Democratic gain Democratic hold Republican gain Republican hold
United States gubernatorial elections were held in 1889, in eleven states.
Virginia holds its gubernatorial elections in odd numbered years, every 4 years, following the United States presidential election year. New Jersey at this time held gubernatorial elections every 3 years. It abandoned this practice in 1949. Massachusetts and Rhode Island both elected their respective governors to a single-year term. They abandoned this practice in 1920 and 1912, respectively. Iowa and Ohio at this time held gubernatorial elections in every odd numbered year.
Mississippi at this time held its gubernatorial elections in odd numbered years, every 4 years, following the United States presidential election year. This was the last election in which this was the case. Mississippi switched to four-year terms with elections in the year preceding the presidential election year, starting with the 1895 elections.
Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Washington held their first gubernatorial elections on achieving statehood. Each of these states held early elections on October 1, 1889.
Horace Boies (Democratic) 49.90% Joseph Hutchinson (Republican) 48.08% S. B. Downing (Union Labor) 1.60% Malcolm Smith (Prohibition) 0.38% Elias Doty (Greenback) 0.01% Scattering 0.02% [2][3]
Declined re-nomination,[14] Republican victory; since no candidate received an outright majority, the result was decided by the Rhode Island General Assembly
John W. Davis (Democratic) 49.38% Herbert W. Ladd (Republican) 39.13%[a] James H. Chace (Law Enforcement) 8.34% Harrison H. Richardson (Prohibition) 3.12% Scattering 0.02% [15][16]
^"South Dakota Gubernatorial Elections, 1889-2006"(PDF). www.politicsandgovernance.org. Historical Election Archive, Center for the Study of Politics and Governance, Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2014-06-06. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
^Since no candidate received 50% of the vote, the state legislature decided the election. Ladd was elected.
^The result given (McKinney 164,212, Mahone 121,257, Taylor 897, Scattering 81) is that declared in joint assembly on December 7, 1889 and recorded in the journals of the two houses of the Virginia General Assembly. However, the various contemporary and later sources give three different results, as follows:
McKinney 164,212, Mahone 121,257, Taylor 897.[35][36]
Assessment is hindered because the sources which include tabulations of the city and county results do not agree, and the sums of the individual results in no case agree with the totals. It is most likely that the actual result was McKinney 163,180, Mahone 121,240, Taylor 897.
Bibliography
Glashan, Roy R. (1979). American Governors and Gubernatorial Elections, 1775-1978. Meckler Books. ISBN0-930466-17-9.
Gubernatorial Elections, 1787-1997. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Inc. 1998. ISBN1-56802-396-0.
Dubin, Michael J. (2014). United States Gubernatorial Elections, 1861-1911: The Official Results by State and County. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. ISBN978-0-7864-4722-0.