1892 Wyoming gubernatorial special election
{{Short description|none}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2023}}
{{Infobox election
| election_name = 1892 Wyoming gubernatorial election
| country = Wyoming
| type = by-election
| election_date = November 6, 1892
| turnout = 28.43% of total population {{increase}} 2.02
| ongoing = no
| previous_election = 1890 Wyoming gubernatorial election
| previous_year = 1890
| next_election = 1894 Wyoming gubernatorial election
| next_year = 1894
| image1 = File:JohnEOsborne.jpg
| image_size = 150x150px
| nominee1 = John Eugene Osborne
| party1 = Democratic Party (United States)
| popular_vote1 = 9,290
| percentage1 = 53.84%
| image2 = File:Edward Ivinson.jpg
| nominee2 = Edward Ivinson
| party2 = Republican Party (United States)
| popular_vote2 = 7,509
| percentage2 = 43.52%
| map_image = 1892 Wyoming gubernatorial special election results map by county.svg
| map_size = 250px
| map_caption = County results
Osborne: {{legend0|#7996E2|50–60%}} {{legend0|#584CDE|70–80%}}
Ivinson: {{legend0|#FFB2B2|40–50%}}
No Data/Vote: {{legend0|#808080}}
| title = Governor
| before_election = Amos W. Barber
| before_party = Republican Party (United States)
| after_election = John Eugene Osborne
| after_party = Democratic Party (United States)
}}
{{ElectionsWY}}
The 1892 Wyoming gubernatorial special election was held on November 6, 1892. Republican Governor Francis E. Warren, who was elected in 1890, resigned several weeks into his term after being elected to the U.S. Senate by the state legislature, elevating Secretary of State Amos W. Barber to the governorship and triggering a special election for the balance of Warren's term.
The Republican Party nominated banker Edward Ivinson for Governor and Democrats nominated former State Representative and former Rawlins Mayor John E. Osborne. In an election that was largely defined by the Johnson County War, in which cattle companies, supported by the state's Republican establishment, attacked alleged rustlers and homesteaders in the Powder River Country. The Republican support for the Wyoming Stock Growers Association severely hurt the party's performance across the state, as Osborne centered his campaign around his opposition to the invasion.{{cite news|date=August 17, 1890|title=John E. Osborne: A Sketch of the Next Governor of Wyoming|work=Salt Lake Herald|location=Salt Lake City, Utah|page=9|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/80841076/|access-date=June 6, 2021}} Osborne defeated Ivinson by a wide margin, Democrats won a majority in the Wyoming Legislature,{{cite web |url= https://www.wyohistory.org/encyclopedia/johnson-county-war-1892-invasion-northern-wyoming|title=The Johnson County War: 1892 Invasion of Northern Wyoming|last=Davis|first=John W.|date=November 8, 2014|website=WyoHistory.org|publisher=Wyoming State Historical Society|access-date=June 6, 2021}} and Republican Benjamin Harrison barely won the state in the 1892 presidential election.
Party conventions
Prior to the adoption of Wyoming's primary law in 1911, the political parties nominated their candidates for office by convention. Both the Democratic and Republican conventions were hotly contested and drawn-out. As the Democratic convention started, two candidates were seen as the frontrunners: former State Senator Leopold Kabis and J. J. Hart.{{cite news|date=July 28, 1892|title=Wyoming Democrats: The Democratic State Convention Meets and Organizes|work=Nebraska State Journal|location=Lincoln, Neb.|page=2|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/313834818/|access-date=June 6, 2021}} During the convention, Kabis, Hart, and former State Senator William H. Holliday earned strong support and were unwilling to yield, resulting in more than thirty ballots without a nominee.{{cite news|date=July 29, 1892|title=Wyoming Democrats Meet: And Put a Ticket in the Field for the Coming Campaign|work=Pittsburgh Dispatch|location=Pittsburgh, Pa.|page=7|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/76577656/|access-date=June 6, 2021}} On the thirty-seventh ballot, Kabis withdrew from consideration and Osborne emerged as a compromise candidate, winning the nomination.{{cite news|date=July 29, 1892|title=Wyoming Rejoices: John E. Osborne Nominated for Governor|work=Salt Lake Herald|location=Salt Lake City, Utah|page=9|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/80826488/|access-date=June 6, 2021}}
At the Republican convention, three frontrunners emerged: retired banker Edward Ivinson, banker DeForest Richards, and State Senator Frank W. Mondell.{{cite news|date=September 14, 1892|title=Victory Sure in Wyoming: It Matters Not Much Whom the Republicans Nominate To-Day|work=The Salt Lake Tribune|location=Salt Lake City, Utah|page=1|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/12330252/|access-date=June 6, 2021}} The contest among all three men was close,{{cite news|date=September 15, 1892|title=Wyoming Republicans|work=El Paso Times|location=El Paso, Tex.|page=2|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/429301926|access-date=June 6, 2021}} but on the tenth ballot, Richards withdrew from consideration and Ivinson was nominated over Mondell by a vote of 70 to 33.{{cite news|date=September 15, 1892|title=Put Up a Winning Ticket: Nominations for State Officers Made by Wyoming Republicans|work=The Salt Lake Tribune|location=Salt Lake City, Utah|page=1|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/12330501/|access-date=June 6, 2021}}
General election
=Results=
{{Election box begin | title=1892 Wyoming gubernatorial special election{{cite book|last=Erwin|first=Marie|editor-last=Trenholm|editor-first=Virginia Cole|title=Wyoming Blue Book|url=https://wyoarchives.wyo.gov/pdf/WyomingBlueBookTwo.pdf|volume=2|location=Cheyenne, Wyo.|publisher=Pioneer Printing & Stationery Co.|publication-date=1974|pages=538–39}}
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link|
|party = Democratic Party (United States)
|candidate = John E. Osborne
|votes = 9,290
|percentage = 53.84%
|change = +9.22%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|
|party = Republican Party (United States)
|candidate = Edward Ivinson
|votes = 7,509
|percentage = 43.52%
|change = -11.87%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|
|party = Prohibition Party (United States)
|candidate = William Brown
|votes = 421
|percentage = 2.44%
|change = —
}}
{{Election box candidate|
|party = Write-ins
|candidate =
|votes = 36
|percentage = 0.21%
|change = —
}}
{{Election box majority|
|votes = 1,781
|percentage = 10.32%
|change = -0.44%
}}
{{Election box turnout|
|votes = 17,256
|percentage = 100.00%
|change =
}}
{{Election box gain with party link no swing|
|winner = Democratic Party (United States)
|loser = Republican Party (United States)
}}
{{Election box end}}