1868 Boston mayoral election


The Boston mayoral election of 1868 saw the reelection of Nathaniel B. Shurtleff.

Nominations

Democrats renominated incumbent mayor Nathaniel B. Shurtleff for a second term.
Republicans nominated Moses Kimball, a state representative who had received support from the city's prohibitionists.

Results

Nathaniel B. Shurtleff defeated his Republican opponent by a sizable margin. This came despite Republican presidential nominee Ulysses S. Grant having carried the city's electorate by a margin of 8,000 votes six weeks prior. Republicans won two-thirds of seats on the Board of Alderman in the coinciding Boston City Council election. The Chicago Tribune faulted Kimball's stance in support of prohibition, as aldermanic candidates avoided the question of liquor during their campaigns. A news dispatch that was sent out following the election alternatively faulted opposition from American Civil War veterans over Kimball's previous opposition to a bill in the state legislature regarding soldiers' bounties.