Flip to Democratic party election poster from the 1866 Pennsylvania Gubernatorial election.
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Credit: Library of Congress
Born into a family of prominent Berks County politicians, Hiester Clymer (1827 –1884) practiced law before entering the Pennsylvania State Senate as a Democrat in 1860. In 1866 Clymer ran for governor on a white supremacist platform and lost in a bitter campaign against war hero John White Geary. In 1872, he was elected to his first of four terms in Congress.