1912 United States presidential election in Arizona

Main article: 1912 United States presidential election

1912 United States presidential election in Arizona

November 5, 1912

Nominee Woodrow Wilson Theodore Roosevelt Party Democratic Progressive Home state New Jersey New York Running mate Thomas R. Marshall Hiram Johnson Electoral vote 3 0 Popular vote 10,324 6,949 Percentage 43.52% 29.29%   Nominee Eugene V. Debs William Howard Taft Party Socialist Republican Home state Indiana Ohio Running mate Emil Seidel Nicholas M. Butler Electoral vote 0 0 Popular vote 3,163 3,021 Percentage 13.33% 12.74%

County Results Wilson   30–40%   40–50%   50–60%

President before election William Howard Taft Republican Elected President Woodrow Wilson Democratic

The 1912 United States presidential election in Arizona took place on November 5, 1912, as part of the 1912 United States presidential election. State voters chose three representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president. In Arizona, voters voted for electors individually instead of as a slate, as in the other states.

This was the first presidential election Arizona participated in, as it had been admitted as the 48th state on February 14 of the same year. The state was won by Democratic Governor of New Jersey Woodrow Wilson, running with Indiana Governor Thomas R. Marshall, with 43.52% of the popular vote. Wilson defeated three other major candidates including former progressive Republican President Theodore Roosevelt who ran under the Progressive Party challenging then current Republican conservative President William Howard Taft and earning nearly 29% of the total vote. Another third party candidate, Eugene V. Debs ran under the Socialist Party of America garnering a large left wing voting base of 13%. President Taft finished fourth place at under 13% of the popular vote, the lowest support for a Republican nominee in Arizona state history due to his low approval ratings and a severe split in the GOP causing Democrat Woodrow Wilson to win the state despite receiving only 43.52% in total.

In 1912, more than 87% of Arizonans voted for one of three economically left-leaning candidates (Wilson, Roosevelt, Debs). Only 13% of the state sided with the conservative incumbent President Taft, who moved further to the right during his one term presidency. Arizona also voted in large numbers for two major third party candidates; Theodore Roosevelt and Eugene Debs, both of whom won a combined 43% of the popular vote, nearly the same as Wilson's vote total. Roosevelt's 29.29% remains the best-ever third-party presidential performance in Arizona history.

Party division among Republican voters helped Wilson carry every single county in Arizona, winning all but three of them with less than a majority.

Arizona was one of only 14 states in which the combined total of Roosevelt and Taft would not have defeated Wilson. The others were the 11 former states of the Confederate States of America (Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, and Tennessee) as well as the border states of Kentucky and Oklahoma. This makes Arizona the sole non-southern or border state in which Wilson would have won over the combined Republican vote (though Arizonan territory was claimed by the Confederacy in the Civil War).

Beginning with this election, Arizona voted for every presidential election winner until 1960.

Results

1912 United States presidential election in Arizona

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Woodrow Wilson	10,324	43.52%
	Progressive	Theodore Roosevelt	6,949	29.29%
	Socialist	Eugene V. Debs	3,163	13.33%
	Republican	William Howard Taft (incumbent)	3,021	12.74%
	Prohibition	Eugene Wilder Chafin	265	1.12%
Total votes			23,722	100%

General election results

Party		Pledged to	Elector	Votes
	Democratic Party	Woodrow Wilson	Wiley E. Jones	10,324
	Democratic Party	Woodrow Wilson	V. T. Webb	10,174
	Democratic Party	Woodrow Wilson	John R. Hampton	10,130
	Progressive Party	Theodore Roosevelt	E. S. Clark	6,949
	Progressive Party	Theodore Roosevelt	John C. Greenway	6,879
	Progressive Party	Theodore Roosevelt	Dwight B. Heard	6,873
	Socialist Party of America	Eugene V. Debs	J. L. Brooks	3,163
	Socialist Party of America	Eugene V. Debs	E. B. Simanton	3,139
	Socialist Party of America	Eugene V. Debs	Paul E. White	3,132
	Republican Party	William Howard Taft	Hoval A. Smith	3,021
	Republican Party	William Howard Taft	Fred S. Breen	2,986
	Republican Party	William Howard Taft	Walter Talbot	2,975
	Prohibition Party	Eugene Wilder Chafin	Thomas F. Wilson	265
	Prohibition Party	Eugene Wilder Chafin	J. Stanley Howard	221
	Prohibition Party	Eugene Wilder Chafin	Roy E. Sibley	219
Total votes				23,722

Results by county

County	Thomas Woodrow Wilson Democratic		William Howard Taft Republican		Theodore Roosevelt Progressive/"Bull Moose"		Eugene Victor Debs Socialist		Eugene Wilder Chafin Prohibition		Total votes cast
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Apache	108	42.35%	56	21.96%	79	30.98%	10	3.92%	2	0.78%	255
Cochise	1,973	42.71%	403	8.72%	1,396	30.22%	819	17.73%	28	0.61%	4,619
Coconino	339	39.65%	237	27.72%	178	20.82%	96	11.23%	5	0.58%	855
Gila	779	38.09%	210	10.27%	542	26.50%	501	24.50%	13	0.64%	2,045
Graham	540	51.09%	103	9.74%	243	22.99%	164	15.52%	7	0.66%	1,057
Greenlee	652	55.54%	109	9.28%	287	24.45%	122	10.39%	4	0.34%	1,174
Maricopa	2,606	45.97%	642	11.32%	1,818	32.07%	472	8.33%	131	2.31%	5,669
Mohave	320	39.70%	69	8.56%	228	28.29%	184	22.83%	5	0.62%	806
Navajo	287	39.05%	168	22.86%	233	31.70%	40	5.44%	7	0.95%	735
Pima	693	38.41%	353	19.57%	615	34.09%	109	6.04%	34	1.88%	1,804
Pinal	352	43.73%	80	9.94%	311	38.63%	61	7.58%	1	0.12%	805
Santa Cruz	250	53.30%	56	11.94%	123	26.23%	38	8.10%	2	0.43%	469
Yavapai	1,001	42.38%	445	18.84%	537	22.73%	358	15.16%	21	0.89%	2,362
Yuma	424	39.74%	90	8.43%	359	33.65%	189	17.71%	5	0.47%	1,067
Totals	10,324	43.52%	3,021	12.74%	6,949	29.29%	3,163	13.33%	265	1.12%	23,722

See also

• United States presidential elections in Arizona