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 County results Taylor : 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% Washburn : 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90% | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The1873 Wisconsin gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1873.Democratic Party candidateWilliam Robert Taylor was elected with 55% of the vote, defeating incumbentRepublican governorCadwallader C. Washburn.[1]
Taylor was the first Democrat elected Governor of Wisconsin sinceWilliam A. Barstow in1853. He was nominated as the consensus candidate of the "Reform Party,"—a coalition of Democrats,Liberal Republicans, andGrangers, on a platform of political and economy reform.
Cadwallader C. Washburn was the incumbentgovernor of Wisconsin, having been elected in the1871 election. Prior to becoming governor, he had served ten years in theUnited States House of Representatives and had served as aUnion Army general in theAmerican Civil War underUlysses S. Grant.
William Robert Taylor, at the time of the 1873 election, was a Trustee for the State Hospital of the Insane. Previously, he had served as president of the state agriculture society, had been chairman of theCottage Grove town board, and theDane County board of supervisors, and had been a member of theWisconsin State Senate andAssembly.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | William R. Taylor | 81,599 | 55.19% | +8.39% | |
| Republican | C. C. Washburn (incumbent) | 66,224 | 44.79% | −8.37% | |
| Scattering | 33 | 0.02% | |||
| Majority | 15,375 | 10.40% | |||
| Total votes | 147,856 | 100.00% | |||
| Democraticgain fromRepublican | Swing | +16.77% | |||
Taylor was the first Democrat to ever winEau Claire County andKenosha County.Jackson County andPierce County voted Democratic for the first time since1853 andClark County andRacine County for the first time since1855. Clark County, Jackson County, andLafayette County would not vote Democratic again until1932 while Pierce County would not back a Democrat again until1960.Adams County andMonroe County failed to back the winner for the first time ever whileColumbia County,Portage County, andSauk County voted for the losing candidate for the first time since1851.
| County[2][3] | William R. Taylor Democratic | C. C. Washburn Republican | Scattering Write-in | Margin | Total votes cast | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Adams | 125 | 16.28% | 642 | 83.59% | 1 | 0.13% | -517 | -67.32% | 768 |
| Ashland | 265 | 81.29% | 61 | 18.71% | 0 | 0.00% | 204 | 62.58% | 326 |
| Barron | 169 | 32.19% | 356 | 67.81% | 0 | 0.00% | -187 | -35.62% | 525 |
| Bayfield | 12 | 10.53% | 102 | 89.47% | 0 | 0.00% | -90 | -78.95% | 114 |
| Brown | 2,030 | 61.03% | 1,296 | 38.97% | 0 | 0.00% | 734 | 22.07% | 3,326 |
| Buffalo | 1,105 | 63.36% | 639 | 36.64% | 0 | 0.00% | -466 | -26.72% | 1,744 |
| Burnett | 12 | 4.63% | 247 | 95.37% | 0 | 0.00% | -235 | -90.73% | 259 |
| Calumet | 1,357 | 72.68% | 508 | 27.21% | 2 | 0.11% | 849 | 45.47% | 1,867 |
| Chippewa | 879 | 59.96% | 587 | 40.04% | 0 | 0.00% | 292 | 19.92% | 1,466 |
| Clark | 429 | 54.24% | 362 | 45.76% | 0 | 0.00% | 67 | 8.47% | 791 |
| Columbia | 1,509 | 42.99% | 2,001 | 57.01% | 0 | 0.00% | -492 | -14.02% | 3,510 |
| Crawford | 1,112 | 62.02% | 681 | 37.98% | 0 | 0.00% | 431 | 24.04% | 1,793 |
| Dane | 4,295 | 53.29% | 3,760 | 46.65% | 5 | 0.06% | 535 | 6.64% | 8,060 |
| Dodge | 4,562 | 71.38% | 1,828 | 28.60% | 1 | 0.02% | 2,734 | 42.78% | 6,391 |
| Door | 213 | 28.36% | 538 | 71.64% | 0 | 0.00% | -325 | -43.28% | 751 |
| Douglas | 70 | 78.65% | 19 | 21.35% | 0 | 0.00% | 51 | 57.30% | 89 |
| Dunn | 622 | 47.52% | 687 | 52.48% | 0 | 0.00% | -65 | -4.97% | 1,309 |
| Eau Claire | 1,122 | 58.04% | 810 | 41.90% | 1 | 0.05% | 312 | 16.14% | 1,933 |
| Fond du Lac | 3,926 | 57.23% | 2,932 | 42.74% | 2 | 0.03% | 994 | 14.49% | 6,860 |
| Grant | 2,104 | 46.65% | 2,405 | 53.33% | 1 | 0.02% | -301 | -6.67% | 4,510 |
| Green | 1,366 | 49.35% | 1,402 | 50.65% | 0 | 0.00% | -36 | -1.30% | 2,768 |
| Green Lake | 602 | 40.19% | 896 | 59.81% | 0 | 0.00% | -294 | -19.63% | 1,498 |
| Iowa | 1,549 | 53.73% | 1,334 | 46.27% | 0 | 0.00% | 215 | 7.46% | 2,883 |
| Jackson | 515 | 51.24% | 489 | 48.66% | 1 | 0.10% | 26 | 2.59% | 1,005 |
| Jefferson | 2,950 | 64.40% | 1,630 | 35.58% | 1 | 0.02% | 1,320 | 28.81% | 4,581 |
| Juneau | 909 | 45.02% | 1,110 | 54.98% | 0 | 0.00% | -201 | -9.96% | 2,019 |
| Kenosha | 942 | 52.22% | 862 | 47.78% | 0 | 0.00% | 80 | 4.43% | 1,804 |
| Kewaunee | 807 | 81.68% | 181 | 18.32% | 0 | 0.00% | 626 | 63.36% | 988 |
| La Crosse | 1,458 | 40.44% | 2,147 | 59.56% | 0 | 0.00% | -689 | -19.11% | 3,605 |
| Lafayette | 1,430 | 52.50% | 1,294 | 47.50% | 0 | 0.00% | 136 | 4.99% | 2,724 |
| Manitowoc | 2,715 | 76.57% | 831 | 23.43% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,884 | 53.13% | 3,546 |
| Marathon | 779 | 71.08% | 317 | 28.92% | 0 | 0.00% | 462 | 42.15% | 1,096 |
| Marquette | 739 | 68.17% | 345 | 31.83% | 0 | 0.00% | 394 | 36.35% | 1,084 |
| Milwaukee | 10,435 | 78.61% | 2,837 | 21.37% | 3 | 0.02% | 7,598 | 57.24% | 13,275 |
| Monroe | 1,134 | 47.23% | 1,267 | 52.77% | 0 | 0.00% | -133 | -5.54% | 2,401 |
| Oconto | 790 | 52.67% | 710 | 47.33% | 0 | 0.00% | 80 | 5.33% | 1,500 |
| Outagamie | 2,092 | 66.99% | 1,031 | 33.01% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,061 | 33.97% | 3,123 |
| Ozaukee | 1,839 | 88.63% | 235 | 11.33% | 1 | 0.05% | 1,604 | 77.30% | 2,075 |
| Pepin | 303 | 41.28% | 431 | 58.72% | 0 | 0.00% | -128 | -17.44% | 734 |
| Pierce | 741 | 51.82% | 687 | 48.04% | 2 | 0.14% | 54 | 3.78% | 1,430 |
| Polk | 223 | 29.77% | 524 | 69.96% | 2 | 0.27% | -301 | -40.19% | 749 |
| Portage | 549 | 34.46% | 1,044 | 65.54% | 0 | 0.00% | -495 | -31.07% | 1,593 |
| Racine | 2,138 | 53.10% | 1,888 | 46.90% | 0 | 0.00% | 250 | 6.21% | 4,026 |
| Richland | 1,066 | 48.15% | 1,148 | 51.85% | 0 | 0.00% | -82 | -3.70% | 2,214 |
| Rock | 1,279 | 27.61% | 3,347 | 72.24% | 7 | 0.15% | -2,068 | -44.64% | 4,633 |
| Sauk | 1,115 | 41.82% | 1,550 | 58.14% | 1 | 0.04% | -435 | -16.32% | 2,666 |
| Shawano | 415 | 67.59% | 198 | 32.25% | 1 | 0.16% | 217 | 35.34% | 614 |
| Sheboygan | 2,480 | 63.12% | 1,449 | 36.88% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,031 | 26.24% | 3,929 |
| St. Croix | 1,151 | 52.94% | 1,023 | 47.06% | 0 | 0.00% | 128 | 5.89% | 2,174 |
| Trempealeau | 339 | 26.86% | 923 | 73.14% | 0 | 0.00% | -584 | -46.28% | 1,262 |
| Vernon | 547 | 24.28% | 1,706 | 75.72% | 0 | 0.00% | -1,159 | -51.44% | 2,253 |
| Walworth | 1,075 | 30.22% | 2,482 | 69.78% | 0 | 0.00% | -1,407 | -39.56% | 3,557 |
| Washington | 2,334 | 83.45% | 463 | 16.55% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,871 | 66.89% | 2,797 |
| Waukesha | 2,641 | 55.87% | 2,086 | 44.13% | 0 | 0.00% | 555 | 11.74% | 4,727 |
| Waupaca | 902 | 36.91% | 1,542 | 63.09% | 0 | 0.00% | -640 | -26.19% | 2,444 |
| Waushara | 413 | 24.54% | 1,270 | 75.46% | 0 | 0.00% | -857 | -50.92% | 1,683 |
| Winnebago | 2,591 | 47.54% | 2,858 | 52.44% | 1 | 0.02% | -267 | -4.90% | 5,450 |
| Wood | 328 | 59.21% | 226 | 40.79% | 0 | 0.00% | 102 | 18.41% | 554 |
| Total | 81,599 | 55.19% | 66,224 | 44.79% | 33 | 0.02% | 15,375 | 10.40% | 147,856 |
