Republican John Long Routt, last governor of the Colorado Territory, was elected in a close race against Democratic nominee Bela M. Hughes.

McCook, whose first administration was considered tainted by corruption, was also fiercely opposed by Jerome B. Chaffee, an Elbert supporter, who was the Territory's Delegate to the House of Representative at the time.

After five months of testimony and multiple accusations against McCook, the Senate confirmed his appointment on June 19, 1874, by a one-vote majority.

[1] After he had returned to Colorado, Governor McCook asked President Grant to relieve all political appointees from their duties, which had been recommended by Delegate Chaffee.

There was a growing a sentiment in the territory, that the federal offices were used to place unsuccessful and no longer needed politicians from the east of the United States.

His lack of moral conduct cost him a lot of support and in February 1875 he resigned at the request of President Grant.

[1] On March 29, 1875, Republican John Long Routt was appointed by President Grant as to replace the unpopular Edward McCook as Governor of the Territory of Colorado.

Many rural Coloradions believed that the gridlock and infighting in the years prior had been caused by a strong concentration of power for Denver politicians.

President Andrew Johnson, who had come into office after Lincoln's assassination, opposed statehood for the Colorado Territory fearing a strengthened Republican majority.

[1] The appointment saga around Governor McCook had shown the population of the territory the need for self-government and contributed to a strong effort towards statehood.

It specified that the constitution could make no "civil or political distinction on the account of race or color" and that it had to "tolerate all religious sentiments".

The most hotly contested issues were the regulation of railroads, mines and other companies, women's suffrage, funding for denominational schools and whether God should be mentioned in the preamble.

[11] Delegates were afraid that territory's male electorate was against women's suffrage and that including it would doom the constitutions and thus statehood in the referendum.

[6][12] The fear of corruption due to the strong influence of private mining and railroad companies in the state defined many choices of the convention.

The term length of Governors was set at just two years to give voters an early opportunity to reject unpopular administration.

The constitution is also very long due to detailed instructions and restrictions of the legislative abilities of the Colorado General Assembly.

At the time, the residents of those counties were mostly of Mexican heritage and the results showed their dissatisfaction with the constitution and their mistrust towards the majority Anglo-American population.

Lafayette Head was a candidate who had strong support among the delegates from the Hispanic-majority southern part of the new state but a limited appeal outside his geographic base.

[2] After four rounds of balloting had ended without a candidate receiving a majority of the delegates' votes (see below), John Routt struck a deal with Lafayette Head and Samuel Elbert.

Head joined Routt on the Republican ticket as the nominee for Lieutenant Governor, while Elbert accepted a nomination in the elections for the Colorado Supreme Court.

[2] On 29 August, the Democratic convention met in Manitou Springs to nominate candidates for the first state elections on 3 October.

The editorial also criticized Hughes' language, as he used phrases like "damned lie" and "the government is going to hell", despite the fact that there were around twenty women in the audience.

[22] The Republican nominee, Territorial Governor John Routt, did not make any public speeches during the campaign.

The Denver Mirror then used the image of Routt crawling through the fences to paint him in multiple cartoons as a carpetbagger, who had not been elected but appointed to the territorial governorship by President Grant after serving in different political roles in Illinois and Washington, DC.

[22] In its last cartoon concerning the 1876 State Elections on October 1, 1876, the Denver Mirror called its readers to support Hughes and other Democratic candidates, stressing their support for the Silver Dollar and political reforms, while alleging that a Republican state government would be tainted by corruption.