90%	47	1.27%	266	7.20%	729	19.73%	3,694
Sheboygan	5,142	56.99%	3,618	40.10%	99	1.10%	164	1.82%	1,524	16.89%	9,023
St. Croix	2,218	42.78%	2,512	48.45%	388	7.48%	67	1.29%	-294	-5.67%	5,185
Taylor	921	53.99%	724	42.44%	30	1.76%	31	1.82%	197	11.55%	1,706
Trempealeau	1,526	38.61%	2,113	53.47%	274	6.93%	39	0.99%	-587	-14.85%	3,952
Vernon	1,417	27.34%	3,071	59.25%	240	4.63%	455	8.78%	-1,654	-31.91%	5,183
Walworth	2,148	32.34%	3,911	58.89%	508	7.65%	74	1.11%	-1,763	-26.55%	6,641
Washburn	322	38.29%	472	56.12%	32	3.80%	15	1.78%	-150	-17.84%	841
Washington	2,650	60.93%	1,672	38.45%	20	0.46%	7	0.16%	978	22.49%	4,349
Waukesha	3,625	47.96%	3,603	47.67%	241	3.19%	83	1.10%	22	0.29%	7,558[g]
Waupaca	2,206	37.16%	3,385	57.02%	304	5.12%	42	0.71%	-1,179	-19.86%	5,937
Waushara	788	25.74%	2,097	68.51%	144	4.70%	32	1.05%	-1,309	-42.76%	3,061
Winnebago	5,955	50.17%	5,305	44.70%	337	2.84%	272	2.29%	650	5.48%	11,869
Wood	2,250	54.97%	1,759	42.98%	53	1.29%	31	0.76%	491	12.00%	4,093
Total	178,095	47.93%	170,497	45.89%	13,185	3.55%	9,638	2.59%	7,598	2.04%	371,559

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Ashland
• Juneau

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Buffalo
• Crawford
• Eau Claire
• Green
• Milwaukee
• Monroe
• Price
• Racine
• Sauk
• Washburn

Notes

1. William A. Barstow's reelection in 1855 was declared illegitimate by the state Supreme Court in early 1856, although Barstow had begun serving the new term before being forced to resign.
2. The Blue Book is an unreliable source for election data in Wisconsin from about 1890 to 1920. In this case, it has the correct totals but contains many mistakes in the county figures.
3. Includes 2 Blank votes
4. Spooner's margin over Richmond
5. Includes 1 Scattering vote
6. Includes 134 Blank votes
7. Includes 6 Blank votes

References

1. Wisconsin Historical Society, Tabular Statement of votes given for Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, Attorney General, State Superintendent, Railroad Commissioner and Commissioner of Insurance, at the General Election held in the several towns, wards, villages and election districts in the several counties of the State of Wisconsin on the Tuesday next succeeding the first Monday being the 8th day of November, A.D. 1892
2. Cunningham, Thomas J., ed. (1893). "Tabular Statement of votes given for Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, Attorney General, State Superintendent, Railroad Commissioner and Commissioner of Insurance, at the General Election held in the several towns, wards, villages and election districts in the several counties of the State of Wisconsin on the Tuesday next succeeding the first Monday being the 8th day of November, A.D. 1892". The Blue Book of the State of Wisconsin. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: The Milwaukee Litho. & Engr. Co. pp. 300–301.