Election Redux

by KATHRYN BOUGHTON

The Hudson NY Historical Society’s collection contains this tabulation of election results for the closely fought presidential race between the Democratic Governor of New York State, Grover Cleveland, and Maine’s James G. Blaine.

As in the 2024 election, the campaign was filled with mudslinging and personal allegations that eclipsed substantive issues such as civil administration change. With 410 electoral votes on the line, 201 were needed to win. Cleveland carried the election with 48.87 percent compared to Blaine’s 48.25, a plurality of only 63,683 votes.

Also in the historical society’s collection is this postcard from 1888 showing that year’s political adversaries. Cleveland was renominated by his party in 1888 but, although he won the popular vote, he lost in the electoral college to Senator Benjamin Harrison, grandson of President William Henry Harrison. Cleveland had the distinction of being the first Democrat elected since the Civil War and the last incumbent Democrat to be defeated until Jimmy Carter.

Each month we present historic pictures selected from the archives of area libraries, historical societies and, when available, private collections.

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