1870 Alabama gubernatorial election

The 1870 Alabama gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 1870 in order to elect the Governor of Alabama. Incumbent Republican William Hugh Smith was narrowly defeated by Democrat Robert B. Lindsay.

1870 Alabama gubernatorial election

November 8, 1870

Nominee Robert B. Lindsay William Hugh Smith Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 77,723 76,282 Percentage 50.47% 49.53%

Governor before election William Hugh Smith Republican Elected Governor Robert B. Lindsay Democratic

The run-up to the election was marred by political and racist terrorism by the Ku Klux Klan, in support of Lindsay. This violence included the lynching of four blacks and a white in Calhoun County, the murder of two blacks (one a Republican politician) in Greene County, and the October Eutaw riot.[1] In Greene County, for instance, the violence of the Eutaw riot is credited with swaying the vote in that county toward Lindsay: in the 1868 presidential election, Greene County had voted for Ulysses S. Grant by a margin of 2,000 votes; in the 1870 gubernatorial election it voted for Robert B. Lindsay by a margin of 43.[2]

Results

Alabama gubernatorial election, 1870[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Robert B. Lindsay	77,723	50.47
	Republican	William Hugh Smith	76,282	49.53
Total votes			154,005	100.00
	Democratic gain from Republican

References

1. Waldrep, Christopher (2011). Jury Discrimination: The Supreme Court, Public Opinion, and a Grassroots Fight for Racial Equality in Mississippi. U of Georgia P. pp. 137–38. ISBN 9780820341941.
2. Shapiro, Herbert (1988). White Violence and Black Response: From Reconstruction to Montgomery. U of Massachusetts P. p. 12. ISBN 9780870235788.
3. "AL Governor 1870". Our Campaigns. Retrieved November 23, 2016.