Andrew E. Lee

Andrew E. Lee (March 18, 1847ndash March 19, 1934) was an American politician and a businessman. He was the third Governor of South Dakota.

Lee was born near Bergen in Norway and at a young age moved with his parents to the United States where he spent his childhood on a farm in Dane County, Wisconsin. He moved to Dakota Territory and settled at Vermillion in 1867. Lee and Charles E. Prentis became partners in a mercantile business in 1869.

In 1896, Lee ran for Governor of South Dakota on the Populist ticket and beat A. O. Ringsrud of Elk Point by only 319 votes. He was elected to his second term on the Fusion Party ticket, an alliance of Democrats and Independents in the state. [ [http://www.nga.org/portal/site/nga/menuitem.29fab9fb4add37305ddcbeeb501010a0/?vgnextoid=e4ed9bacc7ce7010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD&vgnextchannel=e449a0ca9e3f1010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD South Dakota Governor Andrew Ericson Lee] . National Governors' Association.] He was the first and only non-Republican Governor to hold office until the election of William J. Bulow in 1926.

In 1900, the Populists nominated Lee for Congress, and he spoke at the Populist convention in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Lee lost in a Republican landslide, which ended the political influence of the Populists in South Dakota. In 1908, Lee ran unsuccessfully as a Democratic candidate for Governor of South Dakota. He died at his home in Vermillion, South Dakota.

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External links

* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=11210420 Find-A-Grave profile for Andrew E. Lee] succession box
before=Charles H. Sheldon
title=Governor of South Dakota
years=1897–1901
after=Charles N. Herreid