1896 United States presidential election in Idaho

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1896 United States presidential election in Idaho
Flag of Idaho.svg
  1892 November 3, 1896 1900  
  William Jennings Bryan 2 (cropped).jpg William McKinley by Courtney Art Studio, 1896 (cropped).jpg
Nominee William Jennings Bryan William McKinley
Party Democratic Republican
Alliance Populist -
Home state Nebraska Ohio
Running mate Arthur Sewall Garret Hobart
Electoral vote30
Popular vote23,1356,314
Percentage78.10%21.32%

Idaho Presidential Election Results 1896.svg
County Results
Bryan
  60-70%
  70-80%
  80-90%
  90-100%

The 1896 United States presidential election in Idaho took place on November 3, 1896. All contemporary 45 states were part of the 1896 United States presidential election. State voters chose three electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president.

Contents

Idaho, upon its organization as a territory was overwhelmingly Democratic, [1] but had been increasingly dominated by the Republican Party in the years leading up to statehood, as ex-Southern and Mormon mining settlers were increasingly outweighed by those from the Midwest. [2] The state Democratic Party would regroup and its pro-silver, anti-Mormon faction under Marshal Fred T. Dubois would bring the state into the Union in the late 1880s. [1]

Upon statehood, Idaho was shaken by a wave of strikes in the silver-mining regions [3] and even deeper conflict whereby an idled ore concentrator was destroyed in Gem. [4] This, alongside opposition to Republican Governor Norman Bushnell Willey’s declaration of martial law upon the miners, and against the absentee ownership of Idaho's land and water, [5] would turn the state's electorate strongly towards the Populist leader James B. Weaver, who carried the state in 1892 in an election where Gold Democrat and former President Grover Cleveland was not even on the ballot.

As the 1896 election approached, it was clear that silver politics would be the determining factor in Idaho's vote, [6] and that the state would not vote for any candidate opposing free silver. Senator Fred T. Dubois, who had been a critical player in giving Idaho statehood, [1] confirmed this in June. When William Jennings Bryan gained the Democratic nomination on a platform favoring the coinage of silver at 16:1 relative to gold, the Populist Party supported him throughout the country. [7]

Idaho was won by the Democratic/Populist nominees, William Jennings Bryan of Nebraska and his running mate Arthur Sewall of Maine. bryan won the state by a landslide margin of 56.78%. He also won every county, and only in three of twenty-one did McKinley crack a quarter of the vote. Despite half a century of overwhelming Republican dominance, no presidential nominee of either party has ever equaled Bryan's performance in the state. Bryan would later defeat McKinley again in Idaho four years later but would later lose the state to William Howard Taft in 1908. This is one of two elections where the Republican candidate won without the state, the other being in 1900.

Results

1896 United States presidential election in Idaho [8]
PartyCandidateVotesPercentageElectoral votes
Democratic William Jennings Bryan 23,13578.10%3
Republican William McKinley 6,31421.32%0
Prohibition Joshua Levering 1720.58%0
Totals29,621100.00%3
Voter turnout

Results by county

CountyWilliam Jennings Bryan
Democratic
William McKinley
Republican
Joshua Levering
Prohibition
MarginTotal votes cast [9]
# %# %# %# %
Ada 1,53163.55%85135.33%271.12%68028.23%2,409
Bannock 1,36385.29%22814.27%70.44%1,13571.03%1,598
Bear Lake 85177.29%24922.62%10.09%60254.68%1,101
Bingham 1,23285.56%19413.47%140.97%1,03872.08%1,440
Blaine 1,22895.19%594.57%30.23%1,16990.62%1,290
Boise 86278.87%22620.68%50.46%63658.19%1,093
Canyon 1,17878.38%30320.16%221.46%87558.22%1,503
Cassia 57981.43%12918.14%30.42%45063.29%711
Custer 59995.08%294.60%20.32%57090.48%630
Elmore 53581.06%12418.79%10.15%41162.27%660
Fremont 1,52692.21%1217.31%80.48%1,40584.89%1,655
Idaho 1,12774.59%37724.95%70.46%75049.64%1,511
Kootenai 1,43280.49%33418.77%130.73%1,09861.72%1,779
Latah 1,87064.00%1,03635.46%160.55%83428.54%2,922
Lemhi 1,06583.92%20215.92%20.16%86368.01%1,269
Lincoln 30580.26%7419.47%10.26%23160.79%380
Nez Perce 1,08960.97%67537.79%221.23%41423.18%1,786
Oneida 1,09277.23%31522.28%70.50%77754.95%1,414
Owyhee 1,14092.16%977.84%00.00%1,04384.32%1,237
Shoshone 1,76077.84%49721.98%40.18%1,26355.86%2,261
Washington 82879.62%20419.62%80.77%62460.00%1,040
Totals23,19278.12%6,32421.30%1730.58%16,86856.82%29,689

See also

Notes

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    References

    1. 1 2 3 Owens, Kenneth N.; ‘Pattern and Structure in Western Territorial Politics’; Western Historical Quarterly, Vol. 1, No. 4 (October 1970), pp. 373-392
    2. Weatherby, James B. and Stapilus, Randy; Governing Idaho: Politics, People and Power, pp. 35-36 ISBN   0870045210
    3. Kennedy, David M. and Cohen, Lizabeth; American Pageant, Volume 2, p. 506 ISBN   1305537416
    4. Schwantes, Carlos A.; The Pacific Northwest: An Interpretive History, p. 343
    5. Larson, Robert W.; ‘Populism in the Mountain West: A Mainstream Movement’; Western Historical Quarterly, vol. 13, no. 2 (April 1982), pp. 143-164
    6. Johnson, Claudius O.; ‘The Story of Silver Politics in Idaho, 1892-1902’; The Pacific Northwest Quarterly, vol. 33, no. 3 (July 1942), pp. 283-296
    7. Case, Matthew H. and Sprague, Alan F. (1982); Northwest Frontier, p. 257
    8. Dave Leip's U.S. Election Atlas; 1896 Presidential General Election Results – Idaho
    9. Robinson, Edgar Eugene; The Presidential Vote 1896-1932, pp. 174-177 ISBN   9780804716963