Consequently there was overrepresentation of the east after the negro had been deprived of the ballot.

It was charged--and with some show of truth--that a small group of men clustering around Charleston exercised an entirely disproportionate share of influence in party management.

The farmers, with a growing class consciousness, began to resent this injustice and found a leader ready and anxious to direct them.
In March, 1890, the delegates of the Farmers' Association decided to secure the nomination for governor for Benjamin R.Tillman, who had devoted much of his time for four years to arousing the farmers.

The contest for the nomination was begun in May and, after a bitter struggle, Tillman won easily in the convention in September.

The "straight outs," dazed and humiliated, ran an independent candidate.
Tillman and his followers accepted the challenge and the conflict took form as a struggle between mass and class.