In 1900, Yates was elected governor in his own right, at not yet 40 years of age. He began his campaign in a "dark horse" capacity under the cloak of neutrality, which won him support from Senator Shelby Moore Cullom's "federal crowd". Congressman william Lorimer, who had backed another candidate in a field of well-known men, suddenly switched at the Republican convention, grabbing up a Yates banner and proceeding to stampede the convention. This played out with the results of the third ballot never being announced; Yates was then nominated on the fourth. The subsequent election, decisive, sent Yates to the governor's chair, by 61,233 votes over Democrat Samuel Alschuler of Aurora.