1892 United States presidential election in Michigan

Main article: 1892 United States presidential election

1892 United States presidential election in Michigan

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Nominee Benjamin Harrison Grover Cleveland Party Republican Democratic Home state Indiana New York Running mate Whitelaw Reid Adlai Stevenson I Electoral vote 9 5 Popular vote 222,708 201,624 Percentage 47.79% 43.26%

County Results Congressional District Results Harrison   40–50%   50–60%   60–70% Cleveland   40–50%   50–60%   60–70%   90–100% Weaver   30–40%

President before election Benjamin Harrison Republican Elected President Grover Cleveland Democratic

The 1892 United States presidential election in Michigan took place on November 8, 1892. All contemporary 44 states were part of the 1892 United States presidential election. Voters chose 14 electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president.

Uniquely, this remains the only presidential election where Michigan used the congressional district method of distributing electoral votes rather than the traditional election of each elector by the state as a whole. The switch was made by the newly elected 1890 Democratic legislature, which had gained control of the state for the first time since before the Civil War. ^{[1] [2]} The change was an attempt at boosting Democratic candidate Grover Cleveland's chances of winning a second, nonconsecutive term, who had run in the previous election and won the popular vote, but lost in the electoral college. Controversial among Republicans, the party fought all the way to the Supreme Court in efforts to prevent it, the Court ruling in McPherson v. Blacker that allocating electoral votes this way was constitutional. ^[3] The split ultimately had no effect in Cleveland's victory, and the system was quickly repealed when Republicans regained control after the election. This is the only instance of Michigan splitting its electoral votes among multiple candidates. A law later passed in 1954 that prohibits faithless electors prevents a similar occurrence, barring a return to the district method. ^{[4] [5]}

Michigan was won by the Republican nominees: incumbent President Benjamin Harrison of Indiana and his running mate Whitelaw Reid of New York. The pair received nine of the state's electoral votes, while the Democratic ticket earned five.

Cleveland became the first Democratic presidential candidate since Franklin Pierce in 1852 to get electoral votes from Michigan, although the state wouldn't send a full slate of Democratic electors to the Electoral College until Franklin Delano Roosevelt won it in 1932.

Results

1892 United States presidential election in Michigan [6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	Electoral votes
	Republican	Benjamin Harrison (inc.)	222,708	47.79%	9
	Democratic	Grover Cleveland	201,624	43.26%	5
	Prohibition	John Bidwell	20,857	4.48%	0
	People's	James Weaver	19,931	4.28%	0
	Write-ins		925	0.20%	0
Totals			466,045	100%	14

By congressional district

Harrison won 7 of the 12 congressional districts. ^[7]

district	Harrison	Cleveland	Weaver	Representative
1st	47.05%	51.33%	0.75%	John Logan Chipman
2nd	44.89%	47.67%	2.30%	James S. Gorman
3rd	49.98%	37.01%	6.92%	Julius C. Burrows (53rd Congress)
4th	49.19%	46.16%	-	Henry F. Thomas (53rd Congress)
5th	42.96%	47.72%	4.68%	Charles E. Belknap (52nd Congress)
				George F. Richardson (53rd Congress)
6th	47.19%	43.16%	4.58%	Byron G. Stout (52nd Congress)
				David D. Aitken (53rd Congress)
7th	45.80%	46.57%	5.37%	Justin Rice Whiting
8th	48.55%	44.55%	3.35%	Henry M. Youmans (52nd Congress)
				William S. Linton (53rd Congress)
9th	47.35%	43.36%	3.58%	Harrison H. Wheeler (52nd Congress)
				John W. Moon (53rd Congress)
10th	45.98%	47.91%	3.73%	Thomas A. E. Weadock
11th	50.75%	35.16%	8.68%	John Avery (53rd Congress)
12th	50.06%	42.68%	2.59%	Samuel M. Stephenson (53rd Congress)

Results by county

County	Benjamin Harrison Republican		Stephen Grover Cleveland Democratic		John Bidwell Prohibition		James Baird Weaver People's		Various candidates Write-ins		Margin		Total votes cast
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Alcona	556	57.32%	380	39.18%	29	2.99%	5	0.52%			176	18.14%	970
Alger	160	50.31%	156	49.06%	2	0.63%	0	0.00%			4	1.26%	318
Allegan	4,283	50.96%	3,207	38.16%	544	6.47%	371	4.41%			1,076	12.80%	8,405
Alpena	1,526	49.11%	1,536	49.44%	26	0.84%	19	0.61%			-10	-0.32%	3,107
Antrim	1,140	52.17%	814	37.25%	164	7.51%	67	3.07%			326	14.92%	2,185
Arenac	322	27.81%	373	32.21%	26	2.25%	437	37.74%			-64 [a]	-5.53%	1,158
Baraga	375	36.76%	630	61.76%	12	1.18%	3	0.29%			-255	-25.00%	1,020
Barry	2,854	49.20%	1,800	31.03%	297	5.12%	850	14.65%			1,054	18.17%	5,801
Bay	4,587	42.96%	5,714	53.51%	187	1.75%	190	1.78%			-1,127	-10.55%	10,678
Benzie	774	52.47%	498	33.76%	101	6.85%	102	6.92%			276	18.71%	1,475
Berrien	4,979	48.55%	4,716	45.98%	426	4.15%	135	1.32%			263	2.56%	10,256
Branch	3,271	49.68%	2,161	32.82%	426	6.47%	726	11.03%			1,110	16.86%	6,584
Calhoun	5,077	48.10%	4,150	39.31%	710	6.73%	619	5.86%			927	8.78%	10,556
Cass	2,731	47.71%	2,424	42.35%	180	3.14%	389	6.80%			307	5.36%	5,724
Charlevoix	1,101	53.14%	688	33.20%	141	6.81%	142	6.85%			413	19.93%	2,072
Cheboygan	1,094	44.27%	1,224	49.53%	74	2.99%	79	3.20%			-130	-5.26%	2,471
Chippewa	1,247	52.33%	1,083	45.45%	35	1.47%	18	0.76%			164	6.88%	2,383
Clare	719	41.90%	811	47.26%	167	9.73%	0	0.00%	19	1.11%	-92	-5.36%	1,716
Clinton	3,133	48.42%	2,756	42.60%	258	3.99%	323	4.99%			377	5.83%	6,470
Crawford	300	48.62%	306	49.59%	3	0.49%	8	1.30%			-6	-0.97%	617
Delta	1,769	54.30%	1,412	43.34%	40	1.23%	37	1.14%			357	10.96%	3,258
Dickinson	1,606	51.05%	1,255	39.89%	255	8.11%	30	0.95%			351	11.16%	3,146
Eaton	3,788	48.24%	2,837	36.13%	498	6.34%	730	9.30%			951	12.11%	7,853
Emmet	1,015	46.28%	1,059	48.29%	102	4.65%	17	0.78%			-44	-2.01%	2,193
Genesee	4,785	50.14%	3,712	38.90%	590	6.18%	456	4.78%			1,073	11.24%	9,543
Gladwin	531	60.76%	325	37.19%	14	1.60%	4	0.46%			206	23.57%	874
Gogebic	2,344	57.25%	1,615	39.45%	116	2.83%	19	0.46%			729	17.81%	4,094
Grand Traverse	1,734	54.70%	924	29.15%	185	5.84%	327	10.32%			810	25.55%	3,170
Gratiot	3,037	48.83%	1,661	26.70%	256	4.12%	1,266	20.35%			1,376	22.12%	6,220
Hillsdale	4,119	53.65%	2,613	34.03%	486	6.33%	460	5.99%			1,506	19.61%	7,678
Houghton	3,316	45.84%	2,607	36.04%	568	7.85%	0	0.00%	743	10.27%	709	9.80%	7,234
Huron	1,692	35.35%	2,222	46.42%	175	3.66%	698	14.58%			-530	-11.07%	4,787
Ingham	4,341	44.08%	4,061	41.23%	499	5.07%	948	9.63%			280	2.84%	9,849
Ionia	4,288	49.45%	3,779	43.58%	379	4.37%	225	2.59%			509	5.87%	8,671
Iosco	1,393	49.57%	1,336	47.54%	58	2.06%	23	0.82%			57	2.03%	2,810
Iron	918	59.26%	587	37.90%	0	0.00%	15	0.97%	29	1.87%	331	21.37%	1,549
Isabella	1,859	45.42%	1,762	43.05%	153	3.74%	319	7.79%			97	2.37%	4,093
Jackson	5,130	45.02%	5,005	43.92%	571	5.01%	690	6.05%			125	1.10%	11,396
Kalamazoo	4,968	50.56%	4,018	40.90%	449	4.57%	390	3.97%			950	9.67%	9,825
Kalkaska	717	59.45%	389	32.26%	60	4.98%	40	3.32%			328	27.20%	1,206
Kent	12,388	46.31%	11,533	43.11%	1,411	5.27%	1,418	5.30%			855	3.20%	26,750
Keweenaw	400	65.36%	202	33.01%	5	0.82%	5	0.82%			198	32.35%	612
Lake	648	47.79%	610	44.99%	63	4.65%	35	2.58%			38	2.80%	1,356
Lapeer	3,126	49.11%	2,698	42.39%	313	4.92%	228	3.58%			428	6.72%	6,365
Leelanau	769	53.63%	492	34.31%	44	3.07%	129	9.00%			277	19.32%	1,434
Lenawee	5,833	46.86%	5,592	44.92%	910	7.31%	114	0.92%			241	1.94%	12,449
Livingston	2,447	43.76%	2,385	42.65%	365	6.53%	395	7.06%			62	1.11%	5,592
Luce	234	55.45%	160	37.91%	25	5.92%	3	0.71%			74	17.54%	422
Mackinac	478	35.41%	855	63.33%	9	0.67%	8	0.59%			-377	-27.93%	1,350
Macomb	2,788	41.50%	3,584	53.35%	290	4.32%	56	0.83%			-796	-11.85%	6,718
Manistee	1,481	35.42%	2,310	55.25%	231	5.52%	159	3.80%			-829	-19.83%	4,181
Manitou	5	3.36%	144	96.64%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%			-139	-93.29%	149
Marquette	3,874	53.03%	2,850	39.01%	536	7.34%	45	0.62%			1,024	14.02%	7,305
Mason	1,426	45.85%	1,383	44.47%	258	8.30%	43	1.38%			43	1.38%	3,110
Mecosta	1,970	51.76%	1,484	38.99%	220	5.78%	132	3.47%			486	12.77%	3,806
Menominee	1,853	48.43%	1,801	47.07%	134	3.50%	38	0.99%			52	1.36%	3,826
Midland	1,069	46.16%	815	35.19%	118	5.09%	314	13.56%			254	10.97%	2,316
Missaukee	665	48.61%	622	45.47%	61	4.46%	20	1.46%			43	3.14%	1,368
Monroe	2,914	41.50%	3,769	53.68%	224	3.19%	114	1.62%			-855	-12.18%	7,021
Montcalm	3,623	53.31%	2,205	32.45%	265	3.90%	703	10.34%			1,418	20.87%	6,796
Montmorency	246	47.67%	255	49.42%	10	1.94%	5	0.97%			-9	-1.74%	516
Muskegon	3,830	49.76%	3,301	42.89%	322	4.18%	244	3.17%			529	6.87%	7,697
Newaygo	2,106	51.02%	1,531	37.09%	286	6.93%	205	4.97%			575	13.93%	4,128
Oakland	4,763	44.98%	4,925	46.51%	728	6.87%	174	1.64%			-162	-1.53%	10,590
Oceana	1,635	47.38%	1,416	41.03%	312	9.04%	88	2.55%			219	6.35%	3,451
Ogemaw	594	50.64%	514	43.82%	26	2.22%	39	3.32%			80	6.82%	1,173
Ontonagon	678	38.68%	1,041	59.38%	19	1.08%	15	0.86%			-363	-20.71%	1,753
Osceola	1,601	51.13%	1,092	34.88%	310	9.90%	128	4.09%			509	16.26%	3,131
Oscoda	273	59.09%	180	38.96%	5	1.08%	4	0.87%			93	20.13%	462
Otsego	525	47.60%	531	48.14%	32	2.90%	15	1.36%			-6	-0.54%	1,103
Ottawa	3,643	50.82%	2,996	41.79%	180	2.51%	350	4.88%			647	9.02%	7,169
Presque Isle	290	34.77%	471	56.47%	7	0.84%	5	0.60%	61	7.31%	-181	-21.70%	834
Roscommon	239	44.26%	286	52.96%	9	1.67%	6	1.11%			-47	-8.70%	540
Saginaw	6,737	44.37%	7,601	50.07%	254	1.67%	590	3.89%			-864	-5.69%	15,182
Sanilac	2,494	54.34%	1,730	37.69%	288	6.27%	78	1.70%			764	16.64%	4,590
Schoolcraft	570	41.79%	650	47.65%	101	7.40%	43	3.15%			-80	-5.87%	1,364
Shiawassee	3,619	47.17%	2,994	39.02%	677	8.82%	383	4.99%			625	8.15%	7,673
St. Clair	5,371	48.82%	5,248	47.70%	228	2.07%	81	0.74%	73	0.66%	123	1.12%	11,001
St. Joseph	2,824	43.93%	2,441	37.97%	185	2.88%	978	15.21%			383	5.96%	6,428
Tuscola	3,201	49.42%	2,667	41.18%	397	6.13%	212	3.27%			534	8.24%	6,477
Van Buren	3,788	54.05%	2,182	31.14%	403	5.75%	635	9.06%			1,606	22.92%	7,008
Washtenaw	4,362	41.99%	5,508	53.02%	448	4.31%	70	0.67%			-1,146	-11.03%	10,388
Wayne	26,361	47.81%	27,580	50.02%	702	1.27%	495	0.90%			-1,219	-2.21%	55,138
Wexford	1,388	49.91%	1,156	41.57%	185	6.65%	52	1.87%			232	8.34%	2,781
Totals [b]	222,708	47.70%	202,396	43.35%	20,858	4.47%	20,031	4.29%	925	0.20%	19,891	4.35%	466,918

See also

• United States presidential elections in Michigan

Notes

1. In this county where Weaver ran ahead of Harrison and also Cleveland, margin given is Cleveland vote minus Weaver vote and percentage margin Cleveland percentage minus Weaver percentage.
2. Data from Isle Royal County are uncertain, so that this total is larger than the sum for counties shown

References

1. Egan, Paul. “Democrats Once Pulled the Same Electoral College Stunt.” Detroit Free Press, 21 Nov. 2014, http://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/2014/11/20/michigan-white-house-presidential-election-electoral-college/70028908/.
2. Braun, Ken. “Ken Braun: It Didn't Matter Much When Democrats Decided to Divide Michigan's Electoral College Votes.” MLive.com, 19 Nov. 2014, http://www.mlive.com/lansing-news/index.ssf/2014/11/ken_braun_it_didnt_matter_much.html.
3. McPherson v. Blacker , 146U.S.1 (1892).
4. “Section 168.47 .” Michigan Legislature - Section 168.47, Legislative Council, State of Michigan, http://legislature.mi.gov/doc.aspx?mcl-168-47.
5. “The Electoral College.” National Conference of State Legislators, 22 Aug. 2016, http://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/the-electoral-college.aspx#faithless.
6. Dave Leip's U.S. Election Atlas; Presidential General Election Results – Michigan
7. "1892 Presidential General Election Data – National". Uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved August 20, 2024.