1865 Minnesota gubernatorial election
The 1865 Minnesota gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1865, to elect the governor of Minnesota. Incumbent Stephen Miller was not seeking a second term.
Candidates
- Henry Mower Rice, former senator
- William Rainey Marshall, Civil War veteran,
Campaigns
The Republican State Convention took place on September 6, 1865. It took 22 ballots to elect Marshall as its nominee. The other candidates were John T. Averill and Charles Duncan Gilfillan. Averill led the first two ballots, and Marshall led in all subsequent ones.The Democratic State Convention took place on August 16th. It was described as a "Copperhead Fizzle". The Convention opened with no leading candidates, simply choosing them from among themselves once there, with no pre-existing plan or campaigns. Once nominated, Rice's campaign struggled to convince the public that he was loyal to the Union and had no confederate sympathies.