In 1882, Robert E. Pattison became the first Democrat to win the Governor’s office since 1860. Pattison was elected again in 1890 when voters bolted to the Democratic candidate after Republican state boss Mathew Quay had engineered the nomination of George Delamater, a banker so closely linked with John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Company. One of Pattison's first actions of his new term was adoption of the secret ballot, to protect voters from coercion and punishment for voting against the party in control.
