Incumbent Republican Governor William E. Smith ran for re-election to a second term.

[1] Smith and Jenkins also faced a Greenback candidate and a nominee from the nascent Prohibition Party in the general election.

Reuben May, the Greenback nominee, received only 7% of the vote, a significant erosion from the Party's 15% in 1877.

Smith was the first Republican to ever carry Milwaukee County.

After voting for Jenkins in this election, Shawano County would not back the losing candidate again until 1942.