1868 North Carolina gubernatorial election

1868 North Carolina gubernatorial election
	April 21, 1868
	County results ; Holden: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% ; Ashe: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80%
Governor before election; Jonathan Worth; Conservative	Elected Governor ; William Woods Holden; Republican

The 1868 North Carolina gubernatorial election was held on April 21, 1868. Republican nominee William Woods Holden defeated Conservative nominee Thomas Samuel Ashe with 55.49% of the vote.

General election

Major party candidates

William Woods Holden, Republican
Thomas Samuel Ashe, Conservative (Democratic)
- Ashe is sometimes erroneously listed as a Democratic nominee, because the Conservative Party acted largely as the equivalent of the Democratic Party in North Carolina at times, and re-named itself the Democratic Party in 1876, but as of 1868, it was the Conservative Party banner under which Ashe ran.^[1]^[2] Ashe became the nominee only after Zebulon B. Vance and Augustus Merrimon had declined the Conservatives' nomination.^[3]

Other candidates

1868 North Carolina gubernatorial election^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	William Woods Holden	92,235	55.49%
	Conservative	Thomas Samuel Ashe	73,600	44.28%
	Independent	Daniel R. Goodloe	310	0.19%
Majority			18,635
Turnout
	Republican gain from Conservative		Swing