# 1874 Alabama gubernatorial election

Elections in Alabama :
Federal government
Presidential elections
1820
1824
1828
1832
1836
1840
1844
1848
1852
1856
1860
1868
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
2020
2024
Presidential primaries
Democratic
1992
1996
2000
2004
2008
2016
2020
2024
Republican
1992
1996
2000
2004
2008
2012
2016
2020
2024
U.S. Senate elections
1819
1822
1822 sp
1826 sp
1828
1831
1834
1837
1837 sp
1840
1841 sp
1842
1847
1848 sp
1849 sp
1853
1855
1858
1868
1870
1872
1872 sp
1876
1878
1878 sp
1880 sp
1882
1884
1888
1890
1894
1896
1897
1900
1903
1907
1907 sp
1908
1911
1914
1914 sp
1918
1920
1920 sp
1924
1926
1930
1932
1936
1938
1938 sp
1942
1944
1946 sp
1948
1950
1954
1956
1960
1962
1966
1968
1972
1974
1978
1978 sp
1980
1984
1986
1990
1992
1996
1998
2002
2004
2008
2010
2014
2016
2017 sp
2020
2022
2026
2028
U.S. House of Representatives elections
1819
1821
1823
1825
1827
1829
1831
1833
1835
1837
1839
3rd sp
1841
1843
1845
3rd sp
1846
7th sp
1847
3rd sp
1849
1851
1853
1855
1857
1859
1868
1869
1870
1872
1874
1876
1878
1880
6th sp
1882
1883
1st sp
8th sp
1884
1886
1888
1890
1892
1894
3rd sp
1896
1898
1900
8th sp
1902
1904
5th sp
1906
1908
2nd sp
1910
1912
1914
3rd sp
8th sp
1916
1918
1919
7th sp
1920
5th sp
1921
4th sp
1922
1923
2nd sp
1924
1926
1928
3rd sp
5th sp
1930
1932
1933
8th sp
1934
1935
1st sp
1936
1938
2nd sp
1940
7th sp
1941
7th sp
1942
1943
3rd sp
1944
3rd sp
1946
1947
8th sp
1948
1950
1952
1954
1956
1958
1960
1962
1964
1966
1968
1970
1972
3rd sp
1974
1976
1978
1980
1982
1984
1986
1988
1989
3rd sp
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
2006
2008
2010
2012
2013
1st sp
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
2024 :
State government
State elections
2002
2004
2006
2008
2010
2012
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
2024
2026
Gubernatorial elections
1819
1821
1823
1825
1827
1829
1831
1833
1835
1837
1839
1841
1843
1845
1847
1849
1851
1853
1855
1857
1859
1861
1863
1865
1868
1870
1872
1874
1876
1878
1880
1882
1884
1886
1888
1890
1892
1894
1896
1898
1900
1902
1906
1910
1914
1918
1922
1926
1930
1934
1938
1942
1946
1950
1954
1958
1962
1966
1970
1974
1978
1982
1986
1990
1994
1998
2002
2006
2010
2014
2018
2022
2026
Lieutenant gubernatorial elections
1970
1974
1978
1982
1986
1990
1994
1998
2002
2006
2010
2014
2018
2022
2026
Attorney General elections
1990
1994
1998
2002
2006
2010
2014
2018
2022
2026
Secretary of State elections
1970
1974
1978
1982
1986
1990
1994
1998
2002
2006
2010
2014
2018
2022
2026
State Auditor elections
1986
1990
1994
1998
2002
2006
2010
2014
2018
2022
2026
State Treasurer elections
2010
2014
2018
2022
2026
Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries elections
1986
1990
1994
1998
2002
2006
2010
2014
2018
2022
2026
Supreme Court elections
1970
1972
1974
1978
1980
1982
1984
1986
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
2006
2008
2010
2012
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
2024
Public Service Commission elections
2010
2012
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
2024
Senate elections
2010
2014
2018
2022
2026
House of Representatives elections
2010
2014
2018
2022
2026 :
Ballot measures
1999
Amendment 1
2000
Amendment 2
2006
Amendment 774
2020
Amendment 1
2024
Amendment 1 (November) :
Auburn
Municipal
2010
2014
2018
2022 :
Birmingham
Mayoral elections
2017
2021
2025 :
Huntsville
Mayoral elections
2008
2012
2016
2020
2024 :
Lee County
Elections
2024 :
Mobile
Mayoral elections
2021
2025 :
Montgomery
Mayoral elections
2007
2009 sp
2011
2015
2019
2023 :
Government :
vte :
The 1874 Alabama gubernatorial election took place on November 3, 1874, in order to elect the governor of Alabama. Incumbent Republican David P. Lewis unsuccessfully ran for reelection, losing to Democratic former U.S. Representative George S. Houston. This election would end an era of serious competition between the local Democratic and Republican parties, and start a 112-year win streak for Democrats in the gubernatorial level.

## General Election

Incumbent governor David P. Lewis was a former Democrat who represented Lawrence County at the state secession convention in the prelude to the American Civil War, voting against secession but eventually serving as a legislator in the Provisional Confederate Congress; he would go on to be a delegate at the 1868 Democratic National Convention for Alabama before his joining the Republicans.$^{:241}$ Having been an advocate for the re-enfranchisement of scalawags who had served with the Confederacy$^{:242–248}$ and being a longtime resident of Alabama, Lewis was picked as the Republican nominee for the previous election. However, during his tenure, existing tensions between the factions of the Republicans, particularly over civil rights and Reconstruction began to boil over, and the political violence of the Ku Klux Klan began to target many of the party's voters.
The Democratic nominee was George S. Houston, a former representative and Senator for the state who had been pro-Union at the time of secession, but remained in Alabama through the war, though he took no part in its fighting; he was chosen likewise in an effort to appeal to a broader coalition which included Unionists dissatisfied with Lewis' administration. The Democrats presented themselves as "redeemers" who would restore White dominance and eliminate Republican corruption.
Democrats used their comparative unity on the issues of civil rights and Reconstruction to their advantage; the dominance of these issues and the division of the Republicans on them, along with voter intimidation and fraud, handed Democrats the victory. After this, the Republicans remained out of the gubernatorial office until 1986, ending a period in which several elections had even been won by them and beginning a long period of Democratic dominance in the state.$^{:240}$

### Election day massacre

One notable incident of electoral violence took place on election day near Eufaula in Barbour County before moving to Spring Hill, where ballots were then being counted; a similar incident took place in Mobile County. In both cases many of the Black voters fled, and the Democrats won the counties.$^{:97}$

### Results

1874 Alabama gubernatorial election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | George S. Houston | 107,118 | 53.28 |
| | Republican | David P. Lewis (incumbent) | 93,928 | 46.72 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 201,046 | 100.00 |
| | Democratic gain from Republican | Democratic gain from Republican | Democratic gain from Republican | Democratic gain from Republican |
The beginning of Democratic dominance in the state also led to the loss of the rights that had been gained by the Black population, and the beginning of segregation in the state. Soon after the election, the state would pass a new constitution which mandated the effective racial separation of schools, and established funding for each race's schools through the poll tax, which led in many areas to a lack of any Black schools. Also required was the segregation of prisons, and laws prohibiting interracial marriage and sex remained in place; however, Black suffrage remained mostly intact.$^{:193–194}$ By the 1880s, however, perceived threats to Democratic dominance from the ascendant Populists led to a repeat of the terror and fraud like those against Republicans in prior years, only this time the target was Black and poor White citizens; further laws were passed to enforce segregation and white dominance, including stricter vagrancy and work contract laws.$^{:194–196}$ In 1901, a new constitution had been created with the explicit aim of establishing, "within the limits imposed by the federal constitution", a system of white supremacy; this constitution effectively disenfranchised Blacks and many poor Whites by establishing, among other things, property requirements, literacy tests, and a cumulative poll tax.$^{:295–296}$$^{:72–75}$