Key Battleground: Indiana and New York
Most observers expected the presidential election in
November to be close, with the results to be decided in two swing states with a
large number of electoral votes: New York's 35 was the most numerous, and
Indiana's 15 was the fifth most numerous.
Like many states, Indiana held state elections in
October (see "October
Elections" in
Campaigning). Both parties pulled out all the stops in order to generate
enthusiasm for their candidates through massive amounts of money, entertaining
events (see "Politics
as Entertainment" in
Campaigning), party speakers, and vote fraud. The Democrats, though, were
burdened with two unpopular candidates: vice-presidential nominee William
English and gubernatorial nominee Franklin Landers. Republicans mainly avoided
the issues, except to use Hancock's remark about the tariff as a local issue to
portray the Democrats as unconcerned for the average worker and American
business. Even though Democrats had won every state election in Indiana since
1870, the better-organized Republicans were able to win by a small margin in
1880.
Attention then turned to New York. Unlike William
English's dismal reception in his home state of Indiana, Republican
vice-presidential nominee Chester Arthur played a valuable role in the New York
and general elections. He served as chairman of the Republican state committee
in New York, organized numerous campaign rallies and meetings, insisted that
patronage workers contribute three percent of their salaries to the party's
campaign funds, secretly solicited donations from prominent New York businessmen
for the Indiana battleground, and directed Grant and Conkling on campaign tours
through Ohio and Indiana. Both parties in New York were bitterly divided, but
the Republicans were able to repair their breech for this campaign when Garfield
insisted that he would heed the needs of New York Republicans, particularly the
sensitive Senator Conkling. Hancock unwisely left the management of the election
in New York to Samuel Tilden and John Kelly, whose feud provoked Kelly to make
decisions that hurt the chances of the national Democratic ticket. The
Republicans therefore carried the state in November, and thus the presidential
election.
Election Results
In November, Garfield edged by Hancock in the popular count by only one-tenth of
a percent, 48.3% to 48.2%, and 214-155 in the electoral college, the difference
of New York's 35 electoral votes. Each man won an electoral majority in 19
states. To the detriment of black Americans, the election result showed that
Republicans could win the White House without the South. Hancock won the South,
the border states, New Jersey, California, and Nevada; Garfield was victorious
in the rest of the North and West. The Republicans also recaptured both houses
of Congress by narrow margins. The Prohibitionist party's totals were
negligible. The Greenback-Labor party collected 3.4% of the vote, playing the
spoiler in California, Indiana, and New Jersey. Still, blame for the Democratic
defeat rested within their own party: a more energetic candidate, combined with
better party organization and cooperation, especially in New York, could have
led to victory.
Sources consulted: William A. DeGregario,
The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents; Leonard Dinnerstein, "Election of 1880,"
in Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., American Political Elections; Justus Doenecke, The
Presidencies of James A. Garfield and Chester A. Arthur; David M. Jordon, Roscoe
Conkling of New York.
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