1848 United States presidential election in Wisconsin

Main article: 1848 United States presidential election

1848 United States presidential election in Wisconsin

November 7, 1848 1852  →

Nominee Lewis Cass Zachary Taylor Martin Van Buren Party Democratic Whig Free Soil Home state Michigan Louisiana New York Running mate William O. Butler Millard Fillmore Charles F. Adams Electoral vote 4 0 0 Popular vote 14,924 13,642 10,261 Percentage 38.41% 35.11% 26.41%

County Results Cass   30-40%   40-50%   50-60%   60-70% Taylor   30-40%   40-50%   50-60% Van Buren   30-40%   40-50%   50-60%

President before election James K. Polk Democratic Elected President Zachary Taylor Whig

The 1848 United States presidential election in Wisconsin was held on November 7, 1848, as part of the 1848 United States presidential election. It was the first presidential election held in Wisconsin since its admission to the Union on May 29, earlier the same year. Democratic candidate Lewis Cass won the state with 38% of the vote, carrying the state's 4 electoral votes.

With 26.41% of the popular vote, Wisconsin would prove to be Van Buren's third strongest state after Vermont and Massachusetts. ^[1]

The 1848 election began a trend in Wisconsin where the state would vote the same as neighboring Iowa, as the two states have voted in lockstep with each other on all but 6 occasions - 1892, 1924, 1940, 1976, 2004, and 2020. This was the last time until 1988 that Wisconsin would back a losing Democrat in a presidential election.

Participating in its first presidential election, Portage County would ultimately be carried by the statewide winner in every election until 1916. Meanwhile, Winnebago County would not vote for the statewide loser again until 1924.

Results

General Election Results ^[2]

Party		Pledged to	Elector	Votes
	Democratic Party	Lewis Cass	Francis Huebschman	14,924
	Democratic Party	Lewis Cass	William Dinwiddie	14,910
	Democratic Party	Lewis Cass	David F. Maples	14,886
	Democratic Party	Lewis Cass	Samuel P. Nichols	14,767
	Whig Party	Zachary Taylor	James Maxwell	13,642
	Whig Party	Zachary Taylor	Rufus King	13,642
	Whig Party	Zachary Taylor	Jacob J. Enos	13,634
	Whig Party	Zachary Taylor	Harrison Reed	13,632
	Free Soil Party	Martin Van Buren	David Giddings	10,261
	Free Soil Party	Martin Van Buren	James D. Reymert	10,257
	Free Soil Party	Martin Van Buren	Erastus B. Wolcott	10,257
	Free Soil Party	Martin Van Buren	Edward A. Tappan	10,254
	Write-in		Scattering	32
Votes cast [lower-alpha 1]				38,859

Results by county

County [2]	Lewis Cass Democratic		Zachary Taylor Whig		Martin Van Buren Free Soil		Scattering Write-in		Margin		Total votes cast [lower-alpha 2]
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Brown	309	55.48%	248	44.52%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	61	10.95%	557
Calumet	79	51.30%	65	42.21%	10	6.49%	0	0.00%	14	9.09%	154
Columbia	145	23.62%	303	49.35%	166	27.04%	0	0.00%	-137 [lower-alpha 3]	-22.31%	614
Crawfor	215	63.99%	109	32.44%	12	3.57%	0	0.00%	106	31.55%	336
Dane	757	39.32%	724	37.61%	443	23.01%	1	0.05%	33	1.71%	1,925
Dodge	797	40.64%	527	26.87%	637	32.48%	0	0.00%	160 [lower-alpha 4]	8.16%	1,961
Fond du Lac	483	33.87%	446	31.28%	497	34.85%	0	0.00%	-14	-0.98%	1,426
Grant	1,148	39.03%	1,649	56.07%	144	4.90%	0	0.00%	-501	-17.04%	2,941
Green	391	33.79%	479	41.40%	287	24.81%	0	0.00%	-88	-7.61%	1,157
Iowa	848	45.84%	884	47.78%	118	6.38%	0	0.00%	-36	-1.95%	1,850
Jefferson	840	39.72%	713	33.71%	562	26.57%	0	0.00%	127	6.00%	2,115
Lafayette	1,105	53.72%	921	44.77%	31	1.51%	0	0.00%	184	8.95%	2,057
Manitowoc	159	51.46%	76	24.60%	70	22.65%	4	1.29%	83	26.86%	309
Marquette	174	30.96%	214	38.08%	174	30.96%	0	0.00%	-40	-7.12%	562
Milwaukee	2,150	54.21%	1,190	30.01%	626	15.78%	0	0.00%	960	24.21%	3,966
Portage	225	51.02%	216	48.98%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	9	2.04%	441
Racine	644	18.50%	904	25.96%	1,930	55.43%	4	0.11%	-1,026 [lower-alpha 5]	-29.47%	3,482
Rock	491	15.65%	1,300	41.43%	1,338	42.64%	9	0.29%	-38 [lower-alpha 5]	-1.21%	3,138
Sauk [lower-alpha 6] [3]	158	33.91%	149	31.97%	159	34.12%	0	0.00%	-1	-0.21%	466
Sheboygan	442	44.69%	372	37.61%	175	17.69%	0	0.00%	70	7.08%	989
St. Croix	67	57.26%	37	31.62%	1	0.85%	12	10.26%	30	25.64%	117
Walworth	550	19.30%	804	28.21%	1,494	52.42%	2	0.07%	-690 [lower-alpha 5]	-24.21%	2,850
Washington	1,720	71.70%	355	14.80%	324	13.51%	0	0.00%	1,365	56.90%	2,399
Waukesha	963	34.75%	806	29.09%	1,002	36.16%	0	0.00%	-39	-1.41%	2,771
Winnebago	222	29.92%	300	40.43%	220	29.65%	0	0.00%	-78	-10.51%	742
Total [lower-alpha 7]	14,924	38.41%	13,642	35.11%	10,261	26.41%	32	0.08%	1,282	3.30%	38,859

See also

• United States presidential elections in Wisconsin

Notes

1. Based on totals for highest elector on each ticket
2. Based on highest elector on each ticket
3. Taylor's margin over Van Buren
4. Cass's margin over Van Buren
5. Van Buren's margin over Taylor
6. The official canvass at the Historical Society does not list any votes in Sauk County for presidential electors, although there are votes listed for Superintendent and the 2nd Congressional District.
7. Does not include the votes from Sauk County

References

1. "1848 Presidential Election Statistics". Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved March 5, 2018.
2. Wisconsin Historical Society, Abstract of votes cast at an Election held in the State of Wisconsin, on Tuesday, the seventh day of November, in the year A.D. 1848
3. "Official Vote of Wisconsin". Chronicling America. Southport Telegraph. December 8, 1848. Retrieved August 13, 2024.