Minnesota gubernatorial election, 1896

← 1894

November 3, 1896

1898 →


Nominee	David Marston Clough	John Lind
Party	Republican Party of Minnesota	Democratic Party of Minnesota
Popular vote	165,806	162,254
Percentage	49.17%	48.11%

County Results

Governor before election

David Marston Clough
Republican

Elected Governor

David Marston Clough
Republican

The 1896 Minnesota gubernatorial election took place on November 3, 1896. Republican Party of Minnesota incumbent David Marston Clough narrowly defeated Democratic Party of Minnesota challenger John Lind. Lind later won the 1898 gubernatorial election and became the first Democrat elected to the office of Governor of Minnesota since Henry Hastings Sibley left office in 1860. 1896 was the first of three successive elections in which Lind ran for governor at the head of a coalition consisting of the Democratic Party and the majority faction of the People's Party.