1904 United States presidential election in Washington (state)

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1904 United States presidential election in Washington (state)
Flag of Washington (1923-1967).png
  1900 November 8, 1904 1908  
  President Roosevelt - Pach Bros (cropped 3x4).jpg AltonBParker.png Debs-Eugene-circa1904.jpg
Nominee Theodore Roosevelt Alton B. Parker Eugene V. Debs
Party Republican Democratic Socialist
Home state New York New York Indiana
Running mate Charles W. Fairbanks Henry G. Davis Ben Hanford
Electoral vote500
Popular vote101,54028,09810,023
Percentage69.95%19.36%6.91%

Washington Presidential Election Results 1904.svg
County results
Roosevelt
  50–60%
  60–70%
  70–80%

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

Contents

This election would solidify the State of Washington as a one-party Republican bastion, which it would remain at a Presidential level apart from the 1910s GOP split until Franklin D. Roosevelt rose to power in 1932, and more or less continuously at state level during this era. [1] Democratic representation in the Washington legislature would during this period at times be countable on one hand, [2] and no Democrat other than Woodrow Wilson in 1916 would henceforth carry even one county in the state before Catholic Al Smith carried German-settled Ferry County in 1928. Republican primaries would take over as the chief mode of political competition when introduced later in the decade. [3]

President Roosevelt was extremely popular in Washington State because of his policies of reforming the railroads, creating a Department of Commerce and Labor and conserving the forest resources that were at the time heavily exploited by big business. [3] Parker's re-emphasis on the Gold Standard, which harked back to Grover Cleveland, aroused no enthusiasm in Washington State. [4] Nor did Parker's opposition to Roosevelt's policy of imperialism in the Pacific, [5] with the result that Roosevelt's performance remains the best ever by any Presidential candidate since Washington's statehood in 1889. Parker did not win one third of the vote in a single county, and overall took just a little over nineteen percent of Washington State's ballots. Roosevelt would win Washington by a landslide margin of 50.59%. In fact, with 69.95% of the popular vote, Washington would be Roosevelt's fifth strongest victory in terms of percentage in the popular vote after Vermont, North Dakota, Minnesota and South Dakota. [6]

Socialist nominee Eugene V. Debs, whose campaign focused on trust-busting and the evils of monopoly, [7] travelled all around the nation in a charismatic campaign that netted him over four hundred thousand votes nationwide and almost nine percent in radical Washington State. In two counties Debs indeed outpolled Parker – a fate that would befall several other Democratic nominees in the state during the next two decades.

Results

General Election Results [8]
PartyPledged toElectorVotes
Republican Party Theodore RooseveltSamuel G. Cosgrove101,540
Republican Party Theodore RooseveltL. B. Nash100,797
Republican Party Theodore RooseveltGeorge W. Bassett100,685
Republican Party Theodore RooseveltAlfred J. Munson100,623
Republican Party Theodore RooseveltHerman D. Crow100,449
Democratic Party Alton B. ParkerFred Thiel28,098
Democratic Party Alton B. ParkerJohn Trumbull27,974
Democratic Party Alton B. ParkerSimon Peter Richardson27,969
Democratic Party Alton B. ParkerJohn J. Carney27,956
Democratic Party Alton B. ParkerJ. S. Darnell27,938
Socialist Party Eugene V. DebsDeForest Sanford10,023
Socialist Party Eugene V. DebsO. Lund9,975
Socialist Party Eugene V. DebsD. M. Angus9,971
Socialist Party Eugene V. DebsP. R. Pratt9,955
Socialist Party Eugene V. DebsD. G. Crow9,936
Prohibition Party Silas C. SwallowJohn Ovall3,229
Prohibition Party Silas C. SwallowGeorge P. Silvers3,207
Prohibition Party Silas C. SwallowWilliam Alvin Spalding3,201
Prohibition Party Silas C. SwallowGeorge R. Varney3,199
Prohibition Party Silas C. SwallowWallace W. Potter3,189
Socialist Labor Party Charles H. CorreganP. Driscoll1,592
Socialist Labor Party Charles H. CorreganA. Sanders1,546
Socialist Labor Party Charles H. CorreganH. Anderson1,545
Socialist Labor Party Charles H. CorreganT. Bernett1,541
Socialist Labor Party Charles H. CorreganG. Rush1,538
People's Party Thomas E. WatsonJ. G. Wolfe669
People's Party Thomas E. WatsonGeorge F. Cotterill668
People's Party Thomas E. WatsonW. H. Runner661
People's Party Thomas E. WatsonH. Clayson652
People's Party Thomas E. WatsonAlexander McDonald650
Votes cast [a] 145,151

Results by county

County Theodore Roosevelt
Republican
Alton B. Parker
Democratic
Eugene V. Debs
Socialist
Silas C. Swallow
Prohibition
Charles H. Corregan
Socialist Labor
Thomas E. Watson
Populist
MarginTotal votes cast [b]
#%#%#%#%#%#%#%
Adams 1,13864.44%54831.03%412.32%301.70%80.45%10.06%59033.41%1,766
Asotin 74772.59%22722.06%313.01%121.17%80.78%40.39%52050.53%1,029
Chehalis 2,58968.13%62416.42%46012.11%762.00%391.03%120.32%1,96551.71%3,800
Chelan 1,24872.18%37221.52%492.83%261.50%160.93%181.04%87650.67%1,729
Clallam 90368.15%27320.60%1259.43%00.00%141.06%100.75%63047.55%1,325
Clark 2,43671.88%51515.20%2577.58%1343.95%240.71%230.68%1,92156.68%3,389
Columbia 1,08965.72%48229.09%372.23%392.35%90.54%10.06%60736.63%1,657
Cowlitz 1,58977.32%31715.43%914.43%401.95%80.39%100.49%1,27261.90%2,055
Douglas 1,72271.30%57723.89%512.11%281.16%110.46%261.08%1,14547.41%2,415
Ferry 51154.89%29731.90%10210.96%40.43%151.61%20.21%21422.99%931
Franklin 57269.25%22327.00%121.45%91.09%70.85%30.36%34942.25%826
Garfield 77770.32%26724.16%353.17%191.72%60.54%10.09%51046.15%1,105
Island 42471.99%8314.09%569.51%152.55%20.34%91.53%34157.89%589
Jefferson 96273.60%28321.65%382.91%60.46%161.22%20.15%67951.95%1,307
King 20,43470.39%5,26618.14%2,1267.32%5972.06%4481.54%1580.54%15,16852.25%29,029
Kitsap 1,73669.19%32012.75%32913.11%853.39%301.20%90.36%1,407 [c] 56.08%2,509
Kittitas 1,78764.86%52318.98%29110.56%782.83%722.61%40.15%1,26445.88%2,755
Klickitat 1,37070.65%36218.67%1246.40%693.56%70.36%70.36%1,00851.99%1,939
Lewis 3,09869.93%89620.23%2515.67%1292.91%310.70%250.56%2,20249.71%4,430
Lincoln 2,47267.41%1,00427.38%1072.92%451.23%70.19%320.87%1,46840.03%3,667
Mason 66163.50%31530.26%191.83%171.63%131.25%161.54%34633.24%1,041
Okanogan 1,19266.63%43524.32%985.48%90.50%321.79%231.29%75742.31%1,789
Pacific 1,35476.98%25814.67%1226.94%160.91%90.51%00.00%1,09662.31%1,759
Pierce 9,77370.63%2,35116.99%1,1027.96%3122.25%2451.77%530.38%7,42253.64%13,836
San Juan 55471.95%11314.68%678.70%232.99%81.04%50.65%44157.27%770
Skagit 3,05169.93%88020.17%2846.51%821.88%360.83%300.69%2,17149.76%4,363
Skamania 29768.43%6114.06%6815.67%61.38%20.46%00.00%229 [c] 52.76%434
Snohomish 6,02571.69%1,40516.72%5927.04%2523.00%1001.19%300.36%4,62054.97%8,404
Spokane 10,25871.71%2,60218.19%9446.60%3352.34%1250.87%410.29%7,65653.52%14,305
Stevens 2,36963.31%87223.30%39310.50%421.12%441.18%220.59%1,49740.01%3,742
Thurston 2,12168.51%66821.58%2347.56%481.55%160.52%90.29%1,45346.93%3,096
Wahkiakum 47372.88%10115.56%639.71%71.08%30.46%20.31%37257.32%649
Walla Walla 2,82471.99%95624.37%561.43%551.40%220.56%100.25%1,86847.62%3,923
Whatcom 5,41070.41%1,17415.28%6939.02%2733.55%1001.30%340.44%4,23655.13%7,684
Whitman 4,09066.48%1,51924.69%3175.15%1782.89%240.39%240.39%2,57141.79%6,152
Yakima 3,48470.36%92918.76%3587.23%1332.69%350.71%130.26%2,55551.60%4,952
Totals101,54069.95%28,09819.36%10,0236.91%3,2292.22%1,5921.10%6690.46%73,44250.60%145,151

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

See also

Notes

  1. Based on totals for highest elector on each ticket
  2. Based on highest elector on each ticket
  3. 1 2 In this county where Parker ran third behind Debs, margin given is Roosevelt vote minus Debs vote and percentage margin Roosevelt percentage minus Debs percentage.

References

  1. Burnham, Walter Dean; ‘The System of 1896’, in Kleppner, Paul (editor), The Evolution of American Electoral Systems, pp. 176-179 ISBN   0313213798
  2. Schattschneider, Elmer Eric; The Semisovereign People: A Realist's View of Democracy in America, pp. 76-84 ISBN   0030133661
  3. 1 2 Murray, Keith; ‘Issues and Personalities of Pacific Northwest Politics, 1889-1950’, The Pacific Northwest Quarterly, vol. 41, no. 3 (July 1950), pp. 213-233
  4. Archer, Clark; Martis, Kenneth C. and Shelley, Fred M.; Historical Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections 1788-2004, p. 99 ISBN   1568029551
  5. Warren, Kenneth F.; Encyclopedia of U.S. campaigns, elections, and electoral behavior: A-M, p. 609 ISBN   1412954894
  6. "1904 Presidential Election Statistics". Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved March 5, 2018.
  7. Egbert, Donald Drew and Bassett, Thomas D.; Socialism and American Life; p. 278 ISBN   1400875080
  8. Abstract of Votes Polled in the State of Washington at the General Election held November 8, 1904.