1894 Wisconsin gubernatorial election explained

The 1894 Wisconsin gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 1894.

Incumbent Democratic Governor George Wilbur Peck was soundly defeated by Republican nominee William H. Upham. This election ushered in a four decade period of Republican dominance in Wisconsin politics as the nation as a whole transitioned to the Fourth Party System after the Panic of 1893 and the ensuing collapse of the Democratic Party's national coalition.

General election

Candidates

Major party candidates

• George Wilbur Peck, Democratic, incumbent Governor
• William H. Upham, Republican, former mayor of Marshfield^[1]

Other candidates

• Capt. John F. Cleghorn, Prohibition
• David Frank Powell, Labor, mayor of La Crosse,^{[2] [3]} Union Labor nominee for Governor of Wisconsin in 1888

Results by county

Upham was the first Republican to ever win Brown County and Oneida County and the first since 1869 to win Sheboygan County. This would be the last election until 1932 in which Outagamie County voted for a Democrat. By voting for Upham, St. Croix County began a streak of 40 consecutive gubernatorial elections, lasting until 1978, in which it voted for the winning candidate.

County	William H. Upham Republican		George W. Peck Democratic		D. Frank Powell Populist		John F. Cleghorn Prohibition		Margin		Total votes cast
		%		%		%		%		%
	Adams		1,129		74.87%		332		22.02%		29		1.92%		18		1.19%		797		52.85%		1,508
	Ashland		1,722		48.22%		1,525		42.71%		210		5.88%		114		3.19%		197		5.52%		3,571
	Barron		1,924		60.91%		589		18.65%		436		13.80%		209		6.62%		1,335		42.26%		3,159
	Bayfield		1,514		59.56%		776		30.53%		115		4.52%		137		5.39%		738		29.03%		2,542
	Brown		3,581		48.68%		3,464		47.09%		138		1.88%		173		2.35%		117		1.59%		7,356
	Buffalo		1,776		54.46%		1,170		35.88%		267		8.19%		48		1.47%		606		18.58%		3,261
	Burnett		602		69.84%		38		4.41%		173		20.07%		49		5.68%		564		65.43%		862
	Calumet		1,025		37.85%		1,526		56.35%		118		4.36%		39		1.44%		-501		-18.50%		2,708
	Chippewa		2,624		48.82%		2,082		38.73%		547		10.18%		122		2.27%		542		10.08%		5,375
	Clark		2,361		60.54%		1,283		32.90%		134		3.44%		122		3.13%		1,078		27.64%		3,900
	Columbia		3,802		55.64%		2,472		36.18%		246		3.60%		313		4.58%		1,330		19.46%		6,833
	Crawford		1,911		55.34%		1,414		40.95%		111		3.21%		17		0.49%		497		14.39%		3,453
	Dane		7,876		52.69%		5,886		39.38%		412		2.76%		774		5.18%		1,990		13.31%		14,948
	Dodge		3,400		34.82%		6,084		62.31%		113		1.16%		167		1.71%		-2,684		-27.49%		9,764
	Door		1,940		65.04%		932		31.24%		58		1.94%		53		1.78%		1,008		33.79%		2,983
	Douglas		2,910		55.48%		1,323		25.22%		796		15.18%		216		4.12%		1,587		30.26%		5,245
	Dunn		2,470		60.09%		844		20.52%		601		14.61%		197		4.79%		1,628		39.57%		4,114
	Eau Claire		3,146		53.33%		2,076		35.19%		282		4.78%		395		6.70%		1,070		18.14%		5,899
	Florence		392		68.17%		113		19.65%		64		11.13%		6		1.04%		279		48.52%		575
	Fond du Lac		4,818		48.71%		4,618		46.69%		217		2.19%		238		2.41%		200		2.02%		9,891
	Forest		358		56.03%		263		41.16%		14		2.19%		4		0.63%		95		14.87%		639
	Grant		4,519		55.56%		3,187		39.18%		151		1.86%		277		3.41%		1,332		16.38%		8,134
	Green		2,351		50.56%		1,695		36.45%		338		7.27%		264		5.68%		656		14.11%		4,650
	Green Lake		1,694		51.36%		1,448		43.91%		70		2.12%		86		2.61%		246		7.46%		3,298
	Iowa		2,651		50.86%		2,153		41.31%		63		1.21%		345		6.62%		498		9.55%		5,212
	Iron		794		62.08%		446		34.87%		31		2.42%		8		0.63%		348		27.21%		1,279
	Jackson		2,048		68.45%		787		26.30%		57		1.91%		100		3.34%		1,261		42.15%		2,992
	Jefferson		2,989		41.31%		3,974		54.92%		62		0.86%		211		2.92%		-985		-13.61%		7,236
	Juneau		2,330		54.44%		1,782		41.64%		70		1.64%		98		2.29%		548		12.80%		4,280
	Kenosha		1,994		48.65%		1,670		40.74%		183		4.46%		54		1.32%		324		7.90%		4,099
	Kewaunee		1,086		34.48%		1,971		62.57%		72		2.29%		21		0.67%		-885		-28.10%		3,150
	La Crosse		3,932		47.04%		2,767		33.10%		1,441		17.24%		219		2.62%		1,165		13.94%		8,359
	Lafayette		2,560		52.15%		2,081		42.39%		83		1.69%		185		3.77%		479		9.76%		4,909
	Langlade		1,116		48.10%		1,134		48.88%		41		1.77%		29		1.25%		-18		-0.78%		2,320
	Lincoln		1,200		38.46%		1,279		40.99%		578		18.53%		63		2.02%		-79		-2.53%		3,120
	Manitowoc		2,908		43.07%		3,473		51.44%		319		4.72%		52		0.77%		-565		-8.37%		6,752
	Marathon		3,049		46.14%		3,272		49.52%		220		3.33%		67		1.01%		-223		-3.37%		6,608
	Marinette		2,950		57.71%		1,839		35.97%		189		3.70%		134		2.62%		1,111		21.73%		5,112
	Marquette		1,290		58.16%		868		39.13%		29		1.31%		31		1.40%		422		19.03%		2,218
	Milwaukee		23,629		47.94%		15,384		31.21%		9,478		19.23%		798		1.62%		8,245		16.73%		49,289
	Monroe		2,883		53.23%		2,225		41.08%		111		2.05%		197		3.64%		658		12.15%		5,416
	Oconto		1,784		54.44%		1,355		41.35%		79		2.41%		59		1.80%		429		13.09%		3,277
	Oneida		1,182		59.40%		601		30.20%		170		8.54%		37		1.86%		581		29.20%		1,990
	Outagamie		3,738		45.87%		4,015		49.27%		152		1.87%		244		2.99%		-277		-3.40%		8,149
	Ozaukee		886		30.34%		1,912		65.48%		110		3.77%		12		0.41%		-1,026		-35.14%		2,920
	Pepin		988		67.07%		412		27.97%		29		1.97%		44		2.99%		576		39.10%		1,473
	Pierce		2,556		67.03%		905		23.73%		169		4.43%		183		4.80%		1,651		43.30%		3,813
	Polk		1,552		65.02%		475		19.90%		254		10.64%		106		4.44%		1,077		45.12%		2,387
	Portage		2,717		48.46%		2,703		48.21%		72		1.28%		115		2.05%		14		0.25%		5,607
	Price		1,061		59.61%		612		34.38%		68		3.82%		39		2.19%		449		25.22%		1,780
	Racine		4,332		48.07%		2,870		31.85%		1,540		17.09%		270		3.00%		1,462		16.22%		9,012
	Richland		2,392		56.62%		1,438		34.04%		182		4.31%		213		5.04%		954		22.58%		4,225
	Rock		6,510		61.42%		3,445		32.50%		188		1.77%		457		4.31%		3,065		28.92%		10,600
	Sauk		3,798		54.20%		2,841		40.55%		64		0.91%		304		4.34%		957		13.66%		7,007
	Sawyer		366		43.36%		351		41.59%		49		5.81%		78		9.24%		15		1.78%		844
	Shawano		1,762		46.85%		1,671		44.43%		271		7.21%		57		1.52%		91		2.42%		3,761
	Sheboygan		4,459		48.09%		3,637		39.23%		1,070		11.54%		106		1.14%		822		8.87%		9,272
	St. Croix		2,755		52.36%		2,006		38.12%		212		4.03%		289		5.49%		749		14.23%		5,262
	Taylor		1,051		52.42%		769		38.35%		153		7.63%		32		1.60%		282		14.06%		2,005
	Trempealeau		2,101		60.90%		1,009		29.25%		119		3.45%		221		6.41%		1,092		31.65%		3,450
	Vernon		3,528		71.62%		979		19.87%		283		5.75%		133		2.70%		2,549		51.75%		4,926
	Vilas		721		50.03%		649		45.04%		47		3.26%		24		1.67%		72		5.00%		1,441
	Walworth		4,145		66.14%		1,617		25.80%		104		1.66%		401		6.40%		2,528		40.34%		6,267
	Washburn		551		56.57%		348		35.73%		60		6.16%		15		1.54%		203		20.84%		974
	Washington		2,135		46.42%		2,409		52.38%		41		0.89%		14		0.30%		-274		-5.96%		4,599
	Waukesha		4,337		53.95%		3,260		40.55%		176		2.19%		265		3.30%		1,077		13.40%		8,039
	Waupaca		3,909		64.96%		1,755		29.16%		69		1.15%		285		4.74%		2,154		35.79%		6,018
	Waushara		2,396		78.10%		474		15.45%		39		1.27%		159		5.18%		1,922		62.65%		3,068
	Winnebago		6,536		54.80%		3,964		33.23%		1,056		8.85%		372		3.12%		2,572		21.56%		11,928
	Wood		2,646		61.02%		1,523		35.12%		111		2.56%		56		1.29%		1,123		25.90%		4,336
Total	196,150	52.24%	142,250	37.89%	25,604	6.82%	11,240	2.99%	53,900	14.36%	375,449

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Ashland
• Brown
• Chippewa
• Dane
• Fond du Lac
• Forest
• Green Lake
• Iowa
• Juneau
• Kenosha
• La Crosse
• Marinette
• Marquette
• Oconto
• Oneida
• Portage
• Shawano
• Sheboygan
• Taylor
• Waukesha
• Winnebago
• Wood

Bibliography

• Book: Glashan, Roy R. . American Governors and Gubernatorial Elections, 1775-1978 . Meckler Books . 1979 . 0-930466-17-9 .
• Book: Gubernatorial Elections, 1787-1997 . Washington, D.C. . Congressional Quarterly Inc. . 1998 . 1-56802-396-0 . .
• Book: Casson . Henry . 1895 . The Blue Book of the state of Wisconsin . The Milwaukee Litho. & Engr. Co. . .

Notes and References

1. Book: Codification of the Charter and Ordinances of the City of Marshfield, Wisconsin . Edwards . C. B. . The Times . 1907 . 1-2 . September 8, 2019.
2. Benjamin F. Bryant (ed.). Memoirs of La Crosse County from Earliest Historical Times Down to the Present. Madison, Wis.: Western Historical Association, 1907, pp. 200-201.
3. News: . The Campaign Opened . Watertown Republican . Watertown, Wis. . August 29, 1894 . 1 . 16 July 2021.