1896 United States presidential election in Georgia

Last updated

1896 United States presidential election in Georgia
Flag of the State of Georgia (1879-1902).svg
  1892 November 3, 1896 (1896-11-03) 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 vote130
Popular vote93,88559,395
Percentage57.78%36.56%

Georgia Presidential Election Results 1896.svg
County Results

President before election

Grover Cleveland
Democratic

Elected President

William McKinley
Republican

The 1896 United States presidential election in Georgia took place on November 3, 1896, as part of the wider United States presidential election. Voters chose 13 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Contents

Following Reconstruction, Georgia would be the first former Confederate state to substantially disenfranchise its newly enfranchised freedmen and many poor whites, doing so in the early 1870s. [1] This largely limited the Republican Party to a few North Georgia counties with substantial Civil War Unionist sentiment – chiefly Fannin but also to a lesser extent Pickens, Gilmer and Towns [2] – and in presidential elections to a small number of counties elsewhere where blacks were not yet fully disenfranchised. The Democratic Party served as the guardian of white supremacy against a Republican Party historically associated with memories of Reconstruction, and the main competition became Democratic primaries, which were restricted to whites on the grounds of the Democratic Party being legally a private club. [3] This restriction was done by local county laws, but combined with the highly efficacious cumulative poll tax introduced in 1877 meant that turnout declined steadily throughout the 1880s, [4] unlike any other former Confederate state except South Carolina.

Georgia was won by the Democratic and Populist nominees, former Representative William Jennings Bryan and his running mate Arthur Sewall of Maine. They defeated the Republican nominees, former Ohio Governor William McKinley and his running mate Garret Hobart of New Jersey. Bryan won the state by a margin of 21.22%.

However, politics after the first demobilization was always chaotic. Third-party movements, chiefly the Populist Party, gained support amongst the remaining poor white and black voters in opposition to the planter elite. [5] Whereas the Republican Party had not contested a statewide election seriously since 1876, [6] the Populists made significant runs for governor in 1892, 1894 and 1896, which would have been stronger but for large scale Black Belt electoral fraud. [7] In the presidential race the state was hit by a dispute between state Populist leader Thomas E. Watson and Maine shipbuilder Arthur Sewall over the vice-presidential nomination, which led to Watson's frustration and fury increasing and failed to gain either candidate local support. [8]

The Populist political maneuvering, combined with past alliances of Republicans with the Populist movement, had the effect of increasing Georgia's Republican vote to the highest level seen in any presidential election since 1872 at the height of Reconstruction. [9] Nonetheless, McKinley never campaigned in Georgia, and Bryan still carried the state by over twenty-one points.

Bryan would later win Georgia again against William McKinley four years later and would win the state again in 1908 against William Howard Taft.

Results

1896 United States presidential election in Georgia [10]
PartyCandidateVotesPercentageElectoral votes
Democratic William Jennings Bryan93,44557.51%13
Populist William Jennings Bryan4400.27%0
Total William Jennings Bryan 93,88557.78%13
Republican William McKinley 59,39536.56%0
Prohibition Joshua Levering 5,4833.37%0
National Democratic John M. Palmer 3,6702.26%0
Write-ins Scattered47 [lower-alpha 1] 0.03%0

Results by county

CountyWilliam Jennings Bryan [11]
Democratic
William McKinley [11]
Republican
Joshua Levering [11]
Prohibition
John McAuley Palmer [11]
National Democratic
MarginTotal votes cast
# %# %# %# %# %
Appling 99666.89%48832.77%00.00%50.34%50834.12%1,489
Baker 52788.87%6210.46%30.51%10.17%46578.41%593
Baldwin 51652.98%41042.09%383.90%101.03%10610.88%974
Banks 57955.73%38937.44%605.77%111.06%19018.29%1,039
Bartow 1,02654.40%80842.84%311.64%211.11%21811.56%1,886
Berrien 60665.80%25027.14%363.91%293.15%35638.65%921
Bibb 1,85450.81%67018.36%1343.67%99127.16%863 [lower-alpha 2] 23.65%3,649
Brooks 52851.56%42341.31%555.37%181.76%10510.25%1,024
Bryan 25959.00%17138.95%30.68%61.37%8820.05%439
Bulloch 1,04265.04%51131.90%402.50%90.56%53133.15%1,602
Burke 1,41486.70%19311.83%140.86%100.61%1,22174.86%1,631
Butts 58659.92%31732.41%757.67%00.00%26927.51%978
Calhoun 40697.13%51.20%00.00%71.67%399 [lower-alpha 2] 95.45%418
Camden 19044.08%20948.49%51.16%276.26%-19-4.41%431
Campbell 43450.58%37743.94%424.90%50.58%576.64%858
Carroll 1,49064.81%73331.88%713.09%50.22%75732.93%2,299
Catoosa 55774.17%16121.44%253.33%81.07%39652.73%751
Chatham 2,50652.64%1,69735.64%420.88%51610.84%80916.99%4,761
Chattahoochee 15730.66%34968.16%61.17%00.00%-192-37.50%512
Chattooga 91162.06%50034.06%463.13%110.75%41128.00%1,468
Cherokee 71247.91%70247.24%724.85%00.00%100.67%1,486
Clarke 70760.17%41935.66%191.62%302.55%28824.51%1,175
Clay 24028.14%53462.60%708.21%91.06%-294-34.47%853
Clayton 51650.74%47246.41%242.36%50.49%444.33%1,017
Clinch 25753.10%21243.80%51.03%102.07%459.30%484
Cobb 1,38761.97%75833.87%793.53%140.63%62928.11%2,238
Coffee 42831.96%87365.20%382.84%00.00%-445-33.23%1,339
Colquitt 36160.47%13522.61%6210.39%396.53%22637.86%597
Columbia 19231.68%40166.17%101.65%30.50%-209-34.49%606
Coweta 1,19666.74%57131.86%231.28%20.11%62534.88%1,792
Crawford 36782.47%6213.93%163.60%00.00%30568.54%445
Dade 32562.02%11020.99%173.24%7213.74%21541.03%524
Dawson 32451.67%29046.25%132.07%00.00%345.42%627
DeKalb 81560.24%43932.45%624.58%372.73%37627.79%1,353
Decatur 97255.57%70040.02%573.26%201.14%27215.55%1,749
Dodge 56859.66%31533.09%575.99%121.26%25326.58%952
Dooly 95668.73%36526.24%684.89%20.14%59142.49%1,391
Dougherty 40476.23%12022.64%10.19%50.94%28453.58%530
Douglas 46341.30%64157.18%171.52%00.00%-178-15.88%1,121
Early 59157.94%33632.94%454.41%484.71%25525.00%1,020
Echols 17476.65%5222.91%10.44%00.00%12253.74%227
Effingham 37260.29%20933.87%223.57%142.27%16326.42%617
Elbert 13433.50%15538.75%9624.00%153.75%-21-5.25%400
Emanuel 69051.69%50737.98%1128.39%261.95%18313.71%1,335
Fannin 50735.43%92064.29%40.28%00.00%-413-28.86%1,431
Fayette 56258.06%34535.64%596.10%20.21%21722.42%968
Floyd 2,15064.68%1,11733.60%230.69%341.02%1,03331.08%3,324
Forsyth 48262.60%25933.64%293.77%00.00%22328.96%770
Franklin 59956.46%39236.95%646.03%60.57%20719.51%1,061
Fulton 4,50457.01%3,00538.04%1501.90%2413.05%1,49918.97%7,900
Gilmer 70658.40%50341.60%00.00%00.00%20316.79%1,209
Glascock 15445.83%12236.31%5817.26%20.60%329.52%336
Glynn 59260.72%35336.21%80.82%222.26%23924.51%975
Gordon 87561.36%52336.68%271.89%10.07%35224.68%1,426
Greene 57537.03%91058.60%593.80%90.58%-335-21.57%1,553
Gwinnett 1,25057.84%77335.77%1155.32%231.06%47722.07%2,161
Habersham 78271.81%24222.22%575.23%80.73%54049.59%1,089
Hall 1,13461.36%58231.49%1075.79%251.35%55229.87%1,848
Hancock 95285.69%12210.98%373.33%00.00%83074.71%1,111
Haralson 46939.48%68657.74%322.69%10.08%-217-18.27%1,188
Harris 91967.57%40229.56%392.87%00.00%51738.01%1,360
Hart 73862.92%33928.90%917.76%50.43%39934.02%1,173
Heard 62080.42%13817.90%111.43%20.26%48262.52%771
Henry 56946.64%56846.56%685.57%151.23%10.08%1,220
Houston 87580.35%19217.63%00.00%222.02%68362.72%1,089
Irwin 62655.15%48642.82%151.32%80.70%14012.33%1,135
Jackson 1,20556.36%70032.74%2069.64%271.26%50523.62%2,138
Jasper 62883.96%11014.71%20.27%81.07%51869.25%748
Jefferson 54158.17%22323.98%14815.91%181.94%31834.19%930
Johnson 21345.03%23950.53%214.44%00.00%-26-5.50%473
Jones 52157.13%37741.34%90.99%50.55%14415.79%912
Laurens 57049.61%51444.73%655.66%00.00%564.87%1,149
Lee 28563.62%16336.38%00.00%00.00%12227.23%448
Liberty 23726.60%64672.50%00.00%80.90%-409-45.90%891
Lincoln 23961.28%7318.72%7820.00%00.00%161 [lower-alpha 3] 41.28%390
Lowndes 58649.87%53645.62%00.00%534.51%504.26%1,175
Lumpkin 43648.39%45650.61%50.55%40.44%-20-2.22%901
Macon 51158.87%28632.95%525.99%192.19%22525.92%868
Madison 67280.96%14116.99%00.00%172.05%53163.98%830
Marion 22333.28%40961.04%324.78%60.90%-186-27.76%670
McDuffie 13823.35%40167.85%315.25%213.55%-263-44.50%591
McIntosh 23429.25%53867.25%91.13%192.38%-304-38.00%800
Meriwether 99148.60%94646.40%914.46%110.54%452.21%2,039
Miller 31580.56%5514.07%205.12%10.26%26066.50%391
Milton 42862.48%22733.14%263.80%40.58%20129.34%685
Mitchell 43754.56%26833.46%658.11%313.87%16921.10%801
Monroe 72956.47%41932.46%1299.99%141.08%31024.01%1,291
Montgomery 50351.22%44144.91%282.85%101.02%626.31%982
Morgan 62942.13%81954.86%412.75%40.27%-190-12.73%1,493
Murray 55762.44%32336.21%121.35%00.00%23426.23%892
Muscogee 1,36568.28%50125.06%251.25%1085.40%86443.22%1,999
Newton 97360.47%58036.05%291.80%271.68%39324.43%1,609
Oconee 33047.90%35851.96%10.15%00.00%-28-4.06%689
Oglethorpe 1,24288.21%1067.53%533.76%70.50%1,13680.68%1,408
Paulding 62750.56%55244.52%584.68%30.24%756.05%1,240
Pickens 45839.79%69360.21%00.00%00.00%-235-20.42%1,151
Pierce 32952.98%21534.62%355.64%426.76%11418.36%621
Pike 89052.05%72442.34%694.04%271.58%1669.71%1,710
Polk 56739.79%81056.84%130.91%352.46%-243-17.05%1,425
Pulaski 75582.60%13214.44%161.75%111.20%62368.16%914
Putnam 43892.41%20.42%194.01%153.16%419 [lower-alpha 3] 88.40%474
Quitman 18137.32%28057.73%193.92%51.03%-99-20.41%485
Rabun 40478.14%10119.54%50.97%71.35%30358.61%517
Randolph 62758.00%38435.52%494.53%211.94%24322.48%1,081
Richmond 3,71665.78%1,69830.06%961.70%1392.46%2,01835.72%5,649
Rockdale 47348.96%48350.00%00.00%101.04%-10-1.04%966
Schley 26644.11%32754.23%101.66%00.00%-61-10.12%603
Screven 58548.67%54245.09%756.24%00.00%433.58%1,202
Spalding 61268.76%23926.85%131.46%262.92%37341.91%890
Stewart 63572.82%21324.43%131.49%111.26%42248.39%872
Sumter 1,09472.07%37124.44%281.84%251.65%72347.63%1,518
Talbot 47272.84%15624.07%142.16%60.93%31648.77%648
Taliaferro 22141.23%26148.69%529.70%20.37%-40-7.46%536
Tattnall 51740.71%60047.24%856.69%685.35%-83-6.54%1,270
Taylor 23741.00%30953.46%305.19%20.35%-72-12.46%578
Telfair 58058.88%35035.53%545.48%10.10%23023.35%985
Terrell 80960.42%46734.88%544.03%90.67%34225.54%1,339
Thomas 60042.13%62043.54%755.27%1299.06%-20-1.40%1,424
Towns 34053.21%29946.79%00.00%00.00%416.42%639
Troup 87879.67%19918.06%222.00%30.27%67961.62%1,102
Twiggs 39775.62%12824.38%00.00%00.00%26951.24%525
Union 56056.06%41941.94%202.00%00.00%14114.11%999
Upson 59152.53%49844.27%353.11%10.09%938.27%1,125
Walker 1,04562.99%56934.30%261.57%191.15%47628.69%1,659
Walton 1,00156.24%72640.79%341.91%191.07%27515.45%1,780
Ware 54559.63%33036.11%151.64%242.63%21523.52%914
Warren 27932.33%45853.07%12614.60%00.00%-179-20.74%863
Washington 92545.72%1,02350.57%643.16%110.54%-98-4.84%2,023
Wayne 47761.79%26634.46%293.76%00.00%21127.33%772
Webster 24655.91%19143.41%00.00%30.68%5512.50%440
White 27459.05%15934.27%265.60%51.08%11524.78%464
Whitfield 85759.51%49434.31%563.89%332.29%36325.21%1,440
Wilcox 62379.87%14518.59%50.64%70.90%47861.28%780
Wilkes 1,06381.64%1047.99%1007.68%352.69%95973.66%1,302
Wilkinson 61055.61%47643.39%90.82%20.18%13412.22%1,097
Worth 52848.93%44741.43%918.43%131.20%817.51%1,079
Totals93,44557.68%59,39536.67%5,4833.38%3,6702.27%34,05021.02%161,993

See also

Notes

  1. These scattered write-in votes were not separated by county but given only as a state-wide total. [11]
  2. 1 2 In this county where Palmer ran second ahead of McKinley, margin given is Bryan vote minus Palmer vote and percentage margin Bryan percentage minus Palmer percentage.
  3. 1 2 In this county where Levering ran second ahead of McKinley, margin given is Bryan vote minus Levering vote and percentage margin Bryan percentage minus Levering percentage.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1896 United States presidential election</span> 28th quadrennial U.S. presidential election

The 1896 United States presidential election was the 28th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 3, 1896. Former Governor William McKinley, the Republican nominee, defeated former Representative William Jennings Bryan, the Democratic nominee. The 1896 campaign, which took place during an economic depression known as the Panic of 1893, was a political realignment that ended the old Third Party System and began the Fourth Party System.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1896 United States presidential election in Montana</span>

The 1896 United States presidential election in Montana took place on November 3, 1896, as part of the 1896 United States presidential election. Voters chose three representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1896 United States presidential election in New York</span>

The 1896 United States presidential election in New York took place on November 3, 1896. All contemporary 45 states were part of the 1896 United States presidential election. Voters chose 36 electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1908 United States presidential election in Florida</span>

The 1908 United States presidential election in Florida was held on November 3, 1908, as part of the 1908 United States presidential election. Voters chose five representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice-president. With the disenfranchisement of African-Americans by a poll tax in 1889, Florida become a one-party Democratic state, which it was to remain until the 1950s, apart from the anti-Catholic vote against Al Smith in 1928. Unlike southern states extending into the Appalachian Mountains or Ozarks, or Texas with its German settlements in the Edwards Plateau, Florida completely lacked upland or German refugee whites opposed to secession. Thus Florida's Republican Party between 1872 and 1888 was entirely dependent upon black votes, a fact is graphically seen when one considers that – although very few blacks in Florida had ever voted within the previous fifty-five years – at the time of the landmark court case of Smith v. Allwright, half of Florida's registered Republicans were still black. Thus disfranchisement of blacks and poor whites left Florida as devoid of Republican adherents as Louisiana, Mississippi, or South Carolina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1896 United States presidential election in Utah</span>

The 1896 United States presidential election in Utah was held on November 3, 1896 as part of the 1896 United States presidential election. Voters chose three representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president. This was the first time Utah participated in a presidential election, having been admitted as the 45th state on January 4 of that year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1896 United States presidential election in Wyoming</span>

The 1896 United States presidential election in Wyoming took place on November 3, 1896, as part of the 1896 United States presidential election. State voters chose three representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1908 United States presidential election in Georgia</span>

The 1908 United States presidential election in Georgia took place on November 3, 1908, as part of the wider United States presidential election. Voters chose 13 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1904 United States presidential election in Georgia</span>

The 1904 United States presidential election in Georgia took place on November 8, 1904, as part of the wider United States presidential election. Voters chose 13 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1900 United States presidential election in Georgia</span>

The 1900 United States presidential election in Georgia took place on November 6, 1900, as part of the wider United States presidential election. Voters chose 13 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1892 United States presidential election in Georgia</span>

The 1892 United States presidential election in Georgia took place on November 8, 1892, as part of the wider United States presidential election. Voters chose 13 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1888 United States presidential election in Georgia</span>

The 1888 United States presidential election in Georgia took place on November 6, 1888, as part of the wider United States presidential election. Voters chose 12 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1884 United States presidential election in Georgia</span>

The 1884 United States presidential election in Georgia took place on November 4, 1884, as part of the wider United States presidential election. Voters chose twelve representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1892 United States presidential election in Tennessee</span>

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

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1896 United States presidential election in Kentucky</span>

The 1896 United States presidential election in Kentucky took place on November 3, 1896. All contemporary 45 states were part of the 1896 United States presidential election. Voters chose 13 electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1896 United States presidential election in Tennessee</span>

The 1896 United States presidential election in Tennessee took place on November 3, 1896. All contemporary 45 states were part of the 1896 United States presidential election. Tennessee voters chose 12 electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1896 United States presidential election in Mississippi</span>

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

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1896 United States presidential election in Louisiana</span>

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

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1900 United States presidential election in North Carolina</span>

The 1900 United States presidential election in North Carolina took place on November 6, 1900. All contemporary 45 states were part of the 1900 United States presidential election. Voters chose 11 electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1900 United States presidential election in Tennessee</span>

The 1900 United States presidential election in Tennessee took place on November 6, 1900. All contemporary 45 states were part of the 1900 United States presidential election. Voters chose 12 electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1904 United States presidential election in Louisiana</span>

The 1904 United States presidential election in Louisiana took place on November 8, 1904. All contemporary 45 states were part of the 1904 United States presidential election. State voters chose nine electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president.

References

  1. Mickey, Robert W.; Paths Out of Dixie: The Democratization of Authoritarian Enclaves in America's Deep South, 1944-1972, p. 76 ISBN   1400838789
  2. Phillips, Kevin P.; The Emerging Republican Majority, pp. 208, 210 ISBN   9780691163246
  3. Springer, Melanie Jean; How the States Shaped the Nation: American Electoral Institutions and Voter Turnout, 1920-2000, p. 155 ISBN   022611435X
  4. Kousser, J. Morgan; The Shaping of Southern Politics Suffrage Restriction and the Establishment of the One-Party South, 1880-1910, p. 213 ISBN   0-300-01973-4
  5. Mickey, Robert W.; ‘The Beginning of the End for Authoritarian Rule in America: Smith v. Allwright and the Abolition of the White Primary in the Deep South, 1944-1948’; Studies in American Political Development, Vol. 22 (Fall 2008), pp. 143-182.
  6. Kousser; The Shaping of Southern Politics, p. 211
  7. Kousser; The Shaping of Southern Politics, p. 214
  8. Durden, Robert Franklin. The Climax of Populism: The Election of 1896, pp. 52-56 ISBN   0813162653
  9. Lindeen, James W.; ‘Longitudinal Analysis of Republican Presidential Electoral Trends, 1896-1968’; Midwest Journal of Political Science, Vol. 16, No. 1 (Feb., 1972), pp. 102-122
  10. "1896 Presidential General Election Results – Georgia". Dave Leip’s U.S. Election Atlas.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 "Popular Vote at the Presidential Election for 1896". Géoelections. (.xlsx file for €30 including full minor party figures)