1836 United States presidential election in Michigan

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1836 United States presidential election in Michigan

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Nominee Martin Van Buren William Henry Harrison Party Democratic Whig Home state New York Ohio Running mate Richard M. Johnson Francis Granger Electoral vote 3 0 Popular vote 7,122 5,545 Percentage 56.22% 43.78%

County Results Van Buren   50–60%   60–70%   80–90%   90–100% Harrison   50–60%   90–100%

President before election Andrew Jackson Democratic Elected President Martin Van Buren Democratic

A presidential election was held in Michigan on November 7 and 8, 1836 as part of the 1836 United States presidential election. ^[1] Voters chose three representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for President and Vice President.

Michigan voted for the Democratic candidate, Martin Van Buren, over Whig candidate William Henry Harrison in the state's first presidential election. Van Buren won the state by a margin of 12.44%.

A dispute similar to that of Indiana in 1817 and Missouri in 1821 arose during the counting of the electoral votes. Michigan only became a state on January 26, 1837, and had cast its electoral votes for president before that date. Anticipating a challenge to the results, Congress resolved on February 4, 1837, that during the counting four days later the final tally would be read twice, once with Michigan and once without Michigan. The counting proceeded in accordance with the resolution. The dispute had no bearing on the final result: either way Van Buren was elected, and either way no candidate had a majority for vice-president. ^[2]

Results

1836 United States presidential election in Michigan ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Martin Van Buren	7,122	56.22%
	Whig	William Henry Harrison	5,545	43.78%
Total votes			12,667	100%

Results by county

Results provided by United States Presidential Elections, 1788-1860: The Official Results by County and State. ^[4]

Note: Counties listed may not match modern-day county names or borders. Names, vote numbers and percentages taken from above reference.

County	Martin Van Buren (D)		William Henry Harrison (W)
	Percentage	Votes	Percentage	Votes
Allegan	100%	92	0%	0
Berrien	99.8%	409	0.2%	1
Branch	100%	65	0%	0
Calhoun	100%	401	0%	0
Cass	100%	164	0%	0
Chippewa	100%	37	0%	0
Clinton	no returns*
Genesee	42.1%	90	57.9%	124
Hillsdale	96.3%	180	3.7%	7
Iona	no returns*
Jackson & Ingham	50.1%	355	49.9%	353
Kalamazoo	100%	213	0%	0
Kent	100%	55	0%	0
Lapeer	69.4%	129	30.6%	57
Lenawee	68.7%	567	31.3%	260
Livingston	66%	142	34%	73
Macomb	90%	397	10%	44
Michilimackinac	no returns*
Monroe	0.2%	2	99.8%	1,143
Oakland	43.7%	820	56.3%	1,057
Ottawa	no returns*
St. Clair*	98.9%	93	1.1%	1
St. Joseph	100%	42	0%	0
Saginaw	100%	65	0%	0
Van Buren*	100%	64	0%	0
Washtenaw	61.3%	1,633	38.7%	1,032
Wayne	87.4%	1,576	12.6%	27
Totals	64%	7,434*	36%	4,177*

Note: "*" after any "No Returns" indicates that the source book did not contain any return numbers from that year/county results. A "*" after the Totals Number indicates that that is the actual number. The number listed in the Albany Argus was as follows: Van Buren (D): 7,534, Harrison (W): 4,085. A "*" after any county (St. Clair, Van Buren) means that this county came after the "Totals" section in the source.

See also

• United States presidential elections in Michigan

References

1. "Election Notice". Constantine Republican. October 26, 1836.
2. United States Congress (1837). Senate Journal. 24th Congress, 2nd Session, February 4. pp. 203–204. Retrieved August 20, 2006.
3. "1836 Presidential General Election Results - Michigan". U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
4. Michael J. Dubin (2011). United States Presidential Elections, 1788-1860: The Official Results by County and State. pp. 65–66. Retrieved June 11, 2023.