1916 United States presidential election in California

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1916 United States presidential election in California
Flag of California (1911-1924).png
  1912 November 7, 1916 (1916-11-07) 1920  
Turnout79.57% (of registered voters) Increase2.svg 7.89 pp
57.91% (of eligible voters) Increase2.svg 12.80 pp [1]
  Thomas Woodrow Wilson, Harris & Ewing bw photo portrait, 1919 (cropped 3x4).jpg Governor Charles Evans Hughes (cropped).jpg
Nominee Woodrow Wilson Charles Evans Hughes
Party Democratic Republican
Home state New Jersey New York
Running mate Thomas R. Marshall Charles W. Fairbanks
Electoral vote130
Popular vote466,289462,516
Percentage46.65%46.27%

California Presidential Election Results 1916.svg
County Results

President before election

Woodrow Wilson
Democratic

Elected President

Woodrow Wilson
Democratic

The 1916 United States presidential election in California took place on November 7, 1916 as part of the 1916 United States presidential election. State voters chose 13 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Contents

California narrowly voted for the Democratic incumbent, Woodrow Wilson, over the Republican nominee, Associate Justice Charles Evans Hughes.

Although very close, this was not as close as the previous election or the critical 1892 election in California, and was only the third-closest state in a thrilling election behind New Hampshire and Minnesota. As of 2024, no subsequent presidential election in California has been decided by a smaller margin, although California was decided by less than one point in 1948 and 1960. This was the closest result where California's electoral votes were not split.

Following on from breaking half-a-dozen county droughts in 1912, Wilson became the first Democrat to carry Placer County, Plumas County, and Santa Barbara County, since Stephen A. Douglas in 1860, and the first to carry the counties of Contra Costa and Santa Cruz since James Buchanan in 1856. [2] If Hughes had won California, he would have won the Electoral College despite losing the national popular vote by three points. This is the last election in which a Republican candidate carried Los Angeles County but failed to carry the state of California. This is also the most recent election when California would decide the overall winner of a presidential election, despite routinely having among the highest, or highest number of electoral votes after the next reapportionment following the 1930 census. Had Hughes carried the state, he would have been elected with 267 electoral votes to Wilson's 264.

Results

General Election Results [3]
PartyPledged toElectorVotes
Democratic Party Woodrow WilsonFrancis J. Heney466,289
Democratic Party Woodrow WilsonEdward L. Doheny465,936
Democratic Party Woodrow WilsonJo V. Snyder465,092
Democratic Party Woodrow WilsonIrving C. Ackerman464,926
Democratic Party Woodrow WilsonL. F. Puter464,824
Democratic Party Woodrow WilsonJohn F. Barry464,808
Democratic Party Woodrow WilsonOscar Hocks464,731
Democratic Party Woodrow WilsonJames F. Peck464,680
Democratic Party Woodrow WilsonLorin A. Handley464,515
Democratic Party Woodrow WilsonR. F. Del Valle464,477
Democratic Party Woodrow WilsonVirginia M. Spinks464,233
Democratic Party Woodrow WilsonMary Marshall Wiley464,206
Democratic Party Woodrow WilsonCarrie L. Tyler463,709
Republican Party Charles Evans HughesJ. F. Carlston462,516
Republican Party Charles Evans HughesJohn A. Britton462,004
Republican Party Charles Evans HughesT. S. Montgomery461,828
Republican Party Charles Evans HughesWillis H. Booth461,826
Republican Party Charles Evans HughesW. F. Chandler461,610
Republican Party Charles Evans HughesAlbert E. Boynton461,588
Republican Party Charles Evans HughesJ. C. Needham461,505
Republican Party Charles Evans HughesJoseph Scott461,354
Republican Party Charles Evans HughesRudolph J. Taussig461,301
Republican Party Charles Evans HughesLouise Harvey Clarke460,941
Republican Party Charles Evans HughesMary Roberts Coolidge460,908
Republican Party Charles Evans HughesA. J. Wallace460,826
Republican Party Charles Evans HughesJ. P. Baumgartner460,821
Socialist Party Allan L. BensonScott Anderson42,898
Socialist Party Allan L. BensonJoseph Bredsteen42,562
Socialist Party Allan L. BensonM. P. Christensen42,412
Socialist Party Allan L. BensonMollie Bloom Flagg42,394
Socialist Party Allan L. BensonW. Scott Lewis42,354
Socialist Party Allan L. BensonEthel Lynn42,330
Socialist Party Allan L. BensonArnold R. Holston42,327
Socialist Party Allan L. BensonC. W. Kingsley42,320
Socialist Party Allan L. BensonNoble A. Richardson42,312
Socialist Party Allan L. BensonHarry M. McKee42,273
Socialist Party Allan L. BensonBen F. Wilson42,263
Socialist Party Allan L. BensonGeorge W. Woodbey42,232
Socialist Party Allan L. BensonA. E. Briggs42,178
Prohibition Party J. Franklin HanlyAnnie E. K. Bidwell27,713
Prohibition Party J. Franklin HanlyHorace A. Johnson27,408
Prohibition Party J. Franklin HanlyFred F. Wheeler27,208
Prohibition Party J. Franklin HanlyRobert Rogers27,156
Prohibition Party J. Franklin HanlyElam Biggs27,116
Prohibition Party J. Franklin HanlyMinnie Goldthwaite27,082
Prohibition Party J. Franklin HanlyC. C. Selecman27,067
Prohibition Party J. Franklin HanlyWiley J. Phillips27,050
Prohibition Party J. Franklin HanlyA. K. Nash27,027
Prohibition Party J. Franklin HanlyAda E. Ferris27,017
Prohibition Party J. Franklin HanlyWalter O. Woolever27,013
Prohibition Party J. Franklin HanlyThomas K. Beard26,980
Prohibition Party J. Franklin HanlyC. S. Corkhill26,894
Write-in Scattering187
Votes cast [lower-alpha 1] 999,603

Results by county

County Woodrow Wilson
Democratic
Charles Evans Hughes
Republican
Allan L. Benson
Socialist
J. Franklin Hanly
Prohibition
Scattering
Write-in
MarginTotal votes cast [lower-alpha 2]
# %# %# %# %# %# %
Alameda 43,74842.84%51,41750.34%5,4225.31%1,5441.51%00.00%-7,669-7.51%102,131
Alpine 2327.71%6072.29%00.00%00.00%00.00%-37-44.58%83
Amador 1,76656.28%1,20938.53%1253.98%381.21%00.00%55717.75%3,138
Butte 4,88850.55%3,95640.91%4364.51%3894.02%00.00%9329.64%9,669
Calaveras 1,52453.06%1,17540.91%1354.70%381.32%00.00%34912.15%2,872
Colusa 1,99862.89%1,01131.82%1233.87%451.42%00.00%98731.07%3,177
Contra Costa 6,09246.82%5,73144.05%8866.81%3022.32%00.00%3612.77%13,011
Del Norte 47141.35%49943.81%14412.64%252.19%00.00%-28-2.46%1,139
El Dorado 1,75557.67%1,06835.10%1876.15%331.08%00.00%68722.58%3,043
Fresno 14,24149.95%11,70741.07%1,6485.78%9123.20%00.00%2,5348.89%28,508
Glenn 1,79753.87%1,34240.23%1013.03%942.82%20.06%45513.64%3,336
Humboldt 4,10336.27%5,78651.14%1,0639.40%3613.19%00.00%-1,68314.88%11,313
Imperial 3,27349.15%2,69440.46%3635.45%3294.94%00.00%5798.69%6,659
Inyo 96647.92%84641.96%1527.54%522.58%00.00%1205.95%2,016
Kern 9,56659.86%5,61135.11%5533.46%2511.57%00.00%3,95524.75%15,981
Kings 2,90551.86%2,22139.65%2564.57%2203.93%00.00%68412.21%5,602
Lake 1,16452.13%79135.42%1828.15%964.30%00.00%37316.70%2,233
Lassen 1,32355.75%87736.96%1436.03%301.26%00.00%44618.79%2,373
Los Angeles 114,07042.58%135,55450.59%8,0763.01%10,0613.76%1600.06%-21,484-8.02%267,921
Madera 1,88054.01%1,32338.01%1835.26%862.56%60.17%55716.00%3,481
Marin 3,78943.82%4,32850.05%4244.90%1061.23%00.00%-539-6.23%8,647
Mariposa 80258.24%45132.75%956.90%292.11%00.00%35125.49%1,377
Mendocino 3,37145.14%3,49446.79%4536.07%1502.01%00.00%-123-1.65%7,468
Merced 2,63750.36%2,13240.72%2855.44%1823.48%00.00%5059.64%5,236
Modoc 1,22258.25%76836.61%793.77%291.38%00.00%45421.64%2,098
Mono 15848.47%13742.02%267.98%51.53%00.00%216.44%326
Monterey 3,87848.28%3,59944.81%3644.53%1912.38%00.00%2793.47%8,032
Napa 3,08841.39%3,91452.46%3044.07%1552.08%00.00%-826-11.07%7,461
Nevada 2,54856.58%1,58635.22%2796.20%902.00%00.00%96221.36%4,503
Orange 6,47434.54%10,60956.59%6433.43%1,0205.44%00.00%-4,135-22.06%18,746
Placer 3,37558.28%1,95433.74%3145.42%1482.56%00.00%1,42124.54%5,791
Plumas 1,02556.50%66336.55%1025.62%241.32%00.00%36219.96%1,814
Riverside 4,56133.44%7,45254.64%7905.79%8366.13%00.00%-2,891-21.20%13,639
Sacramento 14,53854.63%10,69640.19%8333.13%5462.05%00.00%3,84214.44%26,613
San Benito 1,68851.80%1,44044.19%912.79%401.23%00.00%2487.61%3,259
San Bernardino 9,39839.92%11,93250.68%8053.42%1,4105.99%00.00%-2,534-10.76%23,545
San Diego 16,81546.02%16,97846.47%1,6124.41%1,1323.10%00.00%-163-0.45%36,537
San Francisco 78,22552.45%63,09342.30%6,4234.31%1,4040.94%70.00%15,13210.15%149,152
San Joaquin 11,45455.44%7,86138.05%7893.82%5572.70%00.00%3,59317.39%20,661
San Luis Obispo 3,53949.85%2,85440.20%5477.71%1592.24%00.00%6859.65%7,099
San Mateo 4,48543.08%5,20750.01%5405.19%1791.72%00.00%-722-6.93%10,411
Santa Barbara 5,19849.65%4,45342.54%4704.49%3473.31%10.01%7457.12%10,469
Santa Clara 14,18543.40%16,59250.77%1,0063.08%8872.71%110.03%-2,407-7.37%32,681
Santa Cruz 4,51147.76%4,22844.76%3834.05%3243.43%00.00%2833.00%9,446
Shasta 2,82852.39%2,00837.20%4498.32%1132.09%00.00%82015.19%5,398
Sierra 59458.35%36035.36%555.40%90.88%00.00%23422.99%1,018
Siskiyou 3,44757.15%2,05934.13%4176.91%1091.81%00.00%1,38823.01%6,032
Solano 5,67858.37%3,53636.35%3223.31%1921.97%00.00%2,14222.02%9,728
Sonoma 8,37743.35%9,73350.37%9214.77%2931.52%00.00%-1,356-7.02%19,324
Stanislaus 5,49046.98%4,40137.66%7296.24%1,0679.13%00.00%1,0899.32%11,687
Sutter 1,54353.52%1,21142.00%802.77%491.70%00.00%33211.52%2,883
Tehama 2,53452.92%1,73936.32%3346.98%1813.78%00.00%79516.60%4,788
Trinity 66154.81%42435.16%1048.62%171.41%00.00%23719.65%1,206
Tulare 7,29946.87%6,84543.96%8955.75%5333.42%00.00%4542.92%15,572
Tuolumne 1,58454.21%1,05736.17%2378.11%441.51%00.00%52718.04%2,922
Ventura 2,83539.30%3,98055.18%2603.60%1381.91%00.00%-1,145-15.87%7,213
Yolo 2,92253.12%2,33442.43%1673.04%781.42%00.00%58810.69%5,501
Yuba 1,98054.49%1,53042.10%932.56%310.85%00.00%45012.38%3,634
Total466,28946.65%462,51646.27%42,8984.29%27,7132.77%1870.02%3,7730.38%999,603

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Notes

  1. Based on totals for highest elector on each ticket
  2. Based on the highest elector on each ticket

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References

  1. "Historical Voter Registration and Participation in Statewide General Elections 1910-2018" (PDF). California Secretary of State. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
  2. Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004, pp. 153-155 ISBN   0786422173
  3. Statement of Vote at General Election held on November 7, 1916 in the State of California. Sacramento, California. pp. 8–15. Retrieved July 15, 2024.