Wisconsin gubernatorial election, 1855

The 1855 gubernatorial election in Wisconsin was held on November 6, 1855. Democratic candidate William A. Barstow won the election with 50% of the vote, defeating Republican Party candidate Coles Bashford.

However, Bashford and the Wisconsin Attorney General, George Baldwin Smith, filed suit in the Wisconsin Supreme Court in the case Atty. Gen. ex rel. Bashford v. Barstow. They alleged that Barstow created fraudulent election returns in several fake precincts in Wisconsin's northern counties. The court found that Bashford had won the election, and was entitled to the governorship. Before the court could formally remove him from office, Barstow resigned, leaving his Lieutenant Governor Arthur MacArthur, Sr. as acting Governor, until Bashford was sworn in four days later.