In 1888 President Grover Cleveland of New York, a Democrat, sought a second term against Republican Benjamin Harrison of Indiana.1 Harrison carried New York and its 36 electoral votes; Cleveland lost his own state, and Indiana, by very narrow margins.2 Cleveland received about 90,000 more popular votes than Harrison nationwide, but Harrison won the Electoral College 233 to 168.3 With New York's 36 votes, Cleveland would have had 204, more than the 201 needed for a majority.4
The Miller Center's essay on Harrison says his victory rested on two swing states, New York and Indiana.5 That essay says Cleveland probably lost New York because of the anti-Tammany Hall reforms he carried out as president.6 The Miller Center's essay on Cleveland gives other reasons, tying the loss to his treatment of workers' rights and his failure to support a high tariff.7 Republicans raised an unprecedented $3 million from manufacturers and concentrated on the big states.8
Four years earlier, Cleveland had carried New York by only about 1,200 votes out of more than a million, and with it the 1884 election.9 In 1892 Cleveland defeated Harrison and returned to the White House, the first defeated president to do so.10
Sources for each sentence
Each numbered entry quotes the words that support that sentence, as they appear on the linked page.
- Back to sentence 1
The Democrats, at their national convention in St. Louis, rallied behind incumbent Grover Cleveland of New York and his running mate, Allen G. Thurman, the senator from Ohio.
millercenter.org/president/bharrison/campaigns-and-elections Benjamin Harrison, of Indiana Grover Cleveland, of New York
archives.gov/electoral-college/1888 - Back to sentence 2
New Jersey 9 - 9 - 9 New York 36 36 - 36 - North Carolina 11
archives.gov/electoral-college/1888 Cleveland lost New York as well as Indiana, but by very narrow margins. His failure to win his own state of New York
millercenter.org/president/cleveland/campaigns-and-elections - Back to sentence 3
The election outcome gave President Cleveland approximately 90,000 popular votes more than Harrison, but Harrison carried the electoral college 233 to 168.
millercenter.org/president/bharrison/campaigns-and-elections - Back to sentence 4
Electoral Vote Winner: 233 Main Opponent: 168 Total/Majority: 401/201
archives.gov/electoral-college/1888 New Jersey 9 - 9 - 9 New York 36 36 - 36 - North Carolina 11
archives.gov/electoral-college/1888 - Back to sentence 5
Harrison's victory was based upon two swing states: New York and Indiana.
millercenter.org/president/bharrison/campaigns-and-elections - Back to sentence 6
Cleveland probably lost New York because of the anti-Tammany Hall reform measures that he carried out as President.
millercenter.org/president/bharrison/campaigns-and-elections - Back to sentence 7
His failure to win his own state of New York was related to the callousness that he demonstrated toward workers' rights and his failure to support a high tariff.
millercenter.org/president/cleveland/campaigns-and-elections - Back to sentence 8
raising an unprecedented campaign war chest of $3 million from the nation's manufacturers
millercenter.org/president/cleveland/campaigns-and-elections Republican victory reflected a focused and well-funded campaign that concentrated on the crucial big-vote states.
millercenter.org/president/cleveland/campaigns-and-elections - Back to sentence 9
If Blaine had won a few more votes in New York-which he lost to Cleveland by only 1,200 votes out of the more than one million cast, he would have taken that state's huge electoral slate and won the presidency.
millercenter.org/president/cleveland/campaigns-and-elections - Back to sentence 10
In 1892, incumbent Harrison lost to Grover Cleveland in a dramatic turnaround of historic importance.
millercenter.org/president/bharrison/campaigns-and-elections Cleveland's victory, moreover, returned a defeated President to the White House for a second term-a historic first
millercenter.org/president/bharrison/campaigns-and-elections
Sources checked on October 3, 2026
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