Dunn, Robert C. (Robert Campbell), 1855-1918

Robert Campbell Dunn was the Minnesota Republican Party's candidate for governor in 1904. He lost the election to the Democratic candidate John A. Johnson by about 7,800 votes out of nearly 304,000 votes cast, even though in the presidential race the Republican candidate Theodore Roosevelt carried Minnesota by more than 161,000 votes. Dunn attributed his loss to a deep split in the Republican party (particularly in Hennepin County), his opponent nearly sweeping the ethnic Swedish vote; opposition from corporations remembering his hard stance toward them as state auditor; and a charge that he was a pawn of James J. Hill. Previous to his first term in the Minnesota legislature in 1889, he served as county attorney for Mille Lacs County from 1884 to 1888 and town clerk for Princeton from 1878 to 1889. After being defeated in 1890, Dunn won another seat in the Minnesota legislature in 1892. In 1894 he was elected state auditor and served for two terms through 1902. In early 1904 Dunn entered the race for the governorship and defeated several rivals, including Loren W. Collins and Frank M. Eddy, for the nomination at the state Republican convention.

Dunn was born in Plumbridge, County Tyrone, Ireland on February 14, 1855. After spending a year in London, he emigrated the U.S. in 1870. After living in several locales for several years, Dunn learned the printer's trade in St. Louis and, by 1876, was living in Princeton, Minnesota. There he bought out the local newspaper, The Appeal, and promptly changed its name to the Princeton Union. As editor and publisher of this newspaper, he became very active in Republican Party politics and earned a statewide name for himself. He campaigned to bring the railroad to Princeton and, as state auditor, went after the timber companies for non-payment of taxes. As a legislator, Dunn fought for good roads.

In February 1887 Dunn married Lydia McKenzie and the couple had two children: a son, George, who became a doctor, and a daughter named Grace. Despite losing the election in 1904, Dunn remained active in Republican Party politics, continued to publish the Princeton Union and served in the Minnesota House of Representatives for two terms (1911-1914) and in the Minnesota Senate for two terms (1915-1918). Robert C. Dunn died in Princeton on October 28, 1918.

From the guide to the Robert C. Dunn papers., 1897-1915 (bulk 1903-1904)., (Minnesota Historical Society)