The1898 Wyoming gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1898. Incumbent Republican GovernorWilliam A. Richards had declined to run again, so the Republican Party instead nominatedDeForest Richards. The Democratic Party joined forces with theFree Silver Republicans to jointly nominate former State Representative Horace C. Alger for Governor. The Populist Party, though reduced in influence from earlier elections, nominated E. B. Viall as its candidate. Though the election was closer than1894, owing in large part to a dramatic reduction in the share of vote received by the Populist nominee, Roberts defeated Alger by a wide margin.
Prior to the Republican convention, until he declined to seek a second term, William A Richards was seen as one of three frontrunners, along with bankerDeForest Richards and State Senator John McGill ofAlbany County.[1] DeForest Richards was nominated by acclamation. The Republican platform repudiated its 1894 support forfree silver, instead adopting the national Republican platform from the1896 Republican National Convention inSt. Louis.[2]
The Democratic convention occurred as a joint affair withFree Silver Republicans, and the coalition split up the statewide candidates among the two members of the coalition; the Democrats nominated candidates for Governor, Secretary of State, and Treasurer, and Free Silver Republicans chose candidates for State Auditor and Superintendent of Public Instruction. Former State Representative Horace C. Alger was nominated by acclamation.[3]
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