The 1894 South Carolina gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 1894 to select the

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

of the state of

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

. John Gary Evans was nominated by the Democrats and became the 85th governor of South Carolina.

Democratic campaign

The conservatives had been so thoroughly defeated by Ben Tillman in

1890 Events January * January 1 – The Kingdom of Italy establishes Eritrea as its colony in the Horn of Africa. * January 2 – Alice Sanger becomes the first female staffer in the White House. * January 11 – 1890 British Ultimatum: The Uni ...

and

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that they did not offer a candidate for the gubernatorial election. Instead, it became a contest between four Tillmanites: William Ellerbe, John Gary Evans, Dr. Sampson Pope and J.E. Tindal. All four claimed to be ''the'' candidate favored by Tillman, but an embarrassed Tillman responded, "They ought to be spanked for quarrelling about who is the closest friend of Tillman." Initially, Tillman privately supported Ellerbe because he was a farmer, but Tillman became more attracted to Evans as he proved to be a better orator during the campaign. Evans also was able to woo Senator

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to his side, who placed the Tillman machine squarely behind his candidacy. Ellerbe, Pope and Tindall sensed that they would be unable to win any of the delegates for their candidacy at the Democratic convention and therefore requested a

primary election Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pr ...

to select the statewide ticket. Tillman refused this request and Evans was unanimously selected as the Democratic gubernatorial candidate at the Democratic convention in Columbia on September 1.

General election

Sampson Pope denounced the selection of Evans as the Democratic candidate by declaring it ring rule because the state Democratic party was completely run by Tillman and his cronies. He entered the general election as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

candidate, but the Tillmanites used the quote uttered by

Wade Hampton Wade Hampton may refer to the following people: People *Wade Hampton I (1752–1835), American soldier in Revolutionary War and War of 1812 and U.S. congressman * Wade Hampton II (1791–1858), American plantation owner and soldier in War of 1812 * ...

that "an independent was worse than a

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"Ball, p. 239 to great effect and Pope's campaign was nothing more than a

protest vote A protest vote (also called a blank, null, spoiled, or "none of the above" vote) is a vote cast in an election to demonstrate dissatisfaction with the choice of candidates or the current political system. Protest voting takes a variety of forms ...

. The general election was held on November 6, 1894 and John Gary Evans was easily elected as

governor of South Carolina The governor of South Carolina is the head of government of South Carolina. The governor is the ''ex officio'' commander-in-chief of the National Guard when not called into federal service. The governor's responsibilities include making year ...

against Sampson Pope. Turnout increased for this election over the previous election because it was a contested election, but only by just over 100 votes. , - , , colspan=5 , Democratic hold , -

Notes

References

* * * * *"Election Returns." ''Reports and Resolutions of the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina at the Regular Session Commencing Nov. 27th, 1894''. Volume I. Columbia, SC: Charles A. Calvo, Jr., 1894, p. 470.

External links

SCIway Biography of Governor John Gary Evans
{{South Carolina elections

1894 Events January * January 4 – A military alliance is established between the French Third Republic and the Russian Empire. * January 7 – William Kennedy Dickson receives a patent for motion picture film in the United States. * Ja ...

Gubernatorial A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

November 1894

Democratic campaign

General election

See also

Notes

References

External links