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1916 United States presidential election in Wisconsin

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Nominee Charles Evans Hughes Woodrow Wilson Allan L. Benson Party Republican Democratic Socialist Home state New York New Jersey New York Running mate Charles W. Fairbanks Thomas R. Marshall George Ross Kirkpatrick Electoral vote 13 0 Popular vote 221,323 193,042 27,846 Percentage 49.25% 42.96% 6.20%

County Results Hughes   40-50%   50-60%   60-70% Wilson   40-50%   50-60%   60-70%

President before election Woodrow Wilson Democratic Elected President Woodrow Wilson Democratic

Elections in Wisconsin
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v t e

The 1916 United States presidential election in Wisconsin was held on November 7, 1916 as part of the 1916 United States presidential election. State voters chose 13 electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Ever since the decline of the Populist movement, Wisconsin had become almost a one-party state dominated by the Republican Party. The Democratic Party became entirely uncompetitive outside certain German Catholic counties adjoining Lake Michigan as the upper classes, along with the majority of workers who followed them, completely fled from William Jennings Bryan's agrarian and free silver sympathies. As Democratic strength weakened severely after 1894 – although the state did develop a strong Socialist Party to provide opposition to the GOP – Wisconsin developed the direct Republican primary in 1903 and this ultimately created competition between the "League" under Robert M. La Follette, and the conservative "Regular" faction.

At the turn of the decade, the Democratic Party underwent a brief revival, as it made significant gains upon its small share of state legislative seats and many people in the state saw in New Jersey Governor Woodrow Wilson the possibility of the party returning to the ideals it was felt to have deserted with Bryan fifteen years beforehand. Wilson would carry Wisconsin in 1912 and in fact improve upon Bryan's share of the vote from 1908.

During his term, however, Wisconsin's heavily German-American population turned against Wilson, with the result that in 1914 the Democrats lost ground in the state legislature, and with the outbreak of war in Europe this opposition increased, because the concurrent Irish rebellion was believed to lie in the interests of the Central Powers, and Wilson was viewed as strongly pro-British. The position of President Wilson as strongly pro-British was intensified when he failed to accept clemency for Roger Casement.

Republican nominee Charles Evans Hughes campaigned in the state during September, but President Wilson did not campaign in the state, although it was viewed as doubtful in September despite strong feelings that German-American opposition would eliminate Wilson's chance. Near the end of October, a Tennessean polls suggested that Wilson would carry the state due to his anti-war sentiment, but the Los Angeles Times said Hughes would carry the state by a "moderate margin" despite a straw poll in favour of Wilson. The Oshkosh Northwestern on October 26 viewed the state as "doubtful", but said their polls indicated Hughes would win by around fifteen thousand votes.

Results

Results by county

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Ashland
• Calumet
• Chippewa
• Columbia
• Crawford
• Dodge
• Fond du Lac
• Forest
• Grant
• Green
• Green Lake
• Iowa
• Jefferson
• Kenosha
• Lafayette
• Lincoln
• Marathon
• Marquette
• Monroe
• Outagamie
• Ozaukee
• Sauk
• Shawano
• Sheboygan
• St. Croix
• Taylor
• Vilas
• Walworth
• Washington
• Winnebago
• Wood

Counties that flipped from Progressive to Republican

• Bayfield
• Burnett
• Douglas
• Pierce
• Polk
• Washburn

Analysis

As things turned out, Wisconsin would be comfortably, if not overwhelmingly, carried by Republican nominee Hughes, who won the state by 6.29 percentage points. Signs of the collapse of German Catholic Democratic loyalties were seen in Hughes carrying Ozaukee County, which no Republican had ever won before and was Wisconsin's only county to resist major Republican landslides by backing both William Jennings Bryan in 1896 and 1900 and Alton Brooks Parker in 1904. This German Catholic Democratic collapse – broken abruptly by a powerful vote for coreligionist Al Smith in 1928 and for Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932 – would be a major feature of interwar Wisconsin presidential politics.

By backing Wilson, Portage County voted for the statewide loser for the first time ever; the county's bellwether streak had extended all the way back to Wisconsin's statehood in 1848. Simultaneously, this election began several very long bellwether streaks in other counties: Adams County and Jackson County would back the statewide winner in every election until 2020; Washburn County in every election until 2000; Burnett County in every election until 1980; and Eau Claire County in every election until 1968.

See also

• United States presidential elections in Wisconsin

Notes

1. The 1917 Blue Book gives the totals as Hughes 220,822; Wilson 191,363; Benson 27,631; Hanly 7,318; and no Scattering. Based on the Board of Canvassers report, these numbers are simply incorrect. No elector on any ticket received those numbers of votes. Indeed, the Blue Book is an unreliable source for Wisconsin election data from about 1890 to 1920 and its figures frequently differ from the figures listed in the Board of Canvassers reports. The 1917 Blue Book also excludes the soldier vote for the presidential election (although it includes it for the state election). The soldier vote was recorded by county, separate from the regular home vote.
2. Based on totals for highest elector on each ticket
3. Based on highest elector on each ticket
4. Includes the separately reported soldier vote
5. Includes 25 Scattering votes
6. The 1917 Blue Book has a critical mistake in this county: it swaps the votes for Wilson and Hughes. However, the original report by the Board of Canvassers clearly shows the Democratic ticket receiving more votes than the Republican ticket. Thus, it was actually Wilson who won Racine County in 1916 and not Hughes.

References

1. Burnham, Walter Dean; 'The System of 1896: An Analysis'; in The Evolution of American Electoral Systems, pp. 178-179 ISBN 0-313-21379-8
2. Sundquist, James; Politics and Policy: The Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson Years, p. 526 ISBN 0-8157-1909-4
3. Hansen, John Mark; Shigeo Hirano, and Snyder, James M. Jr.; 'Parties within Parties: Parties, Factions, and Coordinated Politics, 1900-1980'; in Gerber, Alan S. and Schickler, Eric; Governing in a Polarized Age: Elections, Parties, and Political Representation in America, pp. 165-168 ISBN 978-1-107-09509-0
4. Crews, Kenneth D.; 'Woodrow Wilson, Wisconsin, and the Election of 1912'; Presidential Studies Quarterly, Vol. 12, No. 3: 'Presidents, Vice Presidents and Political Parties: Performance and Prospects' (Summer, 1982), pp. 369-376
5. ^ Leary, William M. (jr.); 'Woodrow Wilson, Irish Americans, and the Election of 1916'; The Journal of American History, Vol. 54, No. 1 (June 1967), pp. 57-72
6. 'The Barometer of Public Opinion'; The Watertown News (Watertown, Wisconsin), September 27, 1916, p. 4
7. 'Hughes or Wilson in Wisconsin?'; The La Crosse Tribunal, September 15, 1916, p. 3
8. 'Drift Continues Unmistakably to Wilson; Republicans Are Still Striving to Stem the Swelling Tide of Defeat'; The Tennessean, October 29, 1916, p. 11
9. Tribunes Poll'; Los Angeles Times, October 29, 1916, p. 4
10. 'Wisconsin Is Doubtful: One Summary of State'; Oshkosh Northwestern, October 26, 1916, p. 11
11. ^ Wisconsin Historical Society, Certificate of Board of Canvassers of the State of Wisconsin - Presidential Electors
12. ^ "Election Returns". The Chicago Daily News Almanac and Year-Book for 1917. The Chicago Daily News Company. 1916. p. 466.
13. ^ "Election Returns and State Governments". The World Almanac and Encyclopedia 1917. New York, New York: The Press Publishing Co. 1917. p. 819.
14. Menendez, Albert J. The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004, p. 48 ISBN 0-7864-2217-3

v t e State and district results of the 1916 United States presidential election
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• 1916 United States presidential election by state
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• United States presidential elections in Wisconsin