Virginia gubernatorial election, 1881

Virginia gubernatorial election, 1881

November 8, 1881
Nominee William E. Cameron John W. Daniel Party Readjuster Democratic Popular vote 124,145 100,757 Percentage 52.97% 47.03%
Governor before election Frederick W. M. Holliday Democratic Elected Governor William E. Cameron Readjuster

Elections in Virginia
Federal government Presidential elections 1788-89 1792 1796 1800 1804 1808 1812 1816 1820 1824 1828 1832 1836 1840 1844 1848 1852 1856 1860 1872 1876 1880 1884 1888 1892 1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 Presidential primaries Democratic 2008 Republican 2008 2012 U.S. Senate elections 1922 1924 1928 1930 1934 1936 1940 1942 1946 1948 1952 1954 1958 1960 1964 1966 1970 1972 1976 1978 1982 1984 1988 1990 1994 1996 2000 2002 2006 2008 2012 2014 2018 U.S. House elections 1920 1922 1924 1926 1928 1930 1932 1934 1936 1938 1940 1942 1944 1946 1948 1950 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1968 1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 Special elections U.S. Senate, 1920 U.S. Senate, 1933 U.S. Senate, 1946 U.S. Senate, 1966 1st congressional district, 2007
State government Gubernatorial elections 1851 1855 1859 1863 (Confederate) 1863 (Union) 1869 1873 1877 1881 1885 1889 1893 1897 1901 1905 1909 1913 1917 1921 1925 1929 1933 1937 1941 1945 1949 1953 1957 1961 1965 1969 1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 2017 Lieutenant Governor elections 2013 2017 Attorney General elections 2005 2013 2017 House of Delegates elections 2009 2017 Other elections 1989 1999 2003 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017
Ballot measures 1970 1972 1974 1976 1977 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2010 2012 2014 2016 2016 Fairfax County Meals Tax Referendum
Richmond Mayoral elections 2016 City Council elections 2016

The 1881 Virginia gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1881. The Readjuster Party candidate William Evelyn Cameron won in a historic upset election. The Readjusters were a unique state mixture of Republicans, populist (or "New Departure") Democrats, freedmen, poor voters, and those in favor of "re-adjusting" the state debt owed to Northern banks for the various internal improvements financed before the war. Some of those internal improvements went to West Virginia, as they were physically located in there, as it counter-seceded from Virginia, who had sided with the Confederacy during the Civil War.

The Democratic candidate, John Warwick Daniel, was a Virginia State Delegate and Virginia State Senator who would later go on to be elected Representative in 1882 and then United States Senator in 1886, succeeding the leader of the Readjuster Party, William Mahone. Cameron's Lieutenant Governor, a position that is separately elected, was Republican John Francis Lewis. Lewis at the time of his election was a United States Marshal, and had previously served as Lieutenant Governor before resigning to serve as Senator upon the readmission of the State of Virginia to the United States.

Results

References

• Our Campaigns page on William Cameron
• Our Campaigns page on John Daniel
• The Encyclopedia Virginia entry on the Republican Party in 19th Century Virginia