In its early days as a state, Colorado had, like the Plains States to its east, been solidly Republican. Despite widespread criticism of the national party for its monetary policy, the Republicans continuously controlled the legislature and held the governorship for five of seven terms.[1] Because Colorado was the leading silver-producing state in the nation, the policies of the federal government since President Hayes were deeply unpopular with both silver miners and mineowners. Crises emerging in Colorado's agricultural sector from low wheat prices[2] and a severe drought in 1888 and 1889,[3] combined with the state's underdevelopment to produce resentment of the Northeast,[4] where the Republican Party's power base was located.
Campaign
On April 27, 1892, the Colorado Republican Party held their convention and passed a resolution demanding free silver. The party endorsed Benjamin Harrison as being "favorable to the white metal" at its second convention from September 8 to 9.[5]
The Populist Party's platform called for replacing the gold standard with the free coinage of silver at a 16:1 ratio with gold. This meant that outside the Hispanic south-central counties and some parts of the eastern High Plains, support for the Populist movement was extremely strong in the state, even among many conservatives who opposed the Populists’ economic philosophy but were concerned primarily about the silver issue.[6] In order to achieve success, the newly formed Populist Party would fuse with the minority Democratic Party,[3] although a proposed slate of electors pledged to national Democratic nominees Grover Cleveland and Adlai Stevenson I was not withdrawn with the instruction to support the Populist nominee James B. Weaver until the last week before the poll,[7] after a long struggle within the state Democratic Party.[8]
Polls on election day said Weaver was two-to-one on to carry Colorado,[9] and in the end Weaver and running mate James G. Field carried the state by 15.94 points over the Republican nominees, incumbent PresidentBenjamin Harrison of Indiana and his running mate Whitelaw Reid of New York. Weaver dominated most of the state, especially the high mountains and West Slope.
Colorado was one of a handful of states, five in total, that did not feature former and future President Grover Cleveland on their ballots. As of the 2024 U.S. presidential election, this is the only time Colorado voted for a third-party candidate.
Results
1892 United States presidential election in Colorado[10]
^Because Grover Cleveland was not on the ballot and no nominee was listed under the “Democratic” line, margin given is Harrison vote minus Weaver vote and percentage margin Harrison percentage minus Weaver percentage for all counties.
References
^Ubbelohde, Carl; Benson, Maxine and Smith, Duane A.; A Colorado History, pp. 206-207 ISBN0871089424
^Gormley, Ken (editor); The Presidents and the Constitution: A Living History, p. 299 ISBN1479839906
^ abLarson, Robert W.; ‘Populism in the Mountain West: A Mainstream Movement’; Western Historical Quarterly; Vol. 13, No. 2 (April 1982), pp. 143-164
^Azari, Julia and Hetherington, Mark J.; ‘Back to the Future? What the Politics of the Late Nineteenth Century Can Tell Us about the 2016 Election’; The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science; Vol 667: Elections in America; (September 2016), pp. 92-109
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