1912 Democratic Party presidential primaries

1912 Democratic Party presidential primaries

March 19 to June 4, 1912 1916  →
1,088 delegates to the 1912 Democratic National Convention 726 (two-thirds) votes needed to win
Candidate Woodrow Wilson Champ Clark Home state New Jersey Missouri Delegate count 324 440.5 Contests won 5 5 Popular vote 435,169 405,537 Percentage 44.6% 41.6%   Candidate Judson Harmon Oscar Underwood Home state Ohio Alabama Delegate count 148 117.5 Contests won 1 – Popular vote 116,294 – Percentage 11.9% –
First place by popular vote First place by convention roll call      Wilson     Clark     Underwood      Harmon     Baldwin     Various [a]
Previous Democratic nominee William Jennings Bryan Democratic nominee Woodrow Wilson

From March 19 to June 4, 1912, voters of the Democratic Party elected delegates to the 1912 Democratic National Convention for the purpose of choosing a nominee for president in the 1912 election. ^[1]

The primaries were inconclusive, with Speaker of the House Champ Clark holding a lead over Woodrow Wilson, but neither candidate close to the two-thirds of the delegates necessary to secure the nomination. In third place, Ohio governor Judson Harmon boasted the support of his home state and New York, the largest single delegation. House Majority Leader Oscar Underwood had strong support from the Deep South but little appeal outside the region.

At the convention, Wilson eventually secured the nomination over Clark after forty back-and-forth ballots.

Candidates

Nominee

Candidate			Experience	Home state	Campaign	Popular vote	Contests won	Running mate
Woodrow Wilson			Governor of New Jersey (1910–1913) President of Princeton University (1902–1910)	New Jersey	(Campaign) Secured nomination: July 2, 1912	435,169 (44.6%)	[ data missing ]	Thomas R. Marshall

Defeated at convention

Candidate			Experience	Home state	Campaign	Popular vote	Contests won
Champ Clark			Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (1911–1919) Leader of the House Democratic Caucus (1909–1921) U.S. Representative from Missouri (1893–95, 1897–1921)	Missouri	(Campaign) Defeated at convention: July 2, 1912	405,537 (41.6%)	[ data missing ]
Judson Harmon			Governor of Ohio (1909–1913) United States Attorney General (1895–1897)	Ohio	(Campaign) Defeated at convention: July 2, 1912	116,294 (11.9%)	[ data missing ]
Oscar Underwood			House Majority Leader (1911–1915) House Minority Whip (1899–1901) U.S. Representative from Alabama (1895–96, 1897–1915)	Alabama	(Campaign) Defeated at convention: July 2, 1912	—	[ data missing ]
Simeon E. Baldwin			Governor of Connecticut (1911–1915) Chief Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court (1907–1910) Associate Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court (1897–1907)	Connecticut	Withdrew at convention	—	[ data missing ]

Favorite sons

• John Burke, Governor of North Dakota (endorsed Wilson)
• Thomas R. Marshall, Governor of Indiana

Results

Total

Candidate	Votes	%
Woodrow Wilson	435,169	44.64
Champ Clark	405,537	41.60
Judson Harmon	116,294	11.93
John Burke	9,357	0.96
Others	8,418	0.86
Total	974,775	100.00
Source: [2]

By state

State	Date	Woodrow Wilson	Champ Clark	Judson Harmon	John Burke	Others
North Dakota	March 19	N/A	N/A	N/A	100.0% 9,357	N/A
Wisconsin	April 2	55.7% 45,945	44.2% 36,464	N/A	N/A	0.2% 148
Illinois	April 9	25.7 75,527	74.3% 218,483	N/A	N/A	N/A
Pennsylvania	April 13	100.0% 98,000 [b]	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Nebraska	April 19	27.9% 14,289	41.0% 21,027	24.3% 12,454	N/A	6.8% 3,499
Oregon	April 19	53.0% 9,588	43.4% 7,857	3.3% 606	N/A	0.3% 49
Massachusetts	April 30	29.9% 15,002	68.9% 34,575	N/A	N/A	1.2% 627
Maryland	May 6	34.3% 21,490	54.4% 34,021	11.3% 7,070	N/A	N/A
California	May 14	28.5% 17,214	71.5% 43,163	N/A	N/A	N/A
Ohio	May 21	45.7% 85,084	1.3% 2,428	51.7% 96,164	N/A	1.3% 2,440
New Jersey	May 28	98.9% 48,336	1.1% 522 [c]	N/A	N/A	N/A
South Dakota	June 4	35.2% 4,694	32.0% 4,275 20.4% 2,722 [d]	N/A	N/A	12.4% 1,655

Legend:		1st place (popular vote)		2nd place (popular vote)		3rd place (popular vote)

See also

• Republican Party presidential primaries, 1912
• White primary

Notes

1. Favorite sons received the support of Indiana (Thomas R. Marshall) and North Dakota (John Burke).
2. "Unofficial" figure
3. Write-in candidate
4. The pro-Clark vote was split between two slates of delegates. The first one, labeled "Wilson-Clark-Bryan" received 32% while the second one, labeled "Champ Clark" received 20%. Clark's people accused the latter slate of being a scheme to split the vote.

References

1. Kalb, Deborah (February 19, 2016). Guide to U.S. Elections - Google Books. ISBN   9781483380353 . Retrieved February 19, 2016.
2. Presidential elections, 1789-1996. Congressional Quarterly. 1997. pp. 149–150. ISBN   9781568020655.{{cite book}}: |archive-url= requires |url= (help)