1912 United States presidential election in North Carolina

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1912 United States presidential election in North Carolina
Flag of North Carolina (1885-1991).svg
  1908 November 5, 1912 1916  
  Woodrow Wilson-H&E.jpg Unsuccessful 1912 2.jpg William Howard Taft Portrait (3x4 cropped).jpg
Nominee Woodrow Wilson Theodore Roosevelt William Howard Taft
Party Democratic Progressive Republican
Home state New Jersey New York Ohio
Running mate Thomas R. Marshall Hiram Johnson Nicholas Murray Butler
Electoral vote1200
Popular vote133,02169,13029,139
Percentage59.24%28.34%11.95%

North Carolina Presidential Election Results 1912.svg
County Results

President before election

William Howard Taft
Republican

Elected President

Woodrow Wilson
Democratic

The 1912 United States presidential election in North Carolina took place on November 5, 1912, as part of the 1912 United States presidential election. North Carolina voters chose 12 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president. Like all former Confederate states, North Carolina would during its “Redemption” develop a politics based upon Jim Crow laws, disfranchisement of its African-American population and dominance of the Democratic Party. However, unlike the Deep South, the Republican Party possessed sufficient historic Unionist white support from the mountains and northwestern Piedmont to gain a stable one-third of the statewide vote total in general elections even after blacks lost the right to vote. [1]

Contents

Following the Wilmington insurrection of 1898 and the collapse of its interracial coalition with the Populist Party, North Carolina's GOP turned extremely rapidly towards a “lily-white” strategy that went sufficiently far as to exclude blacks from the state party altogether. [2] Incumbent President Taft had been in October 1908 the first Republican candidate to tour the South. [3] Aided by opposition by developing manufacturers to prevalent Democratic populism, [3] and his willingness to accept black disfranchisement [4] and even exclusion from the state GOP, Taft improved the Republican performance, especially in previously Democratic western and Piedmont counties.

North Carolina was won by Princeton University President Woodrow Wilson (DVirginia), running with governor of Indiana Thomas R. Marshall, with 59.24 percent of the popular vote, against the 26th president of the United States Theodore Roosevelt (PNew York), running with governor of California Hiram Johnson, with 28.34 percent of the popular vote and the 27th president of the United States William Howard Taft (ROhio), running with Columbia University President Nicholas Murray Butler, with 11.95 percent of the popular vote. [5] As of the 2020 presidential election , this is the last election in which Wilkes County, Avery County, and Mitchell County did not support the Republican candidate. [6]

Results

1912 United States presidential election in North Carolina [5]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Woodrow Wilson 144,507 59.24%
Progressive Theodore Roosevelt 69,13028.34%
Republican William Howard Taft (incumbent)29,13911.95%
Socialist Eugene V. Debs 1,0250.42%
Prohibition Eugene W. Chafin 1170.05%
Total votes243,918 100%

Results by county

1912 United States presidential election in North Carolina by county [7]
County Woodrow Wilson
Democratic
William Howard Taft
Republican
Theodore Roosevelt
Progressive "Bull Moose"
Eugene Victor Debs
Socialist
Eugene Wilder Chafin
Prohibition
Margin [a]
%#%#%#%#%#%#
Currituck 97.80%6220.94%61.26%80.00%00.00%096.54%614
Northampton 93.66%1,6253.29%573.05%530.00%00.00%090.37% [b] 1,568
Bertie 93.79%1,5712.57%433.64%610.00%00.00%090.15%1,510
Halifax 92.85%2,3001.70%425.45%1350.00%00.00%087.40%2,165
Edgecombe 89.03%1,8514.91%1023.70%772.36%490.00%084.13% [b] 1,749
New Hanover 89.11%2,0216.17%1404.72%1070.00%00.00%082.94% [b] 1,881
Warren 86.20%9879.78%1124.02%460.00%00.00%076.42% [b] 875
Scotland 89.94%7511.08%98.98%750.00%00.00%080.96%676
Hoke 85.87%6268.64%635.49%400.00%00.00%077.23% [b] 563
Martin 82.63%1,25115.13%2292.25%340.00%00.00%067.50% [b] 1,022
Anson 85.95%1,4877.23%1256.82%1180.00%00.00%078.73% [b] 1,362
Craven 87.12%1,8193.78%799.10%1900.00%00.00%078.02%1,629
Chowan 82.88%6637.50%609.63%770.00%00.00%073.25%586
Caswell 77.99%70517.04%1544.98%450.00%00.00%060.95% [b] 551
Richmond 83.17%1,3195.17%8210.97%1740.19%30.50%872.19%1,145
Mecklenburg 82.27%3,9675.89%28411.05%5330.79%380.00%071.22%3,434
Hertford 81.72%7426.72%6111.56%1050.00%00.00%070.15%637
Franklin 81.62%1,8563.12%7115.22%3460.04%10.00%066.40%1,510
Perquimans 70.40%64724.81%2284.79%440.00%00.00%045.59% [b] 419
Jones 79.87%6354.40%3515.72%1250.00%00.00%064.15%510
Pasquotank 78.83%9726.24%7714.92%1840.00%00.00%063.91%788
Greene 76.41%89410.60%12412.99%1520.00%00.00%063.42%742
Pitt 74.63%2,30311.24%34714.03%4330.10%30.00%060.60%1,870
Vance 74.97%1,20410.46%16814.57%2340.00%00.00%060.40%970
Lenoir 76.98%1,5685.99%12217.03%3470.00%00.00%059.94%1,221
Camden 74.81%3039.88%4015.31%620.00%00.00%059.51%241
Lee 62.78%86232.85%4514.37%600.00%00.00%029.93% [b] 411
Robeson 76.88%2,7064.38%15418.75%6600.00%00.00%058.13%2,046
Granville 74.48%1,5619.16%19216.36%3430.00%00.00%058.11%1,218
Union 75.87%1,7863.91%9219.41%4570.81%190.00%056.46%1,329
Pender 77.11%9671.52%1921.37%2680.00%00.00%055.74%699
Wilson 73.03%1,7413.44%8223.53%5610.00%00.00%049.50%1,180
Gates 69.28%61810.65%9520.07%1790.00%00.00%049.22%439
Nash 70.21%1,8626.49%17221.72%5761.58%420.00%048.49%1,286
Dare 55.52%39733.29%23811.19%800.00%00.00%022.24% [b] 159
Wake 68.81%3,9964.86%28226.12%1,5170.21%120.00%042.69%2,479
Beaufort 63.97%1,60511.76%29521.84%5482.43%610.00%042.13%1,057
Cleveland 69.66%2,3512.40%8127.94%9430.00%00.00%041.72%1,408
Bladen 67.70%1,1401.96%3330.34%5110.00%00.00%037.35%629
Iredell 63.69%2,5289.88%39226.38%1,0470.00%00.05%237.31%1,481
Haywood 62.88%2,06810.76%35426.18%8610.18%60.00%036.70%1,207
Person 45.86%82043.85%78410.29%1840.00%00.00%02.01% [b] 36
Alleghany 58.42%65218.64%20822.94%2560.00%00.00%035.48%396
Wayne 65.46%2,2932.71%9531.12%1,0900.46%160.26%934.34%1,203
Washington 48.55%50337.07%38414.38%1490.00%00.00%011.49% [b] 119
Rockingham 56.01%1,93920.05%69422.47%7781.47%510.00%033.54%1,161
Hyde 62.85%6367.51%7629.64%3000.00%00.00%033.20%336
Stokes 40.48%1,14451.31%1,4507.43%2100.78%220.00%0-10.83% [b] -306
Pamlico 62.13%6946.62%7429.45%3291.79%200.00%032.68%365
Johnston 53.28%2,75725.80%1,33520.93%1,0830.00%00.00%027.48% [b] 1,422
Carteret 60.43%1,15311.43%21828.14%5370.00%00.00%032.29%616
Tyrrell 47.52%29735.84%22416.00%1000.64%40.00%011.68% [b] 73
Henderson 48.00%1,09235.21%80116.70%3800.09%20.00%012.79% [b] 291
Guilford 60.43%3,8307.26%46031.22%1,9790.68%430.41%2629.20%1,851
Cumberland 60.08%1,6788.41%23531.15%8700.36%100.00%028.93%808
Columbus 61.44%1,6685.71%15532.85%8920.00%00.00%028.58%776
Durham 62.31%2,1973.52%12434.15%1,2040.03%10.00%028.16%993
Forsyth 48.12%3,04226.72%1,68919.96%1,2625.14%3250.06%421.40% [b] 1,353
Surry 39.94%1,91947.39%2,27712.65%6080.00%00.02%1-7.45% [b] -358
Gaston 59.45%2,3336.22%24432.59%1,2791.17%460.56%2226.86%1,054
Rowan 59.43%2,7486.06%28033.24%1,5371.08%500.19%926.19%1,211
Davidson 48.16%2,48429.26%1,50922.16%1,1430.19%100.23%1218.90% [b] 975
Duplin 61.46%1,7571.15%3337.29%1,0660.10%30.00%024.17%691
Davie 41.59%82340.93%81017.43%3450.00%00.05%10.66% [b] 13
Onslow 59.39%9014.35%6636.26%5500.00%00.00%023.14%351
Moore 55.20%1,16711.92%25232.07%6780.80%170.00%023.13%489
Buncombe 56.92%3,7166.53%42635.00%2,2851.55%1010.00%021.92%1,431
Graham 46.22%41629.00%26124.78%2230.00%00.00%017.22% [b] 155
Jackson 53.56%1,21013.94%31532.27%7290.22%50.00%021.29%481
Brunswick 51.35%77718.51%28030.14%4560.00%00.00%021.22%321
Cherokee 42.80%90634.67%73422.53%4770.00%00.00%08.12% [b] 172
Alexander 45.51%85227.94%52326.55%4970.00%00.00%017.57% [b] 329
Randolph 54.95%2,6657.63%37037.30%1,8090.12%60.00%017.65%856
Rutherford 56.93%2,1802.14%8240.56%1,5530.18%70.18%716.38%627
Caldwell 49.50%1,62714.66%48235.50%1,1670.33%110.00%013.99%460
Polk 50.75%67511.50%15337.67%5010.08%10.00%013.08%174
Harnett 53.43%1,3645.80%14840.54%1,0350.20%50.04%112.89%329
Alamance 54.26%2,1323.82%15041.66%1,6370.25%100.00%012.60%495
McDowell 47.94%1,03715.86%34335.74%7730.46%100.00%012.21%264
Ashe 48.86%1,64314.21%47836.90%1,2410.03%10.00%011.95%402
Chatham 53.86%1,6522.28%7043.79%1,3430.07%20.00%010.07%309
Macon 51.13%1,0206.72%13442.16%8410.00%00.00%08.97%179
Lincoln 53.11%1,2802.03%4944.23%1,0660.12%30.50%128.88%214
Orange 50.00%9978.63%17241.17%8210.20%40.00%08.83%176
Montgomery 50.55%1,0127.19%14442.26%8460.00%00.00%08.29%166
Transylvania 49.45%6318.39%10742.08%5370.08%10.00%07.37%94
Catawba 50.38%2,1104.85%20344.70%1,8720.00%00.07%35.68%238
Yadkin 33.90%71337.61%79128.48%5990.00%00.00%0-3.71% [b] -78
Watauga 42.92%93319.32%42037.67%8190.09%20.00%05.24%114
Stanly 50.73%1,7023.13%10546.14%1,5480.00%00.00%04.59%154
Cabarrus 46.83%1,73810.48%38942.68%1,5840.00%00.00%04.15%154
Yancey 50.36%1,1122.72%6046.92%1,0360.00%00.00%03.44%76
Burke 50.54%1,3651.78%4847.69%1,2880.00%00.00%02.85%77
Clay 47.94%3722.19%1749.87%3870.00%00.00%0-1.93%-15
Swain 41.54%76611.93%22046.53%8580.00%00.00%0-4.99%-92
Madison 33.89%89716.24%43049.87%1,3200.00%00.00%0-15.98%-423
Wilkes 36.05%1,6367.29%33156.65%2,5710.00%00.00%0-20.60%-935
Mitchell 29.52%38515.57%20354.91%7160.00%00.00%0-25.38%-331
Sampson 32.69%1,2652.17%8465.12%2,5200.00%00.03%1-32.43%-1,255
Avery 16.60%21710.56%13872.69%9500.15%20.00%0-56.08%-733

See also

Notes

  1. Because Roosevelt finished second behind Wilson in North Carolina as a whole, all percentage margins are Wilson percentage minus Roosevelt percentage and vote margins Wilson vote total minus Roosevelt vote total unless states otherwise for the county in question.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 In this county where Roosevelt did run third behind both Wilson and Taft, percentage margin given is Wilson percentage minus Taft percentage and vote margin Wilson vote minus Taft vote.

References

  1. Phillips, Kevin P.; The Emerging Republican Majority, pp. 210, 242 ISBN   978-0-691-16324-6
  2. Heersink, Boris; Jenkins, Jeffrey A. (March 19, 2020). Republican Party Politics and the American South, 1865–1968. Cambridge University Press. pp. 241–247. ISBN   978-1107158436.
  3. 1 2 Tindall, George B.; ‘Southern Strategy: A Historical Perspective’; North Carolina Historical Review; vol. 48, no. 2 (April 1971), pp. 126-141
  4. de Santis, Vincent P.; ‘Republican Efforts to “Crack” the Democratic South’; The Review of Politics, vol. 14, no. 2 (April 1952), pp. 244-264
  5. 1 2 "1912 Presidential Election Results — North Carolina". Dave Leip’s U.S. Election Atlas.
  6. Sullivan, Robert David (June 29, 2016). "How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century". The National Catholic Review (America Magazine ed.).
  7. "Vote for President, 1912". A Manual of North Carolina (Report). North Carolina State Board of Elections. 1913.