 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||
The1886 South Carolina gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 1886, to select thegovernor of the state ofSouth Carolina.John Peter Richardson III was nominated by theDemocrats and became the83rd governor of South Carolina.
| Democratic nomination forGovernor | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | 1st Ballot | 2nd Ballot | 3rd Ballot | |
| 1st Call | 2nd Call | |||
| John Peter Richardson III | 112 | 137 | 149 | 172 |
| John Calhoun Sheppard | 68 | 80 | 78 | 50 |
| W.C. Coker | 48 | 65 | 77 | 94 |
| Giles J. Patterson | 36 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Edward McCrady | 29 | 15 | 14 | 1 |
| W.D. Johnson | 25 | 20 | 0 | 0 |
Ben Tillman, anupstatedemagogue, sought to increase his political strength statewide by entering in a union with the editor ofThe News and Courier,Francis Dawson. They united behind the candidacy of governorJohn Calhoun Sheppard for reelection, although Sheppard refused to accept Tillman's agriculture program.The News and Courier ran articles leading up to the convention describing the growing strength of Sheppard's campaign and by beginning of thestate Democratic convention held inColumbia on August 4, the newspaper had proclaimed that Sheppard was in the lead.[1]
On the morning of August 4, Tillman gathered the delegates from the Democratic convention who were supporters of the Farmers' Association at theRichland County courthouse and tried to bind them to a resolution to support Sheppard. The effort failed and the farmers instead adopted a resolution stating that they would not endorse any candidate for governor.
When it became public that Tillman tried to coerce support for Sheppard, a delegate from Richland County went to the floor after the initial call of the third ballot and changed his vote from Sheppard toJohn Peter Richardson III, a planter fromClarendon County. Immediately a stampede of other delegates changed their vote and a second call of the third ballot was taken. After this tally, Richardson received 172 votes and was declared the nominee for governor, having passed the required threshold of 159.
The general election was held on November 2, 1886, and John Peter Richardson III was elected asgovernor of South Carolina without opposition. Being anon-presidential election and few contested races,turnout was the lowest for a gubernatorial election since theelection of 1865.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | John Peter Richardson III | 33,114 | 99.9 | −0.1 | |
| No party | Write-Ins | 40 | 0.1 | +0.1 | |
| Majority | 33,074 | 99.8 | −0.2 | ||
| Turnout | 33,154 | ||||
| Democratichold | |||||
| Preceded by 1884 | South Carolina gubernatorial elections | Succeeded by 1888 |
