 He entered the general election as an independent candidate, but the Tillmanites used the quote uttered by Wade Hampton that "an independent was worse than a Radical" to great effect and Pope's campaign was nothing more than a protest vote.The general election was held on November 6, 1894 and John Gary Evans was easily elected as governor of South Carolina against Sampson Pope.Turnout increased for this election over the previous election because it was a contested election, but only by just over 100 votes.