1908 United States presidential election in Maryland

Main article: 1908 United States presidential election

1908 United States presidential election in Maryland

←  1904 November 3, 1908 1912  →

Nominee William Jennings Bryan William Howard Taft Party Democratic Republican Home state Nebraska Ohio Running mate John W. Kern James S. Sherman Electoral vote 6 [lower-alpha 1] 2 [lower-alpha 1] Popular vote 115,908 116,513 Percentage 48.59% 48.85%

County Results Bryan   40-50%   50-60%   60-70% Taft   40-50%   50-60%   60-70%

President before election Theodore Roosevelt Republican Elected President William Howard Taft Republican

The 1908 United States presidential election in Maryland took place on November 3, 1908. All contemporary 46 states were part of the 1908 United States presidential election. State voters chose eight electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president.

After having voted for Republican William McKinley in 1896 and 1900, Maryland would become exceedingly close in 1904 with Alton B. Parker taking 7 of 8 electoral votes despite the highest Theodore Roosevelt elector beating any of Parker's by 51 votes. Large-scale immigration and efforts to reduce the solidly Republican Black vote were opposed for this election by dislike of William Jennings Bryan's populism in this urbanizing state. ^[1] At first, the latter trend appeared to be strong, and by the middle of September Taft's campaign managers thought Maryland was safe in his pocket, ^[2] although Bryan had campaigned in the state a few days previously. ^[3] This trend continued into early October as Roosevelt's war on Samuel Gompers was believed a major aid to Taft. ^[4] However, a new poll in the second week of October suggested the state could go to Bryan by 15,000 votes. ^[5] By election day, it was clear that Maryland would be almost as close as the 1904 election had proved. ^[6]

Maryland was won by the Democratic nominees, former Representative William Jennings Bryan of Nebraska and his running mate John W. Kern of Indiana, although the highest elector for Republican candidates William Howard Taft and James S. Sherman gained 605 more votes than the highest Bryan elector. This difference was supposedly due to the “Wilson Law” designed to make it easier for Democrats to cast ballots for both Presidential electors and Congress by a simple turning down of a single fold in the ballot paper. ^[7]

In this election, Maryland voted 8.28% more Democratic than the nation at-large. ^[8]

Results

1908 United States presidential election in Maryland [9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Democratic	William Jennings Bryan	115,908	48.59%	6 [lower-alpha 1]
	Republican	William Howard Taft	116,513	48.85%	2 [lower-alpha 1]
	Prohibition	Eugene W. Chafin	3,302	1.38%	0
	Social Democratic	Eugene V. Debs	2,323	0.97%	0
	Independence	Thomas L. Hisgen	485	0.20%	0
Totals			238,531	100.00%	8
Voter turnout					—

Results by county

County	William Howard Taft [10] Republican		William Jennings Bryan [10] Democratic		Eugene Wilder Chafin [10] Prohibition		Eugene Victor Debs [10] Social Democratic		Thomas Louis Higsen [10] Independence		Margin		Total votes cast
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Allegany	5,178	48.88%	4,791	45.23%	218	2.06%	385	3.63%	21	0.20%	387	3.65%	10,593
Anne Arundel	2,926	45.47%	3,435	53.38%	52	0.81%	22	0.34%	0	0.00%	-509	-7.91%	6,435
Baltimore	10,197	48.60%	10,297	49.08%	282	1.34%	182	0.87%	24	0.11%	-100	-0.48%	20,982
Baltimore City	51,528	49.82%	49,139	47.51%	1,082	1.05%	1,413	1.37%	261	0.25%	2,389	2.31%	103,423
Calvert	1,070	59.02%	714	39.38%	15	0.83%	3	0.17%	11	0.61%	356	19.64%	1,813
Caroline	1,584	43.29%	1,945	53.16%	97	2.65%	22	0.60%	11	0.30%	-361	-9.87%	3,659
Carroll	3,406	47.19%	3,641	50.45%	148	2.05%	4	0.06%	18	0.25%	-235	-3.26%	7,217
Cecil	2,378	45.04%	2,847	53.92%	49	0.93%	5	0.09%	1	0.02%	-469	-8.88%	5,280
Charles	1,643	57.23%	1,167	40.65%	22	0.77%	11	0.38%	28	0.98%	476	16.58%	2,871
Dorchester	2,627	47.89%	2,769	50.48%	66	1.20%	15	0.27%	8	0.15%	-142	-2.59%	5,485
Frederick	5,966	52.72%	5,158	45.58%	156	1.38%	31	0.27%	5	0.04%	808	7.14%	11,316
Garrett	2,055	61.97%	1,121	33.81%	119	3.59%	21	0.63%	0	0.00%	934	28.17%	3,316
Harford	2,742	45.91%	3,148	52.71%	70	1.17%	6	0.10%	6	0.10%	-406	-6.80%	5,972
Howard	1,276	41.20%	1,764	56.96%	50	1.61%	5	0.16%	2	0.06%	-488	-15.76%	3,097
Kent	1,753	46.98%	1,939	51.97%	19	0.51%	12	0.32%	8	0.21%	-186	-4.99%	3,731
Montgomery	2,805	44.70%	3,351	53.40%	102	1.63%	14	0.22%	3	0.05%	-546	-8.70%	6,275
Prince George's	2,639	48.90%	2,680	49.66%	38	0.70%	10	0.19%	30	0.56%	-41	-0.76%	5,397
Queen Anne's	1,135	34.04%	2,086	62.57%	104	3.12%	7	0.21%	2	0.06%	-951	-28.52%	3,334
Somerset	1,912	52.11%	1,627	44.34%	105	2.86%	12	0.33%	13	0.35%	285	7.77%	3,669
St. Mary's	1,333	54.25%	1,021	41.55%	70	2.85%	20	0.81%	13	0.53%	312	12.70%	2,457
Talbot	1,908	47.30%	2,025	50.20%	86	2.13%	9	0.22%	6	0.15%	-117	-2.90%	4,034
Washington	4,650	49.59%	4,518	48.18%	108	1.15%	97	1.03%	4	0.04%	132	1.41%	9,377
Wicomico	2,273	43.86%	2,751	53.09%	150	2.89%	4	0.08%	4	0.08%	-478	-9.22%	5,182
Worcester	1,529	42.26%	1,974	54.56%	94	2.60%	13	0.36%	8	0.22%	-445	-12.30%	3,618
Totals	116,513	48.85%	115,908	48.59%	3,302	1.38%	2,323	0.97%	487	0.20%	605	0.25%	238,533

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Baltimore (City)
• Dorchester
• Prince George's
• St. Mary's

See also

• United States presidential elections in Maryland
• 1908 United States presidential election
• 1908 United States elections

Notes

1. Six of the eight highest electors were for Bryan, but the highest Taft elector had 605 more votes than the highest Bryan elector.

References

1. Phillips, Kevin P.; The Emerging Republican Majority, pp. 29-35 ISBN   9780691163246
2. ‘Taft Workers Hear Maryland Is Safe – Secretary Hitchcock Cheered by News from the Congressional Committee’; New York Times , September 18, 1908. p. 3
3. ‘Bryan Makes Reply to Hearst’s Charge: Declares Statement That He Sought Political Trade with Editor Absolutely False’; New York Times, September 13, 1908, p. 3
4. ‘Helps in Maryland: President's War on Gompers Strong Aid to Taft – Every Gain Counts Large: Simplified Ballot Law Will Benefit the Republicans’; The Washington Post , October 5, 1908, p. 1
5. ‘President Worried about Labor Vote: James B. Reynolds, After Investigation, Reports Situation as Unsatisfactory’; New York Times, October 10, 1908, p. 4
6. ‘Very Close in Maryland: Taft and Bryan Alternate in Lead’; New York Times, November 5, 1908, p. 2
7. ‘Taft Gets Part of Maryland Vote – Trick Ballot Prevented Republicans from Getting a Big Plurality’; New York Times, November 6, 1908, p. 2
8. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
9. Dave Leip's U.S. Election Atlas; Presidential General Election Results – Maryland
10. Géoelections; Popular Vote at the Presidential Election for 1908 (.xlsx file for €30 including full minor party figures)