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The1891 Wisconsin Supreme Court election was held on Tuesday, April 7, 1891, to elect a justice to theWisconsin Supreme Court for a ten-year term.Silas U. Pinney was elected to succeed retiring justiceOrsamus Cole.
The seat contested had originally been created as a chief justice's seat. However a state constitutional amendment ratified in 1889 converted all seats on the court to justices. This change meant that than the chief justice being its own unique seat, the chief justice would simply be selected by seniority (the longest-serving justice would be the chief justice).[1] This change meant that the seat up for election was no longer different from the other seats on the court.
Incumbent justiceOrsamus Cole (the chief justice) did not seek re-election to the seat. In 1890, when it was already rumored that Cole would likely retire rather than seek re-election,Silas U. Pinney was discussed as a top contender to succeed him. Pinney had previously been theDemocratic nominee in the1869 attorney general election, before which he had been widely rumored as a possible candidate in the1868 Supreme Court election.[2] Pinney formally launched his candidacy in December 1890,[3] and quickly secured a vast majority of support from within the state and regional bar associations.[4][5] His campaign had strong support fromRepublicans, but struggled to secure unified support from Democrats.Catholic leaders in the Democratic Party initially sought to organize against his candidacy, accusing Pinney of supporting the use of the protestant bible in school instruction,[6] but Pinney eventually placated Catholic groups and earned their endorsements.[7] The last lingering opposition to his candidacy came from the Democrats running theMilwaukee Journal, who took issue with Pinney's legal representation of the Republican former state treasurersEdward C. McFetridge andHenry B. Harshaw (who had both faced a politically-charged prosecution from Democratic attorney generaJames L. O'Connor over alleged embezzlement).[8][9]
Democratic discontent with Pinney ultimately motivated the candidacy ofEleazor H. Ellis (acircuit judge). Ellis ran a strong campaign, but Pinney ultimtaley prevailed with 55% of the vote.[10]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Election, April 7, 1891 | |||||
| Nonpartisan | Silas U. Pinney | 96,661 | 54.90 | ||
| Nonpartisan | Eleazor H. Ellis | 77,312 | 43.91 | ||
| Scattering | 2,082 | 1.18 | |||
| Total votes | 176,055 | 100 | |||
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