Governor, 1869 Election

General

Date: November 2, 1869
Cycle: 1869
Office: Governor
State: Minnesota
District: Statewide
Candidate Gender Party Votes Percent Margin
Horace Austin Man Republican 27,348 50.16 +3.57
George L. Otis Man Democrat 25,401 46.59
Daniel Cobb Man Temperance 1,764 3.24

This was the first Minnesota gubernatorial election with a third party candidate on the ballot. The Temperance Party was founded in 1868 and held its first convention in St. Paul on October 6, 1869. It would later be known as the Prohibition Party in the state.

Austin was an attorney from St. Paul and Sixth Judicial District judge (1865-1869). He would later serve as auditor of the U.S. Treasury and Minnesota Railroad and Warehouse Commissioner (1887-1891).

Otis was an attorney from St. Paul and former member of the state House (HD 02, 1857-1859) and state Senate (SD 21, 1866-1867).

Cobb was a Methodist minister and former Minnesota House chaplain.

Sources

  • Journal of the House of Representatives of the Twelfth Session of the Legislature of the State of Minnesota, 1870 (p. 12).