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On the GOP side, John S. Wise was the hand-picked candidate of former Confederate Gen. William “Billy’’ Mahone, the fading warhorse of the old Readjuster movement and now a Republican Senator.
The Democrats nominated Gen. Fitzhugh Lee, a veteran of “Jeb” Stuart’s Cavalry and a nephew of Gen. Robert E. Lee.
The architect of the new Democratic party, as well as of Lee’s campaign for governor, was John Strode Barbour of Culpeper. He had served as chairman of the Lynchburg convention and was also the state Democratic party chairman.
The political climate at the time was most fortunate for Lee. Both of his potential rivals for the party’s nod had their eyes on another office. Barbour and John W. Daniel, “the lame lion of Lynchburg,” (so called because he still limped from an old war wound), aspired to the Senate seat held by Mahone, the Republican. i „ ....
At that time, prior to the enactment of the 17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which requires the popular election of senators, Virginia’s U.S. Senators were elected, by the legislature. Thus, if the Democrats captured control of the Assembly, Mahone’s departure was assured.
As political campaigns went during that period, the Lee-Wise affair was remarkably tame. Barbour managed Lee’s effort with masterful efficiency. He was the undisputed boss of the state’s new Democratic organization, and the coveted senate seat appeared to be within his grasp.
One of Wise’s campaign pitches had a surprisingly modern ring to it. “If Fitzhugh Lee’s name was Fitzhugh Smith,” Wise declamed, “his candidacy would not even be taken seriously.”
To w hich Lee is said to have replied that he wished his name was Smith, so that he could win the election on his own merits, and also get the support of all the Smiths in the state!
Some historians also report that Lee campaigned using a saddle which had once belonged to his famous uncle. Others, however, doubt that this happened.
In any event, in the historic election of 1885, Lee swept to victory by 1(3,000 votes and the Democrats captured both houses of the legislature by wide margins.
The issues confronting the new governor bore a certain similarity to those faced by Virginia’s modem chief executives. The main question w as one of fiscal conservatism over public needs. In his first address to the General Assembly, Lee called on the lawmakers to place the state’s obligation to support free public schools, welfare, and better prison facilities above its oligation to its creditors. The battle over the retirement of the state’s debt plagued the remainder of Lee’s administration. Still, based on the views in Lee’s address, he would probably be nailed as an irredeemable liberal in 1985.
The first order of business for the new legislature was to oust Mahone from his Senate seat, thereby setting off another struggle of epic
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