Coles Bashford [SEP] position held
Coles Bashford
Coles Bashford (January 24, 1816 – April 25, 1878) was an American lawyer and politician who became the fifth Governor of Wisconsin, and one of the founders of the U.S. Republican Party. His one term as governor ended in a bribery scandal that ended in him fleeing Wisconsin, but he was later instrumental in the government of the newly formed Arizona Territory.
Early life and career.
Bashford was born near Cold Spring in Putnam County, New York. He attended the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary in
1855 Wisconsin gubernatorial election
The 1855 gubernatorial election in Wisconsin was held on November 6, 1855. Republican Party candidate Coles Bashford was declared the winner after a court challenge, defeating Democratic incumbent William A. Barstow. 
Barstow was initially declared the winner of the election, having apparently received just over 50% of the vote. 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