Former Sioux Falls Mayor Burre H. Lien won the Fusion nomination and ran against former Lieutenant Governor Charles N. Herreid.

However, despite the closeness of the 1896 and 1898 elections, the Fusion's luck ran out; Herreid defeated Lien in a landslide to reclaim the office for the Republican Party.

At the Fusion convention in Yankton, former Sioux Falls Mayor Burre H. Lien and Railroad Commissioner W. T. LaFollette were mentioned as the leading candidates, though some delegates suspected that Governor Lee might be renominated for a third term, breaking "the unwritten law of the political parties of South Dakota.

"[3] LaFollette's unpopularity led to his chances shrinking at the convention, and the momentum favored Lien; Lee, meanwhile, was floated as a Fusion candidate for Congress.

[4] Ultimately, Lien was nominated for Governor and Lee for Congress, which was ratified by the Populist and Democratic conventions.