1888
North Carolina in 1888
The 1888 contest saw North Carolina line up behind Cleveland, delivering 11 electoral votes to the Democratic ticket. Nationally the result broke the other way — Benjamin Harrison (Republican) won the presidency, leaving North Carolina among the states he did not carry.
It marked the 4th consecutive election in which North Carolina backed the Democratic party, a streak reaching back to 1876. North Carolina did not move alone — neighboring Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, and South Carolina broke the same way in 1888. Across the 58 presidential elections North Carolina has taken part in, it has most often sided with the Democratic party (32 times). The vote fell within the Gilded Age — Industrialization, narrow margins, and patronage politics.
In the national count, Benjamin Harrison took 233 of the 401 electoral votes, against Grover Cleveland's 168. Though Benjamin Harrison won the Electoral College, Grover Cleveland drew more of the national popular vote — 48.63% to 47.8%.
North Carolina in nearby cycles
Embed
Drop this map on your site · coming soon
Free iframe with attribution. White-label option in the works.
Get notified →Classroom
All 300 packets, free
60 cycles · K-2 through AP · open download.
Browse packets →Poster
Wall-worthy print · coming soon
Every-election grid and single-state series in the works.
Get notified →Read further
Curated picksThe Republic for Which It Stands
Richard White
Reconstruction through the Gilded Age.
Buy on Amazon →The Populist Vision
Charles Postel
Bancroft-winning history of Populism.
Buy on Amazon →Recommendations are editorial.
Free, ad-light, no paywall
Built by one person. Tips fund the next 60 elections of editorial.