1912 United States presidential election in Utah

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1912 United States presidential election in Utah
Flag of Utah (1911-1913).svg
  1908 November 5, 1912 1916  
  William Howard Taft Portrait (3x4 cropped).jpg Woodrow Wilson-H&E.jpg
Nominee William Howard Taft Woodrow Wilson
Party Republican Democratic
Home state Ohio New Jersey
Running mate Nicholas Murray Butler Thomas R. Marshall
Electoral vote40
Popular vote42,10036,579
Percentage37.46%32.55%

  Unsuccessful 1912 2.jpg Eugene Debs portrait.jpeg
Nominee Theodore Roosevelt Eugene V. Debs
Party Progressive Socialist
Home state New York Indiana
Running mate Hiram Johnson Emil Seidel
Electoral vote00
Popular vote24,1749,023
Percentage21.51%8.03%

Utah 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 Utah was held on November 5, 1912 as part of the 1912 United States presidential election. State voters chose four representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Contents

After being overwhelmingly carried by William Jennings Bryan in its first presidential election from its statehood year of 1896, Utah was to vote Republican by increasing margins in the following three elections, with only Washington County in the Dixie region voting Democratic in 1904 and 1908. By 1909, there were just two Democrats in the state legislature – a number fewer than any other state except Michigan during the middle 1900s and 1920s.

However, during William Howard Taft's presidency, his predecessor Theodore Roosevelt became bitterly opposed to his policies on foreign affairs and the opening of public lands to private concerns. [1] and thus decided to run in Republican primaries. Roosevelt's personal popularity and a powerful speaking tour was sufficient for him to "steamroll" through primaries, but Taft was able to prevail as the Republican nominee through traditional machine and party tactics. [2] Reformers bolted the Republicans and formed the "Progressive" or "Bull Moose" Party with Roosevelt as standard-bearer. Taft – already unpopular with the public and not enjoying being President [3] – decided to run, not in expectation of being re-elected but rather to preserve the GOP apparatus for future conservative action. [4]

Because Taft made little efforts to campaign, he lost easily in most states; however, in Utah, a powerful political machine under long-serving senator and Mormon Apostle Reed Smoot had been developed to counter the anti-Mormon "American Party", which had become the effective opposition to the Republicans in local elections and had elected mayors in Salt Lake City. [1] Combined with a very prosperous rural economy in both the farming and mining sectors, this produced strong loyalty among local Mormon communities to Taft, [5] who was also supported by the local Mormon and non-Mormon press. Those supporting Roosevelt were viewed as "insincere" and as "office-seekers", although latterly such press criticism was toned down. [1]

Taft was thus able to hold the state, with the maintenance of tariffs being critical for the 52 percent of Utahans who were farmers in 1912. Wilson and Roosevelt were most successful in the remote, less Mormon areas east of the Wasatch Mountains, and in some urban areas with more progressive tendencies. Socialist Eugene Debs, in the most successful of his five presidential campaigns, obtained eight percent of the vote but did much better than this in some mining areas.

Utah became one of the only two states to vote for Taft in 1912, the other being Vermont, and with 37.46% of the popular vote made the state his strongest victory in the election. [6] This was the last presidential election until 1960 in which Utah did not back the national winner, and remains the last time the state voted differently than neighboring Idaho.

Results

1912 United States presidential election in Utah [7]
PartyCandidateVotesPercentageElectoral votes
Republican William Howard Taft (incumbent)42,10037.46%4
Democratic Woodrow Wilson 36,57932.55%0
Progressive Theodore Roosevelt 24,17421.51%0
Socialist Eugene V. Debs 9,0238.03%0
Socialist Labor Arthur E. Reimer 5100.45%0
Totals112,386100.00%4

Results by county

CountyWilliam Howard Taft
Republican
Woodrow Wilson
Democratic
Theodore Roosevelt
Progressive "Bull Moose"
Eugene V. Debs
Socialist
Arthur E. Reimer
Socialist Labor
MarginTotal votes cast
# %# %# %# %# %# %
Beaver 67139.75%60235.66%30718.19%1066.28%20.12%694.09%1,688
Box Elder 1,65040.61%1,40234.51%93623.04%751.85%00.00%2486.10%4,063
Cache 2,82537.92%3,29644.25%1,17315.76%1351.77%200.27%-471-6.33%7,449
Carbon 77134.93%51423.29%54125.87%34415.59%70.32%230 [a] 9.06%2,207
Davis 1,29544.36%1,14239.12%46015.76%210.72%10.03%1535.24%2,919
Emery 76037.04%76037.04%33616.37%1909.26%60.29%00.00%2,052
Garfield 67362.60%24923.16%12811.91%232.14%20.19%42439.44%1,075
Grand 19133.75%21237.46%11820.85%457.95%00.00%-21-3.71%566
Iron 69549.71%54438.91%634.51%956.80%10.07%15110.80%1,398
Juab 1,17135.38%98529.76%34410.39%80024.17%100.30%1865.62%3,310
Kane 42675.27%11520.32%203.53%50.88%00.00%31154.95%566
Millard 97041.10%86536.65%39716.82%1235.21%50.21%1054.45%2,360
Morgan 31836.59%23326.81%27331.42%455.18%00.00%45 [a] 5.17%869
Piute 20537.41%11020.07%14626.64%8715.88%00.00%59 [a] 10.77%548
Rich 32948.89%23835.36%10014.86%60.89%00.00%9113.53%673
Salt Lake 12,71935.14%10,46828.92%8,89924.59%3,79810.49%3080.85%2,2516.22%36,192
San Juan 14637.24%14637.24%9624.49%41.02%00.00%00.00%392
Sanpete 2,48841.98%1,98433.47%1,27221.46%1732.92%100.17%5048.51%5,927
Sevier 1,45241.90%91526.41%80723.29%2878.28%40.12%53715.49%3,465
Summit 1,29044.06%98333.57%42514.52%2267.72%40.14%30710.49%2,928
Tooele 95044.21%64630.06%26112.15%28413.22%80.37%30414.15%2,149
Uintah 54528.40%56629.49%64133.40%1658.60%20.10%-75 [b] -3.91%1,919
Utah 4,18535.45%4,63639.26%2,29519.44%6645.62%270.23%-451-3.81%11,807
Wasatch 1,21041.71%95732.99%43214.89%29410.13%80.28%2538.72%2,901
Washington 71243.60%84251.56%724.41%60.37%10.06%-130-7.96%1,633
Wayne 28252.03%18333.76%244.43%539.78%00.00%9918.27%542
Weber 3,17129.31%2,98627.60%3,60833.35%9698.96%840.78%-437 [a] -4.04%10,818
Totals42,10037.46%36,57932.55%24,17421.51%9,0238.03%5100.45%5,5214.91%112,386

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 In the county where Roosevelt ran second ahead of Wilson, margin given is Taft vote minus Roosevelt vote and percentage margin Taft percentage minus Roosevelt percentage.
  2. In this county where Taft ran third behind both Wilson and Roosevelt, margin given is Wilson vote minus Roosevelt vote and percentage margin Wilson percentage minus Roosevelt percentage.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Wahlquist, C. Austin; ‘The 1912 Presidential Election in Utah’ (A Thesis Presented to the Department of History, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah)
  2. Kraig, Robert Alexander; 'The 1912 Election and the Rhetorical Foundations of the Liberal State', Rhetoric and Public Affairs, Vol. 3, No. 3 (Fall 2000), pp.. 365-366
  3. Conlin, Joseph R.; The American Past: A Survey of American History, Volume II: Since 1865, Volume 2, p. 607 ISBN   113394664X
  4. Craig; 'The 1912 Election and the Rhetorical Foundation of the Liberal State', p. 368
  5. See Sarasohn, David; 'The Election of 1916: Realigning the Rockies', Western Historical Quarterly , Vol. 11, No. 3 (July 1980), pp. 285-305
  6. "1912 Presidential Election Statistics". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved March 5, 2018.
  7. "1912 Presidential Election Statistics". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved March 5, 2018.