1857 Minnesota gubernatorial election

The 1857 Minnesota gubernatorial election was held on October 13, 1857, to elect the inaugural governor of Minnesota. Democrat Henry Hastings Sibley was elected governor by only 240 votes, the closest gubernatorial election in Minnesota until 1962. A Democrat would not be elected governor of Minnesota again until 1898. == Candidates == Alexander Ramsey, former territorial governor (Republican) Henry Hastings Sibley, member of the Minnesota Territorial Legislature (Democrat) == Campaigns == Ramsey had previously served as territorial governor. In 1853, upon his term's completion, he stated he would not run for any public office again. He made an exception to this rule to briefly serve as mayor of St. Paul, before returning to private life. However, upon the Republican State Convention nominating him unanimously on September 10, 1857, he was convinced to leave retirement, and accepted the nomination. On September 15, 1857, Sibley was named the Democratic nominee at the Democratic State Convention. == Disputed results == Early returns showed Ramsey in the lead. On October 26, the Republicans declared victory. However, on October 28, the Democrat-owned Dakota Land Company reported returns from southwestern counties. With these new returns, Sibley won 221 out of 223 votes - 99.1% of votes. The Dakota Land Company had entirely fabricated the results, as none of any of the counties it had "settled" had a population of anyone except the employees of the company itself. The votes were fraudulent. A board was created to investigate claims of corruption, but the board was led by Samuel Medary, Joseph R. Brown, and other Dakota Land Company directors. The board eliminated a few votes, but declared Democrat Henry Hastings Sibley the victor by only 240 votes. == Results == == See also == 1855 Wisconsin gubernatorial election List of cases of electoral fraud in the United States == References == == External links == Minnesota Historical Election Archive