he election of 1898 marked a turning point in the history of North Carolina. In the years leading up to the election there were three active political parties vying for the support of the state's electorate, and African Americans had a significant role in state politics, both as officeholders and voters. After 1898, all of that would change. The political landscape through most of the twentieth century was affected by issues and policies raised in the campaign of 1898.
After the Civil War, the Republican Party rose to power in North Carolina. Many former Confederates were prohibited from voting, while newly enfranchised African Americans and whites who had sympathized with the Union flocked to the Republican Party, still viewed as the party of Abraham Lincoln and emancipation.
As former Confederates and Whigs began to come back into the political process, they formed the Conservative Party, which opposed federal intervention in state affairs and spoke out against the so-called "radical" reconstruction policies of the U.S. Congress. The Conservatives, who would later change their name to the Democratic Party, took control of the North Carolina General Assembly in 1870 and began to reverse some of the changes enacted by Reconstruction-era Republicans. In 1876, popular Civil War governor Zebulon Vance was returned to the state's highest office. In the eyes of many white North Carolinians, the state had been "redeemed."
When North Carolina, like much of the rest of the nation, was mired in a severe economic depression in the 1880s, the small farmers in the state were hit the hardest. The poor infrastructure in the state made it difficult for them to get their goods to market, and, when they did, they thought that they were not given a fair price by buyers. To compound their problems, many farmers felt that neither of the two major political parties had their best interests at heart.
The national Farmers Alliance, an organization of farmers advocating for cooperatives and economic reform, spawned smaller organizations throughout the country, with an active branch in North Carolina. The "alliancemen" were active supporters of the new People's Party, also known as the Populist Party, led nationally by North Carolinian Leonidas LaFayette Polk.
The Populists ran several candidates in the 1892 election in North Carolina and the results were surprising. While few of their candidates were elected, they did receive a significant number of votes. In fact, the Populist vote combined with the Republican vote was greater than that for the Democrats. While the Democratic party still controlled the government, they no longer represented the majority of voters.
In 1894, the Republicans and Populists negotiated an agreement in which, instead of running competing candidates for statewide offices, they would divide the ticket between the two parties. This cooperative arrangement was known as "fusion." It worked. The fusion candidates defeated the Democrats throughout the state, winning a majority in the legislature. Populist leader Marion Butler and Republican Jeter Pritchard were elected to the U.S. Senate. Once in control, the fusion government enacted a series of reforms, including a more liberal election law -- which would make it easier for North Carolinians to vote -- and a restoration of "home rule," allowing elections of local officials in several eastern North Carolina counties where they had previously been appointed by the state. In 1896 the parties fused again, retaining control of the legislature and electing Republican Daniel L. Russell governor. While other states experimented with fusion arrangements, nowhere was it as successful as in North Carolina.
After two successful campaigns, cracks in the fusion relationship began to show. Although the Republicans and Populists shared common interests in electoral reform and local self-government, these issues had already been addressed, and some Populists were uncomfortable joining with a party that did not support increased coinage of silver and was so closely associated with African Americans. The state Populist leadership, in fact, felt that they had more in common with the Democrats and actually proposed a fusion agreement with them in 1898. However, when the Democrats refused, both the Populist and Republican leaders realized that the only way they could continue to hold power was through fusion and they agreed to run together again.
