Hayes ran for governor of Ohio and won in 1867, defeating Democrat Allen G. Thurman. He ran on a platform of universal suffrage for men, including blacks. Hayes said during the campaign: “Honest colored men are preferable to white traitors.” As governor, he promoted education, prison reform, passage of the Fifteenth Amendment (guaranteeing the right to vote), and better treatment for the insane. He won reelection in 1869 over Democrat George Pendleton, but left office in 1872. He did not want to run for a third consecutive term, believing that a two-term limit was appropriate.