1889 Washington gubernatorial election

1889 Washington gubernatorial election

October 1, 1889 1892 →
 
Nominee Elisha P. Ferry Eugene Semple
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote 33,711 24,732
Percentage 57.67% 42.31%

County results
Ferry:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Semple:      50–60%      70–80%

Governor of Washington Territory before election

Miles Conway Moore
Republican

Governor of Washington

Elisha P. Ferry
Republican

The 1889 Washington gubernatorial election took place on October 1, 1889, to elect the first Governor of Washington shortly before it was admitted as a U.S. state. Both candidates, Republican Elisha P. Ferry and Democrat Eugene Semple, previously served as Territorial Governor, a position appointed by the President of the United States.[1]

Ferry won the election by nearly 9,000 votes out of 58,000 cast,[2] and took office in Olympia on November 18, 1889, a week after President Benjamin Harrison signed Washington's statehood into law.[3][4] This was the only election in Washington's history in which King County did not cast the most votes of any county.

  1. ^ Wilma, David (September 20, 2003). "Voters elect Washington's first state officials on October 1, 1889". HistoryLink. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  2. ^ McPherson, Edward, ed. (January 1890). The Tribune Almanac and Political Register for 1890. Vol. II. New York: New-York Tribune. pp. 86–87. OCLC 819535015. Retrieved October 3, 2016 – via Google Books.
  3. ^ McNerthney, Casey (February 1, 2011). "P-I archive: Inauguration of Washington's first governor". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  4. ^ Gates, Charles M., ed. (August 1940). Messages of the Governors of the Territory of Washington to the Legislative Assembly, 1854–1889. Vol. 12. University of Washington Press. OCLC 8990968. Retrieved October 3, 2016 – via Oregon State University.