1857 Wisconsin gubernatorial election

← 1855 November 3, 1857 1859 →

Nominee Alexander W. Randall James B. Cross Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 45,059 44,941 Percentage 50.03% 49.90%

County results Randall:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80% Cross:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%

Governor before election Coles Bashford Republican ElectedGovernor Alexander W. Randall Republican

The1857 Wisconsin gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1857. After incumbent GovernorColes Bashford declined to seek re-election,Republican Party candidateAlexander Randall narrowly defeatedDemocratic candidateJames B. Cross by a margin of just 118 votes.^[1]

Richland County would not vote for a Democrat again until1924, nor wouldPolk County until1918 andJuneau County until1892. Conversely,Marquette County would not vote for a Republican again until1886.

Alexander W. Randall was aWisconsin circuit court judge in Milwaukee prior to the 1857 gubernatorial election, having been appointed by the previous Governor, Coles Bashford. Randall had been an attorney for Governor Bashford in his challenge of the1855 Wisconsin gubernatorial election results. Earlier, in 1846, Randall had been a delegate to the first Wisconsin constitutional convention and had successfully advocated for including a provision by which African Americansuffrage could be legalized viareferendum. Randall served as a Democrat in the Wisconsin State Assembly in1855, but became a Republican later that year when he ran unsuccessfully for election to be Attorney General of Wisconsin.

Randall became a compromise choice for gubernatorial nominee at the 1857 Wisconsin Republican Convention after delegates became deadlocked between the two leading candidates, Edward Holton and Walter McIndoe.

• Edward D. Holton, of Milwaukee, had previously been a candidate for Governor in the1853 election, running as an independent. Holton was a strident abolitionist and was well-connected to the Milwaukee elite as a businessman and banker.
• Walter D. McIndoe, of Wausau, had served three terms in the Wisconsin State Assembly representing the frontier northern counties of the state. McIndoe was a Scottish immigrant and worked in the lumber industry.

James B. Cross was the incumbentMayor ofMilwaukee at the time of the 1857 gubernatorial election, serving his third consecutive term in that role. He had also represented Milwaukee in theWisconsin State Assembly for three terms. Cross was a lawyer and had previously served as a probate judge in Milwaukee County. He was a Wisconsin delegate to the1856 Democratic National Convention.

James B. Cross was nominated on the third ballot at the Wisconsin Democratic Party Convention. He received 89 votes; Jairus C. Fairchild received 37; Francis Huebschmann received 14.^[2]

• Jairus C. Fairchild, of Madison, had been the firstState Treasurer of Wisconsin. He was also the firstmayor of Madison after its incorporation as a city in 1856.
• Francis Huebschmann, of Milwaukee, was a physician andGerman American immigrant. He had served in theWisconsin State Senate in the1851 and1852 sessions of the legislature, and was a member of the Milwaukee City Council andCounty Board.

• Clark
• Dunn
• Racine
• Sheboygan
• Waupaca

• Dane
• Outagamie
• Richland
• Shawano

• Wisconsin gubernatorial elections
• 1857 Wisconsin elections
• 1857 United States gubernatorial elections

• Articles with short description
• Short description with empty Wikidata description
• Use American English from January 2025
• All Wikipedia articles written in American English
• Use mdy dates from September 2023
• Pages using sidebar with the child parameter