The 9th Republican National Convention assembled in the Civic Auditorium in Chicago IL. It was attended by 832 delegates: the usual two delegates per electoral vote and two per territory.

Other than the presidential roll call ballot, the only matter of contention was the decision on which Virginia delegation to seat. One delegation was a fusion of the state Republicans with the Readjuster Party, while a straight Republican slate of delegates also appeared on the floor. After a very long debate in which many speakers were obviously not clear about the details of the situation, the Readjuster delegates were seated.

The presidential balloting has been described as a tussle among the second-rank Republican contenders. John Sherman led on the first ballot with 27.5% of the delegates, over twice his nearest competitor. While a lead of this size normally would have led to his nomination, Sherman's vote included 139 votes from former slave states, which would mostly vote Democratic in the election regardless of the nominee. Three-quarters of the remainder of his vote came from Pennsylvania and Ohio. The second place finisher, Gresham, was mostly supported by the plains and western states. "Favorite son" contenders were all trapped in the two-digit range.

On the second ballot, most of the top six candidates gleaned votes from the remaining contenders. Sherman peaked on this ballot. After the third ballot, with little change among the top six contenders, Depew withd

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The 9th Republican National Convention assembled in the Civic Auditorium in Chicago IL. It was attended by 832 delegates: the usual two delegates per electoral vote and two per territory.

Other than the presidential roll call ballot, the only matter of contention was the decision on which Virginia delegation to seat. One delegation was a fusion of the state Republicans with the Readjuster Party, while a straight Republican slate of delegates also appeared on the floor. After a very long debate in which many speakers were obviously not clear about the details of the situation, the Readjuster delegates were seated.

The presidential balloting has been described as a tussle among the second-rank Republican contenders. John Sherman led on the first ballot with 27.5% of the delegates, over twice his nearest competitor. While a lead of this size normally would have led to his nomination, Sherman's vote included 139 votes from former slave states, which would mostly vote Democratic in the election regardless of the nominee. Three-quarters of the remainder of his vote came from Pennsylvania and Ohio. The second place finisher, Gresham, was mostly supported by the plains and western states. "Favorite son" contenders were all trapped in the two-digit range.

On the second ballot, most of the top six candidates gleaned votes from the remaining contenders. Sherman peaked on this ballot. After the third ballot, with little change among the top six contenders, Depew withdrew and the convention adjourned for the day. When the fourth ballot began, William McKinley asked that the 8 delegates who had been voting for him select someone else to support (he was Garfielding). Most of Depew's delegates shifted to Harrison, giving him a strong second place finish. At the end of the fifth ballot, with little change among the main contenders, the convention adjourned for the weekend. Harrison and Sherman both gained on the 6th ballot. On the 7th ballot, Harrison won 43% of the vote in the former free states, surpassing Sherman's highest vote on the 2d ballot. On the 8th ballot, most of Allison's delegates, along with half of Sherman and Gresham's delegates, switched to Harrison, who won a solid majority. Levi P. Morton was nominated for VP on the first ballot.

Presidential Balloting, RNC 1888
Name	State	1st ballot	2d	3d	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th
Benjamin Harrison	IN	85	91	94	216	212	231	279	544
John Sherman	OH	229	249	244	235	224	244	230	118
Walter Q. Gresham	IN	107	108	123	98	87	91	91	59
Chauncey Depew	NY	99	99	91	0	0	0	0	0
Russell A. Alger	MI	84	116	122	135	143	137	120	100
William B. Allison	IA	72	75	88	88	99	73	76	0
James G. Blaine	ME	35	33	35	42	48	40	15	5
John J. Ingalls	KS	28	16	0	0	0	0	0	0
William W. Phelps	NJ	25	18	5	0	0	0	0	0
Jeremiah M. Rusk	WI	25	20	16	0	0	0	0	0
William McKinley Jr.	OH	2	3	8	11	14	12	16	4
Others		41	4	6	7	5	4	5	2

Temporary Chairman: John M. Thurston (NE)

Permanent Chairman: Morris M. Estee (CA)

8th Republican National Convention (1884)

10th Republican National Convention (1892)

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