The 1908 Missouri gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1908 and resulted in a victory for the Republican nominee, Missouri Attorney General Herbert S. Hadley, over the Democratic candidate, former Congressman William S. Cowherd, and several other candidates representing minor parties.
| |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
 County results Hadley: 40–50% 50-60% 60-70% 70-80% 80-90% Cowherd: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% | |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
This election broke a string of eleven consecutive Democratic governors,[1] as it was the first election since 1870 which did not result in a victory by the Democratic nominee (no Democrat had run in 1870[2]).
Results
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Herbert S. Hadley | 355,932 | 49.73 | +3.68 | |
| Democratic | William S. Cowherd | 340,053 | 47.51 | −3.22 | |
| Socialist | William Lincoln Garver | 14,505 | 2.03 | +0.32 | |
| Prohibition | Herman Preston Faris | 4,169 | 0.58 | −0.29 | |
| Populist | William A. Dillon | 1,058 | 0.15 | −0.27 | |
| Majority | 15,879 | 2.22 | −2.45 | ||
| Turnout | 715,720 | 23.04 | |||
| Republican gain from Democratic | Swing | ||||