"[65] After the 1882 election, McKinley was unseated on an election contest by a near party-line House vote.[66] Out of office, he was briefly depressed by the setback, but soon vowed to run again. The Democrats again redistricted Stark County for the 1884 election; McKinley was returned to Congress anyway.[67]

Judge magazine cover from September 1890, showing McKinley (left) having helped dispatch Speaker Reed's opponent in early-voting Maine, hurrying off with the victor to McKinley's "jerrymandered" Ohio district
For 1890, the Democrats gerrymandered McKinley one final time, placing Stark County in the same district as one of the strongest pro-Democrat counties, Holmes, populated by solidly Democratic Pennsylvania Dutch. Based on past results, Democrats thought the new boundaries should produce a Democratic majority of 2,000 to 3,000. The Republicans could not reverse the gerrymander, as legislative elections would not be held until 1891, but they could throw all their energies into the district. The McKinley Tariff was a main theme of the Democratic campaign nationwide, and there was considerable attention paid to McKinley's race. The Republican Party sent its leading orators to Canton, including Blaine (then Secretary of State), Speaker Reed, and President Harrison. 