1912 United States presidential election in Florida

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1912 United States presidential election in Florida
Flag of Florida (1900-1985).svg
  1908 November 5, 1912 1916  
  Woodrow Wilson-H&E.jpg Eugene Debs portrait.jpeg
Nominee Woodrow Wilson Eugene V. Debs
Party Democratic Socialist
Home state New Jersey Indiana
Running mate Thomas R. Marshall Emil Seidel
Electoral vote60
Popular vote35,3434,806
Percentage69.52%9.45%

  Unsuccessful 1912 2.jpg William Howard Taft Portrait (3x4 cropped).jpg
Nominee Theodore Roosevelt William Howard Taft
Party Progressive Republican
Home state New York Ohio
Running mate Hiram Johnson Nicholas Murray Butler
Electoral vote00
Popular vote4,5554,279
Percentage8.96%8.42%

Florida Presidential Election Results 1912.svg
County Results
Wilson
  50–60%
  60–70%
  70–80%
  80–90%

The 1912 United States presidential election in Florida was held on November 5, 1912. Voters chose six representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Contents

Ever since the disfranchisement of black Americans at the beginning of the 1890s, Florida had been a one-party state ruled by the Democratic Party. Because, 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, its Republican Party between 1872 and 1888 was entirely dependent upon black votes. An illustration of the original Florida GOP's dependence upon black votes can be seen in that, as late as the landmark court case of Smith v. Allwright , half of Florida's registered Republicans were still black [1] – although very few blacks in Florida had ever voted within the previous fifty-five years. Thus this disfranchisement of blacks and poor whites by a poll tax introduced in 1889 [2] left Florida nearly as devoid of Republican adherents as Louisiana, Mississippi or South Carolina. [3]

The Democratic Party won every county in Florida in each election from 1892 [a] until 1904, and all bar Calhoun County in 1908. [4] Only once since 1897 – and then only for a single term – had a Republican served in either house of the state legislature.

Despite this disfranchisement of most of the state's lower classes, by the 1912 election, southern Florida – settled after the Civil War – was to develop a considerable socialist movement at the beginning of the 1910s – most strongly in Tampa. [5] Although this movement had no effect on the overall presidential result – Democrat Woodrow Wilson was to win every county with an absolute majority of votes – it did allow Socialist Eugene Debs to achieve the unique feat for an American socialist of finishing second, ahead of both factions of the splintered national Republican Party.

Results

1912 United States presidential election in Florida [6]
PartyCandidateRunning matePopular voteElectoral vote
Count%Count%
Democratic Woodrow Wilson of New Jersey Thomas R. Marshall of Indiana 35,34369.52%6100.00%
Socialist Eugene Debs of Indiana Emil Seidel of Wisconsin 4,8069.45%00.00%
Progressive Theodore Roosevelt of New York Hiram W. Johnson of California 4,5558.96%00.00%
Republican William Howard Taft of Ohio (incumbent) Nicholas Murray Butler of New York 4,2798.42%00.00%
Prohibition Eugene Chafin of Illinois Aaron Watkins of Ohio 1,8543.65%00.00%
Total50,837100.00%6100.00%

Results by county

Thomas Woodrow Wilson

Democratic

William Howard Taft

Republican

Eugene Victor Debs

Socialist

Theodore Roosevelt Jr.

Progressive "Bull Moose"

Eugene Wilder Chafin

Prohibition

Total votes cast
County# [7]  %# [7]  %# [8]  %# [8]  %# [8]  %#
Alachua 1,30475.33%22112.77%563.24%754.33%754.33%1,731
Baker 16850.76%3711.18%319.37%9328.10%20.60%331
Bradford 65676.55%9511.09%101.17%404.67%566.53%857
Brevard 35760.51%6110.34%8213.90%8213.90%81.36%590
Calhoun 33250.30%6710.15%15223.03%598.94%507.58%660
Citrus 41782.90%112.19%214.17%448.75%101.99%503
Clay 27971.54%266.67%5413.85%215.38%102.56%390
Columbia 52077.61%669.85%233.43%507.46%111.64%670
Dade 1,17165.71%995.56%18810.55%29116.33%331.85%1,782
DeSoto 84767.28%1108.74%13510.72%786.20%897.07%1,259
Duval 3,51475.26%2435.20%3507.50%48510.39%771.65%4,669
Escambia 1,59377.11%723.48%1587.65%2029.78%411.98%2,066
Franklin 26668.21%5814.87%389.74%235.90%51.28%390
Gadsden 60978.99%759.73%314.02%547.00%20.26%771
Hamilton 40572.71%468.26%6010.77%244.31%223.95%557
Hernando 27271.02%184.70%4210.97%225.74%297.57%383
Hillsborough 2,64167.63%1594.07%67217.21%2696.89%1644.20%3,905
Holmes 41161.16%527.74%7911.76%11016.37%202.98%672
Jackson 1,20571.01%1639.61%1468.60%684.01%1156.78%1,697
Jefferson 45982.55%478.45%91.62%397.01%20.36%556
Lafayette 47376.79%7311.85%81.30%111.79%518.28%616
Lake 59673.49%9211.34%394.81%637.77%212.59%811
Lee 43260.50%385.32%11616.25%9713.59%314.34%714
Leon 54681.98%568.41%152.25%466.91%30.45%666
Levy 37570.49%7413.91%305.64%244.51%295.45%532
Liberty 20677.74%3212.08%72.64%186.79%20.75%265
Madison 48087.59%162.92%193.47%305.47%30.55%548
Manatee 71268.73%555.31%989.46%10810.42%636.08%1,036
Marion 1,16570.73%17910.87%1247.53%1177.10%623.76%1,647
Monroe 1,02355.72%41422.55%22112.04%1528.28%261.42%1,836
Nassau 44182.89%387.14%315.83%173.20%50.94%532
Orange 1,25668.15%22812.37%1246.73%1347.27%1015.48%1,843
Osceola 51257.59%11012.37%647.20%15917.89%444.95%889
Palm Beach 45863.17%314.28%7710.62%14620.14%131.79%725
Pasco 48567.45%608.34%648.90%7410.29%365.01%719
Pinellas 85360.16%876.14%18913.33%25017.63%392.75%1,418
Polk 1,52071.43%1064.98%29113.67%1416.63%703.29%2,128
Putnam 77465.93%22919.51%675.71%534.51%514.34%1,174
St. Johns 83673.08%453.93%11610.14%13211.54%151.31%1,144
St. Lucie 35269.57%458.89%6412.65%367.11%91.78%506
Santa Rosa 59266.29%707.84%889.85%485.38%9510.64%893
Sumter 41774.73%223.94%193.41%7112.72%295.20%558
Suwannee 71469.59%545.26%21420.86%292.83%151.46%1,026
Taylor 23665.01%5615.43%92.48%195.23%4311.85%363
Volusia 94267.48%16211.60%987.02%725.16%1228.74%1,396
Wakulla 21577.06%258.96%227.89%155.38%20.72%279
Walton 61257.95%747.01%696.53%29628.03%50.47%1,056
Washington 69464.38%827.61%18617.25%686.31%484.45%1,078
Totals35,34369.52%4,2798.42%4,8069.45%4,5558.96%1,8543.65%50,837

See also

Notes

  1. In the 1892 presidential election, Republican Benjamin Harrison was not on the ballot and the party backed Populist James B. Weaver.

References

  1. See Price, Hugh Douglas; ‘The Negro and Florida Politics, 1944-1954’; The Journal of Politics , Vol. 17, No. 2 (May, 1955), pp. 198-220
  2. Silbey, Joel H. and Bogue, Allan G.; The History of American Electoral Behavior, p. 210 ISBN   140087114X
  3. Phillips, Kevin P.; The Emerging Republican Majority, pp. 208, 210 ISBN   9780691163246
  4. Robinson, Edgar Eugene; The Presidential Vote; 1896-1932 (second edition); pp. 156-157 Published 1947 by Stanford University Press
  5. Ford, Edward J.; ‘Life on the Campaign Trail: a Political Anthropology of Local Politics’ (thesis), published 2008 by University of South Florida, pp. 114-118
  6. Leip, David. "1912 Presidential General Election Results – Florida". U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved June 12, 2017.
  7. 1 2 Robinson; The Presidential Vote, pp. 156-161
  8. 1 2 3 "Presidential Election of 1912 – Map by Counties (.xlsx file for €15)". Géoelections. Archived from the original on June 13, 2018. Retrieved June 6, 2017.