Editing Allen G. Thurman (section)

===Candidate for Governor===
[[File:Cleveland-Thurman.jpg|thumb|right|290px|Cleveland/Thurman campaign poster]]
In 1867, he ran for Governor of Ohio, on a platform opposed to extending [[suffrage]] to blacks, but lost to future U.S. president [[Rutherford B. Hayes]] in a close election.<ref>[https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=437016 OH Governor Race - Oct 08, 1867]. ''Our Campaigns''. Retrieved September 17, 2021.</ref> Statewide Democrats including Thurman ran a banner under the slogan "No Negro Equality!"<ref>[https://chnm.gmu.edu/laurelgrove/items/show/45 Ballot: No Negro Equality]. ''Teaching with Laurel Grove School''. Retrieved September 17, 2021.</ref>

During the campaign, Thurman appealed to white supremacist attitudes in virulent tones, vowing to fight "the thralldom of n*****ism."<ref>Foner, Eric (1988). ''Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863–1877'', p. 313. New York: Harper & Row.</ref> In Ohio, like most Northern states, black suffrage referendums failed to pass due to small fractions of Republican voters joining Democratic opposition.<ref>
''Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution'', p. 223.</ref> The issue thus became seized upon by Democratic politicians in race-baiting rhetoric.