1916 Florida gubernatorial election

For related races, see 1916 United States gubernatorial elections.

1916 Florida gubernatorial election

←  1912 November 7, 1916 1920  →

Nominee Sidney Johnston Catts William V. Knott George W. Allen Party Prohibition Democratic Republican Popular vote 39,546 30,343 10,333 Percentage 47.71% 36.61% 12.47%

County Results Congressional District Result Catts   40-50%   50-60%   60-70%   70-80% Allen   50-60% Knott   30-40%   40-50%   50-60%   60-70%

Governor before election Park Trammell Democratic Elected Governor Sidney Johnston Catts Prohibition

The 1916 Florida gubernatorial election was held in the U.S. state on November 7, 1916, to determine the Governor for the State of Florida. Democratic incumbent Governor Park Trammell was term-limited and could not run for re-election.

Sidney J. Catts, a pastor turned insurance salesman, originally entered the Democratic primary as a candidate for Governor. The state Democratic organization was not at all pleased with this challenge from a novice and 'outsider' and the primary campaign was hotly contested. Catts was initially declared the winner of the party's nomination, but the party leadership got the State Supreme Court to authorize a recount—and Catts was 'counted out.' ^[1] Catts instead decided to run for governor on the Prohibition Party ticket and became the first, and so far only, man ever elected to a statewide office as a Prohibitionist. The official Democratic nominee was William V. Knott, the former and future Florida State Treasurer.

The 1916 election had a much higher turnout, 82,885 votes compared to 48,465 votes in 1912, due to the chasm in the Democratic Party. This means that even though Trammell and Catts both won nearly similar vote tallies, 569 votes separating the 1912 and 1916 winners, Trammell won by over 80% of the vote in 1912, ^[2] while Catts got slightly under 48% of the vote. This was the only time a non-Democrat was elected Governor in Florida for the 90 years between the end of Reconstruction in 1877 and the rise of a competitive two party system in the 1960s.

Catts proved to be much more of a colorful personality and a better campaigner than both of his major opponents, his hostile attacks on Roman Catholicism and German-Americans winning the support of the state's conservative voters. Catts himself quickly returned to the Democratic Party and failed thrice to win a party primary (Senate in 1920, Governor in 1924 and 1928), while Knott would serve another decade and a half in his office of State Treasurer.

Results

1916 Florida gubernatorial election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Prohibition	Sidney Johnston Catts	39,546	47.71%	+45.52%
	Democratic	William V. Knott	30,343	36.61%	−43.81%
	Republican	George W. Allen	10,333	12.47%	+7.01%
	Socialist	C.C. Allen	2,470	2.98%	−4.17%
	Other	Various	193	0.23%
Majority			9,203	11.10%	−62.17%
Turnout			82,885		+170.02%
	Prohibition gain from Democratic		Swing

County results

County	William V. Knott Democratic		George W. Allen Republican		C.C. Allen Socialist		Sidney J. Catts Prohibition		Totals [3]
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Alachua	1,128	44.06%	332	12.97%	33	1.29%	1,067	41.68%	2,560
Baker	92	14.70%	87	13.90%	8	1.28%	439	70.13%	626
Bay	399	34.76%	170	14.81%	73	6.36%	506	44.08%	1,148
Bradford	515	31.44%	106	6.47%	10	0.61%	1,007	61.48%	1,638
Brevard	467	53.13%	151	17.18%	27	3.07%	234	26.62%	879
Broward	152	22.65%	32	4.77%	43	6.41%	444	66.17%	671
Calhoun	227	22.02%	69	6.69%	55	5.33%	680	65.96%	1,031
Citrus	224	32.28%	29	4.18%	6	0.86%	435	62.68%	694
Clay	158	27.92%	56	9.89%	23	4.06%	329	58.13%	566
Columbia	314	28.04%	185	16.52%	25	2.23%	596	53.21%	1,120
Dade	854	29.99%	465	16.33%	111	3.90%	1,418	49.79%	2,848
DeSoto	598	23.31%	245	9.55%	78	3.04%	1,644	64.09%	2,565
Duval	3,834	49.67%	815	10.56%	174	2.25%	2,896	37.52%	7,719
Escambia	1,359	47.15%	224	7.77%	48	1.67%	1,251	43.41%	2,882
Franklin	180	37.89%	51	10.74%	11	2.32%	233	49.05%	475
Gadsden	530	50.96%	20	1.92%	8	0.77%	482	46.35%	1,040
Hamilton	274	31.24%	81	9.24%	13	1.48%	509	58.04%	877
Hernando	182	33.58%	24	4.43%	8	1.48%	328	60.52%	542
Hillsborough	3,079	42.05%	436	5.95%	175	2.39%	3,633	49.61%	7,323
Holmes	323	20.88%	91	5.88%	34	2.20%	1,099	71.04%	1,547
Jackson	1,068	40.62%	220	8.37%	34	1.29%	1,307	49.71%	2,629
Jefferson	314	40.20%	101	12.93%	9	1.15%	357	45.71%	781
Lafayette	290	31.56%	-	0.00%	10	1.09%	619	67.36%	919
Lake	494	36.40%	217	15.99%	34	2.51%	612	45.10%	1,357
Lee	261	23.71%	110	9.99%	36	3.27%	694	63.03%	1,101
Leon	629	48.76%	265	20.54%	10	0.78%	386	29.92%	1,290
Levy	240	24.64%	116	11.91%	10	1.03%	608	62.42%	974
Liberty	131	34.56%	15	3.96%	5	1.32%	228	60.16%	379
Madison	350	43.70%	13	1.62%	4	0.50%	434	54.18%	801
Manatee	428	28.33%	235	15.55%	59	3.90%	789	52.22%	1,511
Marion	975	41.99%	444	19.12%	95	4.09%	808	34.80%	2,322
Monroe	169	9.87%	978	57.13%	125	7.30%	440	25.70%	1,712
Nassau	372	55.27%	62	9.21%	11	1.63%	228	33.88%	673
Okaloosa	338	34.42%	135	13.75%	27	2.75%	482	49.08%	982
Orange	897	48.17%	251	13.48%	51	2.74%	663	35.61%	1,862
Osceola	159	13.71%	371	31.98%	67	5.78%	563	48.53%	1,160
Palm Beach	535	39.63%	257	19.04%	105	7.78%	453	33.56%	1,350
Pasco	328	28.15%	121	10.39%	23	1.97%	693	59.48%	1,165
Pinellas	726	32.17%	421	18.65%	101	4.47%	1,009	44.71%	2,257
Polk	1,070	30.64%	400	11.45%	147	4.21%	1,875	53.69%	3,492
Putnam	590	36.81%	387	24.14%	51	3.18%	575	35.87%	1,603
Santa Rosa	712	63.12%	54	4.79%	27	2.39%	335	29.70%	1,128
Seminole	364	37.49%	130	13.39%	41	4.22%	436	44.90%	971
St. Johns	800	43.50%	306	16.64%	75	4.08%	658	35.78%	1,839
St. Lucie	416	40.15%	71	6.85%	42	4.05%	507	48.94%	1,036
Sumter	359	48.19%	44	5.91%	5	0.67%	337	45.23%	745
Suwannee	554	37.95%	57	3.90%	76	5.21%	773	52.95%	1,460
Taylor	255	39.11%	29	4.45%	10	1.53%	358	54.91%	652
Volusia	1,037	37.90%	348	12.72%	106	3.87%	1,245	45.50%	2,736
Wakulla	94	17.06%	111	20.15%	15	2.72%	331	60.07%	551
Walton	265	17.99%	312	21.18%	44	2.99%	852	57.84%	1,473
Washington	234	22.72%	83	8.06%	52	5.05%	661	64.17%	1,030
Total	30,343	36.69%	10,333	12.50%	2,470	2.99%	39,546	47.82%	82,692

See also

• Democratic Party
• Republican Party
• Prohibition Party

References

1. "Our Campaigns - Candidate - Sidney J. Catts". Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved May 5, 2015.
2. "Our Campaigns - FL Governor Race - Nov 05, 1912". Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved May 5, 2015.
3. Crawford, H. C. (1915). (rep.). Report of the Secretary of State of the State of Florida (Vol. 1915, pp. 6–7). Tallahassee, FL: T.J. Appleyard, State Printer.

External links

• US Elections Atlas page on the 1916 election
• Our Campaigns page on Sidney Catts
• Our Campaigns page on the 1916 election
• Our Campaigns page on the 1912 election