William D. Bloxham - 1870 Election Controversy

1870 Election Controversy

In 1870, Bloxham was at the center of a political firestorm during one of Florida's most violent periods. The Republican carpetbaggers were being resisted in Florida, often violently, by groups like the Ku Klux Klan. On Election Day of 1870, the most violent counties were inundated with federal troops at the request of Governor Harrison Reed. The chaos of that day included constitutional convention member, William Capers Bird, pointing a handgun at African American state senator Robert Meacham on the courthouse steps in Monticello, reportedly warning, "no damned nigger shall vote here."

When the voting finally ended, it appeared that Bloxham had won the Lieutenant Governor race. Republicans used the chaos of the day as an excuse for rejecting the votes of nine largely Democratic counties, but Bloxham sought an injunction from the Florida Circuit Courts to prevent tainted results from being announced. A circuit judge granted the injunction but a federal grand jury indicted the judge. With the circuit judge in jail, the Republican-led board of canvassers rejected enough ballots to overturn Bloxham's victory in favor of Republican Samuel T. Day.

Bloxham pushed the election dispute to the Florida Supreme Court, filing for a writ of mandamus on January 10, 1871 to force a recount. While the Florida Attorney General disagreed that a recount could be ordered, the Supreme Court Chief Justice sided with Bloxham. Republican legislators countered by repealing the law which created the board of canvassers in the first place and the Supreme Court was unable to compel the board to recount when the board effectively ceased to exist. Bloxham applied to the supreme court for a writ of quo warranto on February 20, 1871 to challenge Day's victory, but the case did not begin until November 15. On June 1, 1872, the court finally ruled that Bloxham had won the 1870 election, by which time he had missed every state senate session in the term, meaning the term was effectively concluded. Although he took the oath of office on June 3, he couldn't perform the lieutenant governor's only duty, which was to preside over the Senate. Thus, he is not named in lists of Florida's lieutenant governors. Regardless, the ruling marked the first win for the Florida Democratic Party since the war.