 Republicans around the state expected the committee to recommend disqualification of enough ballots to make Goebel governor . Armed men from heavily Republican eastern Kentucky filled the capital . On the morning of January 30 , 1900 , as Goebel and two friends walked toward the capitol building , shots were fired , and Goebel fell wounded . After being denied entrance to the state capitol by armed men , the contest committee met in Frankfort 's city hall and , by a strict party @-@ line vote , adopted a majority report that claimed Goebel and Beckham had received the most legitimate votes and should be installed in their respective offices . When Democratic legislators attempted to convene to approve the committee 's report , they found the doors to the state capitol and other public locations in Frankfort blocked by armed citizens . On January 31 , 1900 , they convened secretly in a Frankfort hotel , with no Republicans present , and voted to certify the findings of the contest committee , invalidating enough votes to make Goebel governor . Still lying on his sick bed , Goebel took the oath of office . 
