1912 United States presidential election in Illinois

1912 United States presidential election in Illinois

←  1908 November 5, 1912 1916  →

Nominee Woodrow Wilson Theodore Roosevelt Party Democratic Progressive Home state New Jersey New York Running mate Thomas R. Marshall Hiram Johnson Electoral vote 29 0 Popular vote 405,048 386,478 Percentage 35.34% 33.72%   Nominee William Howard Taft Eugene V. Debs Party Republican Socialist Home state Ohio Indiana Running mate Nicholas M. Butler Emil Seidel Electoral vote 0 0 Popular vote 253,593 81,278 Percentage 22.13% 7.09%

County Results Wilson   30–40%   40–50%   50–60%   60–70% Roosevelt   30–40%   40–50%   50–60%   60–70% Taft   30–40%   40–50%   50–60%

President before election William Howard Taft Republican Elected President Woodrow Wilson Democratic

The 1912 United States presidential election in Illinois took place on November 5, 1912, as part of the 1912 United States presidential election. State voters chose 29 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Illinois was won by New Jersey Governor Woodrow Wilson (D–New Jersey), running with Indiana governor Thomas R. Marshall, with 35.34% of the popular vote, against the 26th president of the United States Theodore Roosevelt (P–New York), running with California governor Hiram Johnson, with 33.72% of the popular vote, the 27th president of the United States William Howard Taft (R–Ohio), running with Columbia University President Nicholas Murray Butler, with 22.13% of the popular vote and the five-time candidate of the Socialist Party of America for President of the United States Eugene V. Debs (S–Indiana), running with the first Socialist mayor of a major city in the United States Emil Seidel, with 7.09% of the popular vote. ^[1]

As of the 2024 presidential election ^[update] , this is the last election in which Lee County, Ogle County and Edwards County did not support the Republican nominee. ^[2]

Primaries

The first state-wide presidential preference primaries were held in Illinois on April 9, 1912, alongside primaries for other federal and state offices. The Democratic Party ballot included Champ Clark and Woodrow Wilson. The Prohibition Party ballot included Eugene W. Chafin. The Republican Party ballot included William Howard Taft, Theodore Roosevelt, and Robert M. La Follette. The Socialist Party of America ballot included Eugene V. Debs. ^[3]

Delegates were allocated by congressional district, with each district awarding two delegates, and an additional eight delegates elected at-large. ^[4] The total vote in the state-run primary elections was 732,222. ^[3]

Democratic

Main article: 1912 Democratic Party presidential primaries

1912 Illinois Democratic presidential primary

April 9, 1912 (1912-04-09) 1916  →

Candidate Champ Clark Woodrow Wilson Home state Missouri New Jersey Delegate count 58 0 Popular vote 218,483 75,527 Percentage 74.31% 25.69%

Results by county Results by congressional district Clark:   50-60%   60-70%   70-80%   80-90%   >90% Wilson:   50-60%   60-70%

A primary for the Democratic presidential candidate was held in Illinois on April 9, 1912. Clark defeated Wilson, ^[3] winning 24 of the 25 congressional districts and all 58 of the delegates. Wilson, despite winning the 16th district, recived no delegates due to the unit rule, ^[5] which forced states to give all their votes to one candidate, even if that state elected delegates by congressional district. ^[6]

1912 Illinois Democratic presidential primary ^[3]

Candidate		Votes	%
Champ Clark		218,483	74.31
Woodrow Wilson		75,527	25.69
Total votes		294,010	100

Prohibition Party

A primary for the Prohibition presidential candidate was held in Illinois on April 9, 1912. ^[3]

1912 Illinois Prohibition presidential primary ^[3]

Candidate		Votes	%
Eugene W. Chafin		40	11.53
Scattering		307	88.47
Total votes		347	100

Republican

Main article: 1912 Republican Party presidential primaries

1912 Illinois Republican presidential primary

April 9, 1912 (1912-04-09) 1916  →

Candidate Theodore Roosevelt William Howard Taft Robert La Follette Home state New York Ohio Wisconsin Delegate count 56 2 0 Popular vote 266,917 127,481 42,692 Percentage 61.07% 29.17% 9.77%

Results by county Results by congressional district Roosevelt:   40-50%   50-60%   60-70%   70-80% Taft:   40-50%   50-60%

A primary for the Republican presidential candidate was held in Illinois on April 9, 1912. The primary saw Taft, supported by the Lorimer organization, face off against Roosevelt and Robert M. La Follette. Roosevelt defeated Taft two-to-one in the state, winning 24 of the 25 congressional districts, and therefore 56 of the delegates. ^{[4] [7]} La Follette performed strongest in mining and union labor districts. ^[8] The New York Times attributed Roosevelt's victory in the state to anti-Lorimer sentiment, despite Taft's private dislike of Senator William Lorimer. Additionally, some of the support was attributed to anti-reciprocity sentiment held among farmers in the state. ^[7]

1912 Illinois Republican presidential primary ^[3]

Candidate		Votes	%
Theodore Roosevelt		266,917	61.07
William H. Taft (incumbent)		127,481	29.17
Robert M. La Follette		42,692	9.77
Total votes		437,090	100

Socialist Party

A primary for the Socialist Party of America presidential candidate was held in Illinois on April 9, 1912. ^[3]

1912 Illinois Socialist presidential primary ^[3]

Candidate		Votes	%
Eugene V. Debs		334	43.10
Scattering		441	56.90
Total votes		775	100

Results

The total vote in the general election was 1,146,173. ^[1] The general elections coincided with those for House as well as those for state offices. ^[1]

1912 United States presidential election in Illinois ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Woodrow Wilson	405,048	35.34%
	Progressive	Theodore Roosevelt	386,478	33.72%
	Republican	William Howard Taft (incumbent)	253,593	22.13%
	Socialist	Eugene V. Debs	81,278	7.09%
	Prohibition	Eugene W. Chafin	15,710	1.37%
	Socialist Labor	Arthur Reimer	4,066	0.35%
Total votes			1,146,173	100%

Chicago results

1912 United States presidential election in Chicago [9] [10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage
	Progressive	Theodore Roosevelt	150,290	37.18%
	Democratic	Woodrow Wilson	124,297	30.75%
	Republican	William Howard Taft	71,030	17.57%
	Socialist	Eugene Debs	53,743	13.30%
	Prohibition	Eugene Chafin	2,806	0.69%
	Others		2,040	0.50%
Totals			404,206	100.00%

Results by county

County	Thomas Woodrow Wilson Democratic		William Howard Taft Republican		Theodore Roosevelt Progressive "Bull Moose"		Eugene Victor Debs Socialist		Various candidates Other parties		Margin [a]		Total votes cast [11]
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Adams	6,952	48.74%	2,733	19.16%	3,780	26.50%	559	3.92%	239	1.68%	3,172	22.24%	14,263
Alexander	1,936	40.39%	2,003	41.79%	709	14.79%	107	2.23%	38	0.79%	-67 [b]	-1.40%	4,793
Bond	1,278	37.23%	1,152	33.56%	725	21.12%	64	1.86%	214	6.23%	126 [b]	3.67%	3,433
Boone	540	14.67%	1,361	36.96%	1,624	44.11%	113	3.07%	44	1.20%	-263 [c]	-7.14%	3,682
Brown	1,358	58.74%	381	16.48%	524	22.66%	12	0.52%	37	1.60%	834	36.07%	2,312
Bureau	2,800	30.59%	1,816	19.84%	3,738	40.84%	549	6.00%	250	2.73%	-938	-10.25%	9,153
Calhoun	602	49.43%	373	30.62%	154	12.64%	22	1.81%	67	5.50%	229 [b]	18.80%	1,218
Carroll	1,098	26.71%	1,577	38.36%	1,257	30.58%	84	2.04%	95	2.31%	320 [c]	7.78%	4,111
Cass	2,223	52.99%	719	17.14%	1,086	25.89%	103	2.46%	64	1.53%	1,137	27.10%	4,195
Champaign	4,454	35.43%	3,220	25.62%	4,481	35.65%	172	1.37%	243	1.93%	-27	-0.21%	12,570
Christian	3,821	48.48%	1,994	25.30%	1,464	18.57%	376	4.77%	227	2.88%	1,827 [b]	23.18%	7,882
Clark	2,517	45.34%	1,897	34.17%	943	16.98%	49	0.88%	146	2.63%	620 [b]	11.17%	5,552
Clay	1,926	44.37%	1,622	37.36%	624	14.37%	84	1.94%	85	1.96%	304 [b]	7.00%	4,341
Clinton	2,674	56.29%	973	20.48%	775	16.32%	265	5.58%	63	1.33%	1,701 [b]	35.81%	4,750
Coles	3,453	40.98%	2,263	26.86%	2,437	28.92%	170	2.02%	103	1.22%	1,016	12.06%	8,426
Cook	130,702	30.44%	74,851	17.44%	166,061	38.68%	52,659	12.27%	5,039	1.17%	-35,359	-8.24%	429,312
Crawford	2,691	47.41%	1,266	22.30%	1,525	26.87%	65	1.15%	129	2.27%	1,166	20.54%	5,676
Cumberland	1,673	48.63%	990	28.78%	692	20.12%	31	0.90%	54	1.57%	683 [b]	19.85%	3,440
DeKalb	1,568	21.44%	1,776	24.28%	3,643	49.81%	205	2.80%	122	1.67%	-1,867 [c]	-25.53%	7,314
DeWitt	1,880	39.79%	1,346	28.49%	1,306	27.64%	119	2.52%	74	1.57%	534 [b]	11.30%	4,725
Douglas	1,633	36.56%	1,386	31.03%	1,277	28.59%	53	1.19%	118	2.64%	247 [b]	5.53%	4,467
DuPage	2,236	28.09%	1,136	14.27%	4,169	52.37%	193	2.42%	227	2.85%	-1,933	-24.28%	7,961
Edgar	3,479	47.02%	2,430	32.84%	1,244	16.81%	91	1.23%	155	2.09%	1,049 [b]	14.18%	7,399
Edwards	650	27.04%	817	33.99%	818	34.03%	16	0.67%	103	4.28%	-1 [c]	-0.04%	2,404
Effingham	2,575	59.76%	1,002	23.25%	622	14.43%	46	1.07%	64	1.49%	1,573 [b]	36.50%	4,309
Fayette	2,782	46.04%	1,481	24.51%	1,558	25.79%	82	1.36%	139	2.30%	1,224	20.26%	6,042
Ford	1,035	27.91%	832	22.44%	1,729	46.63%	23	0.62%	89	2.40%	-694	-18.72%	3,708
Franklin	2,435	41.92%	2,098	36.12%	731	12.58%	407	7.01%	138	2.38%	337 [b]	5.80%	5,809
Fulton	3,902	35.06%	2,263	20.33%	3,334	29.96%	1,334	11.99%	297	2.67%	568	5.10%	11,130
Gallatin	1,697	54.55%	1,051	33.78%	203	6.53%	107	3.44%	53	1.70%	646 [b]	20.77%	3,111
Greene	2,801	57.44%	1,064	21.82%	831	17.04%	124	2.54%	56	1.15%	1,737 [b]	35.62%	4,876
Grundy	1,172	24.77%	1,380	29.17%	1,919	40.56%	180	3.80%	80	1.69%	-539 [c]	-11.39%	4,731
Hamilton	1,920	48.44%	1,242	31.33%	668	16.85%	79	1.99%	55	1.39%	678 [b]	17.10%	3,964
Hancock	3,692	48.80%	1,577	20.84%	1,937	25.60%	188	2.48%	172	2.27%	1,755	23.20%	7,566
Hardin	644	40.63%	691	43.60%	153	9.65%	47	2.97%	50	3.15%	-47 [b]	-2.97%	1,585
Henderson	721	30.97%	648	27.84%	871	37.41%	31	1.33%	57	2.45%	-150	-6.44%	2,328
Henry	2,219	24.22%	1,859	20.29%	4,505	49.17%	376	4.10%	204	2.23%	-2,286	-24.95%	9,163
Iroquois	2,474	32.92%	1,866	24.83%	2,959	39.37%	52	0.69%	165	2.20%	-485	-6.45%	7,516
Jackson	3,323	42.42%	2,780	35.49%	1,339	17.09%	268	3.42%	123	1.57%	543 [b]	6.93%	7,833
Jasper	2,042	51.77%	1,227	31.11%	545	13.82%	16	0.41%	114	2.89%	815 [b]	20.66%	3,944
Jefferson	3,237	48.94%	1,834	27.73%	1,294	19.56%	142	2.15%	107	1.62%	1,403 [b]	21.21%	6,614
Jersey	1,573	55.06%	838	29.33%	381	13.34%	12	0.42%	53	1.86%	735 [b]	25.73%	2,857
Jo Daviess	2,226	40.77%	1,233	22.58%	1,747	32.00%	139	2.55%	115	2.11%	479	8.77%	5,460
Johnson	952	32.57%	1,025	35.07%	809	27.68%	66	2.26%	71	2.43%	-73 [b]	-2.50%	2,923
Kane	4,394	23.05%	2,415	12.67%	11,494	60.29%	529	2.77%	234	1.23%	-7,100	-37.24%	19,066
Kankakee	2,532	29.01%	3,178	36.41%	2,792	31.99%	141	1.62%	85	0.97%	386 [c]	4.42%	8,728
Kendall	531	20.03%	534	20.14%	1,526	57.56%	21	0.79%	39	1.47%	-992 [c]	-37.42%	2,651
Knox	2,758	26.35%	1,750	16.72%	5,386	51.46%	405	3.87%	168	1.61%	-2,628	-25.11%	10,467
Lake	2,436	24.09%	2,183	21.59%	4,888	48.33%	445	4.40%	161	1.59%	-2,452	-24.25%	10,113
LaSalle	7,036	35.56%	4,858	24.56%	6,918	34.97%	636	3.21%	336	1.70%	118	0.60%	19,784
Lawrence	2,550	47.93%	1,617	30.39%	774	14.55%	170	3.20%	209	3.93%	933 [b]	17.54%	5,320
Lee	1,995	31.00%	1,482	23.03%	2,747	42.68%	115	1.79%	97	1.51%	-752	-11.68%	6,436
Livingston	3,334	36.01%	2,444	26.40%	3,230	34.89%	71	0.77%	179	1.93%	104	1.12%	9,258
Logan	3,229	48.19%	1,397	20.85%	1,776	26.50%	163	2.43%	136	2.03%	1,453	21.68%	6,701
Macon	4,435	36.12%	3,356	27.33%	3,976	32.38%	293	2.39%	218	1.78%	459	3.74%	12,278
Macoupin	4,902	47.53%	2,177	21.11%	2,147	20.82%	806	7.81%	282	2.73%	2,725 [b]	26.42%	10,314
Madison	7,155	40.04%	5,462	30.57%	3,197	17.89%	1,703	9.53%	351	1.96%	1,693 [b]	9.48%	17,868
Marion	3,493	44.26%	1,586	20.10%	2,099	26.60%	498	6.31%	216	2.74%	1,394	17.66%	7,892
Marshall	1,685	44.72%	790	20.97%	1,180	31.32%	42	1.11%	71	1.88%	505	13.40%	3,768
Mason	2,173	52.73%	948	23.00%	859	20.84%	45	1.09%	96	2.33%	1,225 [b]	29.73%	4,121
Massac	599	21.47%	1,341	48.06%	788	28.24%	21	0.75%	41	1.47%	553 [c]	19.82%	2,790
McDonough	2,959	42.44%	1,876	26.90%	1,785	25.60%	181	2.60%	172	2.47%	1,083 [b]	15.53%	6,973
McHenry	1,913	25.69%	2,370	31.82%	3,046	40.90%	39	0.52%	79	1.06%	-676 [c]	-9.08%	7,447
McLean	5,356	35.02%	4,624	30.23%	4,350	28.44%	562	3.67%	402	2.63%	732 [b]	4.79%	15,294
Menard	1,530	48.19%	620	19.53%	903	28.44%	60	1.89%	62	1.95%	627	19.75%	3,175
Mercer	1,602	32.07%	959	19.20%	2,093	41.89%	222	4.44%	120	2.40%	-491	-9.83%	4,996
Monroe	1,398	44.31%	1,433	45.42%	299	9.48%	19	0.60%	6	0.19%	-35 [b]	-1.11%	3,155
Montgomery	3,705	45.69%	2,195	27.07%	1,476	18.20%	469	5.78%	264	3.26%	1,510 [b]	18.62%	8,109
Morgan	3,648	48.11%	1,466	19.34%	2,090	27.57%	193	2.55%	185	2.44%	1,558	20.55%	7,582
Moultrie	1,501	46.96%	747	23.37%	853	26.69%	29	0.91%	66	2.07%	648	20.28%	3,196
Ogle	1,750	25.95%	2,014	29.86%	2,720	40.33%	57	0.85%	204	3.02%	-706 [c]	-10.47%	6,745
Peoria	8,364	37.98%	2,594	11.78%	9,229	41.91%	1,571	7.13%	262	1.19%	-865	-3.93%	22,020
Perry	2,107	44.53%	1,341	28.34%	894	18.89%	215	4.54%	175	3.70%	766 [b]	16.19%	4,732
Piatt	1,417	37.84%	1,064	28.41%	1,150	30.71%	36	0.96%	78	2.08%	267	7.13%	3,745
Pike	3,371	50.90%	1,668	25.18%	1,169	17.65%	253	3.82%	162	2.45%	1,703 [b]	25.71%	6,623
Pope	664	27.68%	1,099	45.81%	587	24.47%	24	1.00%	25	1.04%	-435 [b]	-18.13%	2,399
Pulaski	978	30.73%	1,632	51.27%	454	14.26%	78	2.45%	41	1.29%	-654 [b]	-20.55%	3,183
Putnam	424	29.00%	403	27.56%	583	39.88%	28	1.92%	24	1.64%	-159	-10.88%	1,462
Randolph	3,217	50.38%	1,548	24.24%	1,169	18.31%	308	4.82%	144	2.25%	1,669 [b]	26.14%	6,386
Richland	1,800	48.39%	862	23.17%	811	21.80%	114	3.06%	133	3.58%	938 [b]	25.22%	3,720
Rock Island	3,997	26.14%	2,394	15.66%	6,506	42.55%	2,128	13.92%	264	1.73%	-2,509	-16.41%	15,289
Saline	3,599	44.37%	2,254	27.79%	1,468	18.10%	660	8.14%	130	1.60%	1,345 [b]	16.58%	8,111
Sangamon	8,406	42.25%	3,994	20.07%	6,196	31.14%	1,007	5.06%	294	1.48%	2,210	11.11%	19,897
Schuyler	1,714	50.00%	853	24.88%	694	20.25%	31	0.90%	136	3.97%	861 [b]	25.12%	3,428
Scott	1,341	54.53%	686	27.90%	379	15.41%	25	1.02%	28	1.14%	655 [b]	26.64%	2,459
Shelby	3,467	50.33%	1,629	23.65%	1,431	20.77%	121	1.76%	241	3.50%	1,838 [b]	26.68%	6,889
St. Clair	10,826	41.85%	8,156	31.53%	4,064	15.71%	2,498	9.66%	322	1.24%	2,670 [b]	10.32%	25,866
Stark	669	28.59%	549	23.46%	1,053	45.00%	41	1.75%	28	1.20%	-384	-16.41%	2,340
Stephenson	3,850	42.49%	1,367	15.09%	3,476	38.37%	215	2.37%	152	1.68%	374	4.13%	9,060
Tazewell	3,654	47.35%	1,054	13.66%	2,500	32.40%	371	4.81%	138	1.79%	1,154	14.95%	7,717
Union	2,648	60.36%	1,194	27.22%	458	10.44%	23	0.52%	64	1.46%	1,454 [b]	33.14%	4,387
Vermilion	5,576	31.80%	5,655	32.25%	4,984	28.43%	714	4.07%	604	3.44%	-79 [b]	-0.45%	17,533
Wabash	1,676	50.41%	841	25.29%	601	18.08%	72	2.17%	135	4.06%	835 [b]	25.11%	3,325
Warren	2,080	34.86%	915	15.34%	2,627	44.03%	237	3.97%	107	1.79%	-547	-9.17%	5,966
Washington	1,654	39.06%	1,304	30.80%	1,058	24.99%	135	3.19%	83	1.96%	350 [b]	8.27%	4,234
Wayne	2,378	42.26%	1,586	28.19%	1,418	25.20%	74	1.32%	171	3.04%	792 [b]	14.07%	5,627
White	2,708	51.11%	1,692	31.94%	591	11.16%	182	3.44%	125	2.36%	1,016 [b]	19.18%	5,298
Whiteside	1,996	25.89%	1,437	18.64%	3,904	50.63%	91	1.18%	283	3.67%	-1,908	-24.74%	7,711
Will	4,717	28.13%	3,331	19.87%	8,092	48.26%	467	2.79%	160	0.95%	-3,375	-20.13%	16,767
Williamson	3,258	35.16%	3,209	34.63%	1,765	19.05%	706	7.62%	329	3.55%	49 [b]	0.53%	9,267
Winnebago	2,276	17.37%	2,537	19.36%	7,089	54.09%	955	7.29%	248	1.89%	-4,552 [c]	-34.73%	13,105
Woodford	2,051	45.06%	850	18.67%	1,495	32.84%	83	1.82%	73	1.60%	556	12.21%	4,552
Totals	405,048	35.34%	253,593	22.13%	386,478	33.72%	81,278	7.09%	19,776	1.73%	18,570	1.62%	1,146,173

See also

• United States presidential elections in Illinois

Notes

1. Because Roosevelt finished ahead of Taft in Illinois as a whole, all vote and percentage margins give are Wilson minus Roosevelt unless stated in the total for the county in question.
2. In this county where Roosevelt ran third behind both Taft and Wilson, the margin given is Wilson vote minus Taft vote and percentage margin Wilson percentage minus Taft percentage.
3. In this county where Wilson ran third behind both Taft and Roosevelt, margin given is Taft vote minus Roosevelt vote and percentage margin Taft percentage minus Roosevelt percentage.

References

1. "OFFICIAL VOTE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS CAST AT THE General Election, November 5, 1912. Judicial Elections, June 3, 1912. Special Elections, 1911 and 1912. ALSO The Official Vote Cast for President at the Elections of 1900, 1904, and 1908; the Vote for Governor in 1904 and 1908, and the Vote for State Treasurer and Superintendent of Public Instruction in 1910" (PDF). Illinois State Board of Elections. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 31, 2021. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
2. Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004, pp. 181-186 ISBN   0786422173
3. "Blue Book of the State of Illinois". Illinois Office of Secretary of State. 1914. pp. 464–465, 492–495. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
4. "Illinois Delegates Elected". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved December 2, 2025.
5. "ILLINOIS FIGHT ENDS IN DEMOCRATIC SPLIT". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved December 6, 2025.
6. Magruder, Frank Abbott (1921). American Government in 1921: With a Consideration of the Problems of Democracy. Allyn and Bacon. p. 235.
7. "ILLINOIS". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved December 2, 2025.
8. "ROOSEVELT WINS IN ILLINOIS BY 2 TO 1 OVER TAFT". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved December 2, 2025.
9. "CHICAGO'S VOTE". The Chicago Tribune. November 7, 1912. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
10. "REVISED CHICAGO AND COOK COUNTY TOTALS". The Chicago Tribune. November 7, 1912. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
11. Illinois State Board of Elections; Vote for President – November 5, 1912: Highest Aggregate vote in Each County