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 County results Love Taylor: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90% A. Taylor: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% No data: | |||||||||||||||||
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The1886 Tennessee gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 1886.Democratic nomineeRobert Love Taylor defeated his brother,Republican nomineeAlfred A. Taylor with 53.52% of the vote.
The gubernatorial campaign is remembered for the Taylor brothers' relatively light-hearted politicalbanter and entertaining speeches.Canvassing together, they spent the first part of each campaign stop "cussing out each other's politics" and telling stories and the second part playing fiddle tunes while the crowd danced.[1] At a stop inMadisonville, Robert suggested that both he and Alfred were roses, but he was a white rose while Alfred was a red rose. As their respective supporters subsequently wore white and red roses, the campaign became known as the "War of the Roses" (the name also referred to the15th-century English conflict). Their campaign stops drew massive crowds, ranging from around 6,000 in smaller towns to 25,000 inNashville.[1]
There was recordturnout on election day, when Robert Taylor defeated Alfred by around 16,000 votes.[2][3]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Robert Love Taylor | 126,491 | 53.52% | ||
| Republican | Alfred A. Taylor | 109,842 | 46.48% | ||
| Majority | 16,649 | ||||
| Turnout | |||||
| Democratichold | Swing | ||||
