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1912 United States presidential election in Michigan

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1912 United States presidential election in Michigan

← 1908 November 5, 1912 1916 →

All 15 Michigan votes to the Electoral College
 
Nominee Theodore Roosevelt William Howard Taft Woodrow Wilson
Party Progressive Republican Democratic
Home state New York Ohio New Jersey
Running mate Hiram Johnson Nicholas Murray Butler Thomas R. Marshall
Electoral vote 15 0 0
Popular vote 214,584 152,244 150,751
Percentage 38.95% 27.63% 27.36%

County Results

President before election

William Howard Taft
Republican

Elected President

Woodrow Wilson
Democratic

The 1912 United States presidential election in Michigan took place on November 5, 1912, as part of the 1912 United States presidential election. Voters chose 15 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Following the Panic of 1893 and the Populist movement, Michigan would turn from a competitive Republican-leaning state into a rigidly one-party polity dominated by the Republican Party.[1] The dominance of the culture of the Lower Peninsula by anti-slavery Yankees[2] would be augmented by the turn of formerly Democratic-leaning German Catholics away from that party as a result of the remodelled party’s agrarian and free silver sympathies, which became rigidly opposed by both the upper class and workers who followed them.[3] The state Democratic Party was further crippled via the Populist movement severing its critical financial ties with business and commerce in Michigan as in other Northern states.[4] A brief turn of the strongly evangelical Cabinet Counties toward the Populist movement in the 1896 presidential election would reverse itself following the return to prosperity under President William McKinley, so that these joined in Republican hegemony until the Great Depression.

In the 1894 elections, the Democratic Party lost all but one seat in the Michigan legislature,[5] and the party would only make minor gains there for the next third of a century. Unlike the other states of the Upper Midwest, the Yankee influence on the culture of the Lower Peninsula was so strong that left-wing third parties did not provide significant opposition to the Republicans, nor was there more than a moderate degree of coordinated factionalism within the hegemonic Michigan Republican Party.[6]

The state was not seriously affected by the split within the nationally dominant Republican Party during the Taft presidency. Only two of its ten Republican Congressmen were amongst the “Insurgents” who aligned with a revived Democratic Party.[7] However, during 1911 state Governor Chase Osborn became one of the first politicians to work for a return of Theodore Roosevelt to the White House,[8] and would soon call for both incumbent President Taft and rival progressive Robert M. La Follette to withdraw for Roosevelt to gain the nomination outright.[8] Roosevelt would also soon gain the support of state party leader Frank Knox,[9] although Taft supporters would dominate the state at actual party conventions.[10] The state’s few Democratic delegates backed eventual nominee, Princeton University President Woodrow Wilson of Virginia.[11]

Former president Theodore Roosevelt and his Progressive Party campaigned extensively in the state during October[12] but early polls had Wilson making a close race even in this most Republican of states. Indeed, during October the state was viewed as close between Roosevelt and Wilson,[13] or even seeing Wilson ahead.[14] However, Michigan was actually comfortably won by Roosevelt and running mate governor of California Hiram Johnson, with 38.95 percent of the popular vote, against the incumbent president William Howard Taft (ROhio), and running mate Columbia University President Nicholas Murray Butler, with 27.63 percent of the popular vote. Wilson and running mate governor of Indiana Thomas R. Marshall finished third with 27.36 percent.[15]

Results

[edit]
1912 United States presidential election in Michigan[15]
Party Candidate Votes %
Progressive Theodore Roosevelt 214,584 38.95%
Republican William Howard Taft (incumbent) 152,244 27.63%
Democratic Woodrow Wilson 150,751 27.36%
Socialist Eugene V. Debs 23,211 4.21%
Prohibition Eugene Chafin 8,934 1.62%
Socialist Labor Arthur Reimer 1,252 0.23%
Total votes 550,976 100%

Results by county

[edit]
1912 United States presidential election in Michigan by county
County William Howard Taft
Republican
Thomas Woodrow Wilson
Democratic
Theodore Roosevelt
Progressive "Bull Moose"
Eugene Victor Debs
Socialist
Eugene Wilder Chafin
Prohibition
Arthur Elmer Reimer
Socialist Labor
Margin[a] Total votes cast[16]
# % # % # % # % # % # % # %
Alcona 291 29.45% 145 14.68% 461 46.66% 81 8.20% 9 0.91% 1 0.10% -170 -17.21% 988
Alger 290 26.56% 263 24.08% 469 42.95% 53 4.85% 17 1.56% 0 0.00% -179 -16.39% 1,092
Allegan 2,121 27.92% 1,925 25.34% 3,103 40.85% 291 3.83% 130 1.71% 26 0.34% -982 -12.93% 7,596
Alpena 709 19.99% 1,105 31.15% 1,642 46.29% 64 1.80% 23 0.65% 4 0.11% -537 -15.14% 3,547
Antrim 603 24.22% 450 18.07% 1,221 49.04% 180 7.23% 36 1.45% 0 0.00% -618 -24.82% 2,490
Arenac 421 21.17% 452 22.72% 955 48.01% 115 5.78% 43 2.16% 3 0.15% -503[b] -25.29% 1,989
Baraga 295 25.97% 280 24.65% 507 44.63% 37 3.26% 17 1.50% 0 0.00% -212 -18.66% 1,136
Barry 1,585 28.84% 1,800 32.75% 1,880 34.21% 105 1.91% 121 2.20% 5 0.09% -80[b] -1.46% 5,496
Bay 2,625 23.43% 2,990 26.68% 4,748 42.37% 521 4.65% 238 2.12% 83 0.74% -1,758[b] -15.69% 11,205
Benzie 568 29.69% 326 17.04% 645 33.72% 264 13.80% 102 5.33% 8 0.42% -77 -4.03% 1,913
Berrien 2,752 23.06% 4,225 35.40% 4,341 36.37% 442 3.70% 175 1.47% 0 0.00% -116[b] -0.97% 11,935
Branch 1,865 30.11% 2,185 35.28% 1,840 29.71% 170 2.75% 125 2.02% 8 0.13% 320[b] 5.17% 6,193
Calhoun 3,447 26.42% 3,781 28.98% 4,450 34.11% 979 7.50% 223 1.71% 165 1.26% -669[b] -5.13% 13,045
Cass 1,462 27.14% 2,076 38.54% 1,433 26.60% 343 6.37% 73 1.36% 0 0.00% -614[c] -11.40% 5,387
Charlevoix 1,296 36.82% 566 16.08% 1,201 34.12% 407 11.56% 44 1.25% 6 0.17% 95 2.70% 3,520
Cheboygan 896 27.69% 981 30.32% 1,167 36.06% 146 4.51% 31 0.96% 15 0.46% -186[b] -5.75% 3,236
Chippewa 889 23.31% 879 23.05% 1,599 41.92% 192 5.03% 248 6.50% 7 0.18% -710 -18.62% 3,814
Clare 563 30.99% 435 23.94% 658 36.21% 125 6.88% 29 1.60% 7 0.39% -95 -5.23% 1,827
Clinton 1,723 31.97% 1,723 31.97% 1,812 33.62% 41 0.76% 87 1.61% 3 0.06% -89[d] -1.65% 5,389
Crawford 257 34.97% 185 25.17% 249 33.88% 35 4.76% 8 1.09% 1 0.14% 8 1.09% 735
Delta 1,111 25.38% 1,066 24.35% 1,913 43.70% 244 5.57% 44 1.01% 0 0.00% -802 -18.32% 4,378
Dickinson 1,371 40.90% 361 10.77% 1,337 39.89% 233 6.95% 43 1.28% 7 0.21% 34 1.01% 3,352
Eaton 2,333 32.02% 2,482 34.06% 2,217 30.42% 125 1.72% 111 1.52% 19 0.26% 149[c] 2.04% 7,287
Emmet 830 25.00% 920 27.71% 1,100 33.13% 417 12.56% 53 1.60% 0 0.00% -180[b] -5.42% 3,320
Genesee 3,426 25.73% 3,005 22.57% 5,934 44.57% 659 4.95% 255 1.92% 34 0.26% -2,508 -18.84% 13,313
Gladwin 638 39.07% 331 20.27% 549 33.62% 85 5.21% 25 1.53% 5 0.31% 89 5.45% 1,633
Gogebic 818 26.92% 572 18.82% 1,360 44.75% 124 4.08% 146 4.80% 19 0.63% -542 -17.83% 3,039
Grand Traverse 899 23.25% 937 24.23% 1,676 43.34% 283 7.32% 53 1.37% 19 0.49% -739[b] -19.11% 3,867
Gratiot 1,809 30.64% 1,835 31.08% 2,130 36.07% 45 0.76% 83 1.41% 3 0.05% -295[b] -5.00% 5,905
Hillsdale 1,437 20.68% 2,229 32.08% 3,047 43.85% 59 0.85% 171 2.46% 6 0.09% -818[b] -11.77% 6,949
Houghton 3,571 29.18% 2,385 19.49% 5,460 44.62% 443 3.62% 369 3.02% 10 0.08% -1,889 -15.44% 12,238
Huron 1,813 28.61% 1,236 19.50% 3,165 49.94% 68 1.07% 53 0.84% 2 0.03% -1,352 -21.34% 6,337
Ingham 3,515 26.71% 3,915 29.75% 4,780 36.32% 574 4.36% 324 2.46% 51 0.39% -865[b] -6.57% 13,159
Ionia 2,049 26.50% 2,757 35.66% 2,579 33.35% 170 2.20% 165 2.13% 12 0.16% 178[b] 2.30% 7,732
Iosco 521 28.90% 418 23.18% 808 44.81% 30 1.66% 24 1.33% 2 0.11% -287 -15.92% 1,803
Iron 1,031 45.24% 218 9.57% 871 38.22% 108 4.74% 24 1.05% 27 1.18% 160 7.02% 2,279
Isabella 1,417 29.71% 1,389 29.13% 1,754 36.78% 141 2.96% 64 1.34% 4 0.08% -337 -7.07% 4,769
Jackson 2,456 18.68% 4,283 32.58% 5,801 44.13% 375 2.85% 198 1.51% 32 0.24% -1,518[b] -11.55% 13,145
Kalamazoo 2,642 21.47% 3,660 29.74% 4,125 33.51% 1,438 11.68% 403 3.27% 40 0.32% -465[b] -3.78% 12,308
Kalkaska 488 32.28% 293 21.11% 473 34.08% 126 9.08% 44 3.17% 4 0.29% -25 -1.80% 1,428
Kent 6,498 20.35% 9,412 29.48% 13,610 42.63% 1,899 5.95% 447 1.40% 60 0.19% -4,198[b] -13.15% 31,926
Keweenaw 495 44.80% 59 5.34% 500 45.25% 33 2.99% 17 1.54% 1 0.09% -5 -0.45% 1,105
Lake 227 24.02% 186 19.68% 478 50.58% 45 4.76% 9 0.95% 0 0.00% -251 -26.56% 945
Lapeer 1,728 32.09% 1,200 22.28% 2,311 42.92% 39 0.72% 103 1.91% 4 0.07% -583 -10.83% 5,385
Leelanau 621 35.42% 344 19.62% 678 38.68% 84 4.79% 21 1.20% 5 0.29% -57 -3.25% 1,753
Lenawee 2,996 27.02% 4,239 38.23% 3,497 31.54% 139 1.25% 218 1.97% 0 0.00% 742[b] 6.69% 11,089
Livingston 1,408 28.49% 1,960 39.66% 1,455 29.44% 14 0.28% 104 2.10% 1 0.02% 505[b] 10.22% 4,942
Luce 234 37.38% 102 16.29% 271 43.29% 11 1.76% 8 1.28% 0 0.00% -37 -5.91% 626
Mackinac 612 34.63% 730 41.31% 395 22.35% 0 0.00% 28 1.58% 2 0.11% -118[c] -6.68% 1,767
Macomb 2,508 34.45% 2,829 38.85% 1,800 24.72% 28 0.38% 110 1.51% 6 0.08% -321[c] -4.41% 7,281
Manistee 1,240 26.27% 1,790 37.92% 1,312 27.79% 289 6.12% 76 1.61% 14 0.30% 478[b] 10.12% 4,721
Marquette 2,603 33.28% 997 12.75% 3,607 46.11% 490 6.26% 103 1.32% 22 0.28% -1,004 -12.84% 7,822
Mason 844 21.51% 1,073 27.34% 1,726 43.99% 174 4.43% 104 2.65% 3 0.08% -653[b] -16.64% 3,924
Mecosta 1,059 26.84% 958 24.28% 1,637 41.50% 201 5.10% 85 2.15% 5 0.13% -578 -14.65% 3,945
Menominee 1,191 26.94% 1,195 27.03% 1,810 40.94% 191 4.32% 30 0.68% 4 0.09% -615[b] -13.91% 4,421
Midland 902 29.09% 671 21.64% 1,440 46.44% 44 1.42% 43 1.39% 1 0.03% -538 -17.35% 3,101
Missaukee 671 32.88% 347 17.00% 899 44.05% 83 4.07% 33 1.62% 8 0.39% -228 -11.17% 2,041
Monroe 2,253 30.88% 2,995 41.04% 1,881 25.78% 69 0.95% 89 1.22% 10 0.14% -742[c] -10.17% 7,297
Montcalm 1,874 28.80% 1,373 21.10% 2,843 43.68% 288 4.43% 112 1.72% 18 0.28% -969 -14.89% 6,508
Montmorency 325 43.62% 163 21.88% 238 31.95% 16 2.15% 3 0.40% 0 0.00% 87 11.68% 745
Muskegon 1,523 18.47% 1,678 20.35% 4,314 52.32% 633 7.68% 70 0.85% 28 0.34% -2,636[b] -31.97% 8,246
Newaygo 964 24.59% 776 19.80% 1,850 47.19% 247 6.30% 74 1.89% 9 0.23% -886 -22.60% 3,920
Oakland 4,083 35.46% 3,668 31.86% 3,296 28.63% 213 1.85% 249 2.16% 4 0.03% 415[c] 3.60% 11,513
Oceana 857 23.00% 796 21.36% 1,827 49.03% 119 3.19% 116 3.11% 11 0.30% -970 -26.03% 3,726
Ogemaw 541 31.64% 319 18.65% 724 42.34% 77 4.50% 43 2.51% 6 0.35% -183 -10.70% 1,710
Ontonagon 719 41.13% 359 20.54% 513 29.35% 137 7.84% 20 1.14% 0 0.00% 206 11.78% 1,748
Osceola 1,306 37.03% 609 17.27% 1,408 39.92% 104 2.95% 94 2.67% 6 0.17% -102 -2.89% 3,527
Oscoda 110 32.45% 66 19.47% 158 46.61% 3 0.88% 1 0.29% 1 0.29% -48 -14.16% 339
Otsego 448 42.79% 194 18.53% 378 36.10% 12 1.15% 15 1.43% 0 0.00% 70 6.69% 1,047
Ottawa 1,825 20.87% 2,036 23.28% 4,411 50.43% 333 3.81% 125 1.43% 16 0.18% -2,375[b] -27.16% 8,746
Presque Isle 729 37.42% 259 13.30% 890 45.69% 59 3.03% 10 0.51% 1 0.05% -161 -8.26% 1,948
Roscommon 134 22.60% 150 25.30% 273 46.04% 30 5.06% 5 0.84% 1 0.17% -123[b] -20.74% 593
Saginaw 5,032 27.94% 5,845 32.46% 5,664 31.45% 1,291 7.17% 175 0.97% 0 0.00% 181[b] 1.01% 18,007
Sanilac 2,166 32.19% 1,161 17.26% 3,215 47.79% 69 1.03% 113 1.68% 4 0.06% -1,049 -15.59% 6,728
Schoolcraft 595 37.95% 337 21.49% 570 36.35% 49 3.13% 14 0.89% 3 0.19% 25 1.59% 1,568
Shiawassee 2,309 30.05% 1,957 25.47% 2,892 37.64% 249 3.24% 263 3.42% 13 0.17% -583 -7.59% 7,683
St. Clair 2,958 27.48% 3,008 27.95% 4,423 41.09% 241 2.24% 113 1.05% 21 0.20% -1,415[b] -13.15% 10,764
St. Joseph 1,224 19.03% 2,388 37.13% 2,395 37.24% 325 5.05% 90 1.40% 10 0.16% -7[b] -0.11% 6,432
Tuscola 2,559 34.65% 1,255 16.99% 3,353 45.40% 59 0.80% 148 2.00% 11 0.15% -794 -10.75% 7,385
Van Buren 2,101 29.01% 1,994 27.53% 2,809 38.79% 250 3.45% 88 1.22% 0 0.00% -708 -9.78% 7,242
Washtenaw 2,495 23.64% 4,164 39.45% 3,642 34.50% 118 1.12% 121 1.15% 16 0.15% 522[b] 4.95% 10,556
Wayne 26,599 30.08% 22,678 25.65% 34,680 39.22% 3,657 4.14% 547 0.62% 260 0.29% -8,081 -9.14% 88,421
Wexford 1,075 26.52% 817 20.15% 1,710 42.18% 310 7.65% 126 3.11% 16 0.39% -635 -15.66% 4,054
Totals 152,244 27.63% 150,751 27.36% 214,584 38.95% 23,211 4.21% 8,934 1.62% 1,252 0.23% -62,340 -11.31% 550,976

Analysis

[edit]

Michigan was one of only two states where Democratic candidate Woodrow Wilson came in third behind former president of the United States Theodore Roosevelt and the current president of the United States William Howard Taft — the only other such state being Vermont where Wilson finished a much more distant third. Since 1912 there has been only one occasion (Bill Clinton in Utah in 1992) where a winning presidential candidate finished third in any non-Confederate state.

As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last election in which Ottawa County, Sanilac County, and Missaukee County did not support the Republican candidate.[17][18] This was the first time since 1852 that Michigan voted for a non-Republican presidential candidate, and the only time Michigan ever voted for a third-party presidential candidate.

With 38.95 percent of the popular vote, Michigan would prove to be Roosevelt's third-strongest state in terms of popular vote percentage in the 1912 election after South Dakota (where Taft was not on the ballot) and California (where Taft was a write-in candidate).[19]

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Because Roosevelt finished first in Michigan as a whole, and Taft was second and the first-finished major party nominee, margin given is Taft vote minus Roosevelt vote and percentage margin Taft percentage minus Roosevelt percentage unless noted otherwise for the county in question.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab In this county where Wilson finished second ahead of Taft, margin given is Wilson vote minus Roosevelt vote and percentage margin Wilson percentage minus Roosevelt percentage.
  3. ^ a b c d e f In this county where both Wilson and Taft finished ahead of state winner Roosevelt, margin given is Taft vote minus Wilson vote and percentage margin Taft percentage minus Wilson percentage.
  4. ^ In this county Wilson and Taft tied for second position, margin given is as usual Taft vote minus Roosevelt vote.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Burnham, Walter Dean (December 23, 1981). "The System of 1896: An Analysis". The Evolution of American Electoral Systems. Bloomsbury Academic. pp. 178–179. ISBN 0313213798.
  2. ^ English, Gustavus P.; Proceedings of the Ninth Republican National Convention (1888), p. 234
  3. ^ Sundquist, James (December 2010). Politics and Policy: The Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson Years. Brookings Institution Press. p. 526. ISBN 978-0815719090.
  4. ^ Rogowski, Ronald (2020). Commerce and Coalitions: How Trade Affects Domestic Political Alignments. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0691219431.
  5. ^ "Swamped! The Democrats Drowned Out by a Tremendous Republican Tidal Wave". The L'Anse Sentinel. L'Anse. November 10, 1894. p. 1.
  6. ^ Hansen, John Mark; Shigeo, Hirano; Snyder Jr., James M. (February 27, 2017). "Parties within Parties: Parties, Factions, and Coordinated Politics, 1900-1980". In Gerber, Alan S.; Schickler, Eric (eds.). Governing in a Polarized Age: Elections, Parties, and Political Representation in America. Cambridge University Press. pp. 165–168. ISBN 978-1-107-09509-0.
  7. ^ Baker, John D. (December 1973). "The Character of the Congressional Revolution of 1910". The Journal of American History. 60 (3): 679–691. doi:10.2307/1917684. JSTOR 1917684.
  8. ^ a b Pavord, Andrew C. (Summer 1996). "The Gamble for Power: Theodore Roosevelt's Decision to Run for the Presidency in 1912". Presidential Studies Quarterly. 26 (3): 633–647.
  9. ^ Mark, Steven Macdonald (1977). An American Interventionist: Frank Knox and United States Foreign Relations (Thesis). pp. 32–55.
  10. ^ Chace, James (2009). 1912: Wilson, Roosevelt, Taft and Debs — The Election that Changed the Country. Simon and Schuster. pp. 109, 112. ISBN 978-1439188262.
  11. ^ Chace; 1912: Wilson, Roosevelt, Taft and Debs, p. 156
  12. ^ Chace; 1912: Wilson, Roosevelt, Taft and Debs, p. 229
  13. ^ "Wilson Leading in Nearly every State: Polls by New York Herald Indicate Victory for Democrats — Illinois and Michigan Are Exceptions". Wichita Falls Times. Wichita Falls, Texas. October 9, 1912.
  14. ^ "Comment and Gossip". Fremont Herald. Fremont, Nebraska. September 27, 1912. p. 3.
  15. ^ a b "1912 Presidential Election Results — Michigan".
  16. ^ Michigan Department of State – Bureau of Elections; Michigan Manual (1913), pp. 672–673 (counties), 739 (total)
  17. ^ Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004, pp. 222-227 ISBN 0786422173
  18. ^ Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
  19. ^ "1912 Presidential Election Statistics". Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved March 5, 2018.