page_title: 1899 Kentucky gubernatorial election
section_title: Campaign
hierarchical_section_title: 1899 Kentucky gubernatorial election / Campaign
caption_attribution_description: English: William Jennings Bryan
context_page_description: The 1899 Kentucky gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1899, to choose the 33rd governor of Kentucky. The incumbent, Republican William O'Connell Bradley, was term-limited and unable to seek re-election.
  After a contentious and chaotic nominating convention at the Music Hall in Louisville, the Democratic Party chose state Senator William Goebel as its nominee. A dissident faction of the party, styling themselves the "Honest Election Democrats", were angered by Goebel's political tactics at the Music Hall convention and later held their own nominating convention. They chose former governor John Y. Brown as their nominee. Republicans nominated state Attorney General William S. Taylor, although Governor Bradley favored another candidate and lent Taylor little support in the ensuing campaign. In the general election, Taylor won by a vote of 193,714 to 191,331. Brown garnered 12,040 votes, more than the difference between Taylor and Goebel. The election results were challenged on grounds of voter fraud, but surprisingly, the state Board of Elections, created by a law Goebel had sponsored and stocked with pro-Goebel commissioners, certified Taylor's victory.
context_section_description: Goebel's campaign staff included Senator Jo Blackburn, former governor James B. McCreary, and political boss Percy Haly. Goebel opened his campaign on August 12 in Mayfield, a city in the heavily Democratic Jackson Purchase region of the state. He attacked the Louisville and Nashville Railroad and charged that wealthy corporate interests from outside the state were attempting to influence the choice of Kentucky's governor.
  Taylor opened his campaign on August 22 in London, a Republican stronghold in eastern Kentucky. Among his supporters were Senator Deboe, Congressman Samuel Pugh, Caleb Powers, and former Republican gubernatorial candidate Thomas Z. Morrow (who was also the brother-in-law of Governor Bradley). Taylor stressed the economic prosperity brought about during the McKinley administration. He reminded the crowd that the Republicans had not supported the enslavement of blacks and stated they would not now support what he called the "political enslavement" that would result from electing Goebel.
  Brown opened his campaign in Bowling Green on August 26. Because of his age and ill health, he made no more than one speech per week. Nevertheless, he toured the Commonwealth, questioning the sincerity of Goebel's Free Silver views. He continued to attack the Music Hall Convention, asking whether past great Democrats such as John C. Breckinridge and Lazarus W. Powell would have supported the events that took place there. He also derided the Goebel Election Law as creating an oligarchy. Brown's limited appearances were supplemented by speeches from his supporters.
  Although ex-Confederates were generally a safe voting bloc for Democrats, Goebel could not heavily rely on them because of his father's ties to the Union. Also, in 1895, Goebel had killed John Sanford, an ex-Confederate, in a duel stemming from a personal dispute between the two men. This made him particularly odious to Brown supporter Theodore Hallum, a friend of Sanford's, who said of Goebel at a campaign rally in Bowling Green "[W]hen the Democratic Party of Kentucky, in convention assembled, sees fit in its wisdom to nominate a yellow dog for the governorship of this great state, I will support him—but lower than that you shall not drag me." Goebel tried to mitigate his lukewarm support from ex-Confederates by courting the black vote, long given to the Republicans, though he had to do so carefully to avoid further alienating his own party base. Unlike other Democrats, Goebel had not voted on the Separate Coach Bill, a law that required blacks and whites to use segregated railroad facilities. Most blacks opposed the bill, and Goebel tried to remain silent on the issue, but when pressed, he admitted in a campaign event in Cloverport that he supported the bill and would oppose its repeal. Likewise, Taylor had tried to dodge the issue of the Separate Coach Bill to avoid upsetting the "lily white" branch of his party, but a week after Goebel took a position in favor of the bill, Taylor came out against it. This marked a turning point in the campaign, as blacks, at first cool toward Taylor, now actively supported him.
  The dying Populist Party had also nominated a full slate of candidates for state offices, eroding some of Goebel's populist base. Although the Populist Party platform was similar to Goebel's, it also explicitly condemned the Goebel Election Law. Thomas Pettit, the Populist candidate from the 1895 gubernatorial election, campaigned for Goebel, but many of the other leaders in the party did not. With his support slipping on every side, Goebel appealed to William Jennings Bryan to come to the state and campaign for him. Known as "the Great Commoner", Bryan was immensely popular with Kentuckians, particularly Democrats and Populists. After refusing initial requests, Bryan finally came to the state and, in three days, crisscrossed the state with Goebel to stir up support. Bryan's visit helped solidify Democrats behind Goebel and took significant support from the Brown ticket.
  No sooner had Bryan left the state than Governor Bradley reversed course and bega
caption: William Jennings Bryan bolstered Goebel's campaign with a tour of the state.
exif: {}