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County results Sparks: 50–60% 60–70% Cleveland: 50–60% 60–70% No Returns: | |||||||||||||||||
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The1902 Nevada gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1902. TheSilver Party nominee"Honest" John Sparks defeatedRepublican nominee Abner Coburn Cleveland, with 6,540 votes to his opponents 4,778. He succeeded fellow Silver Party Governor Reinhold Sadler in office.
Unlike in 1898, when Silver Party Governor Reinhold Sadler faced off against Republican, Democratic, and Populist candidates, thestate Democratic Party, the Populists, and the state Silver Party had essentially merged into one electoral vehicle (reflected inWilliam Jennings Bryan's landslide victory in the state two years prior in the1896 Presidential election, onlyfour years after a Populist landslide). Cattleman John Sparks won and become the third of four Silver Party governor in a row.
Republican nominee A. C. Cleveland would die the following year, in 1903, and Sparks himself would die a year before his second term ended, in 1908.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Silver | John Sparks | 6,540 | 57.78% | +22.11% | |
| Republican | Abner Coburn Cleveland | 4,778 | 42.22% | +6.76% | |
| Majority | 1,762 | 15.56% | |||
| Total votes | 11,318 | 100.00% | |||
| Silverhold | Swing | +15.35% | |||
| County | John Sparks Silver & Democratic | Abner C. Cleveland Republican | Margin | Total votes cast[3][4] | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Churchill | 138 | 62.73% | 82 | 37.27% | 56 | 25.45% | 220 |
| Douglas | 197 | 44.77% | 243 | 55.23% | -46 | -10.45% | 440 |
| Elko | 765 | 54.76% | 632 | 45.24% | 133 | 9.52% | 1,397 |
| Esmeralda | 250 | 53.08% | 221 | 46.92% | 29 | 6.16% | 471 |
| Eureka | 283 | 61.79% | 175 | 38.21% | 108 | 23.58% | 458 |
| Humboldt | 662 | 61.18% | 420 | 38.82% | 242 | 22.37% | 1,082 |
| Lander | 280 | 66.35% | 142 | 33.65% | 138 | 32.70% | 422 |
| Lincoln | 321 | 49.84% | 323 | 50.16% | -2 | -0.31% | 644 |
| Lyon | 335 | 56.88% | 254 | 43.12% | 81 | 13.75% | 589 |
| Nye | 603 | 67.68% | 288 | 32.32% | 315 | 35.35% | 891 |
| Ormsby | 385 | 51.06% | 369 | 48.94% | 16 | 2.12% | 754 |
| Storey | 567 | 56.76% | 432 | 43.24% | 135 | 13.51% | 999 |
| Washoe | 1,536 | 64.70% | 838 | 35.30% | 698 | 29.40% | 2,374 |
| White Pine | 218 | 37.78% | 359 | 62.22% | -141 | -24.44% | 577 |
| Totals | 6,540 | 57.78% | 4,778 | 42.22% | 1,762 | 15.57% | 11,318 |