1916 United States presidential election in West Virginia

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1916 United States presidential election in West Virginia
Flag of West Virginia (1907-1929).png
  1912 November 7, 1916 1920  
  Governor Charles Evans Hughes (cropped).jpg Thomas Woodrow Wilson, Harris & Ewing bw photo portrait, 1919 (cropped 3x4).jpg
Nominee Charles Evans Hughes Woodrow Wilson
Party Republican Democratic
Home state New York New Jersey
Running mate Charles W. Fairbanks Thomas R. Marshall
Electoral vote71
Popular vote143,124140,403
Percentage49.38%48.44%

West Virginia 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 West Virginia took place on November 7, 1916, as part of the 1916 United States presidential election which was held throughout all contemporary 48 states. Voters chose eight representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Contents

West Virginia was won by the Republican nominee, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Charles Evans Hughes of New York, and his running mate Senator Charles W. Fairbanks of Indiana. Hughes and Fairbanks defeated the Democratic nominees, incumbent Democratic President Woodrow Wilson and Vice President Thomas R. Marshall.

Voters in West Virginia chose each of the eight electors individually, rather than how voters in most other states selected between two full slates of electors all pledging support for one candidate or the other. Hughes won West Virginia by a very narrow margin of 0.94% — the state's second-closest presidential election result in history, only behind Grover Cleveland's 0.32% victory in 1888 — but one elector pledged for Wilson won, and as a result, Wilson received one electoral vote from West Virginia.

Notably, this was the only time until 2008 that a Democrat won the presidency without carrying West Virginia (or that a losing Republican would carry the state). The state would transform into a Democratic stronghold after 1932, remaining a cornerstone of the Democratic coalition until the 21st century, when it suddenly and dramatically shifted towards the Republican Party due to declining unionization [1] and opposition to the Democratic Party’s views on environmental, social and cultural issues. [2]

Results

1916 United States presidential election in West Virginia [3]
PartyCandidateVotesPercentageElectoral votes
Republican Charles Evans Hughes 143,12449.38%7
Democratic Woodrow Wilson (incumbent)140,40348.44%1
Socialist Allan L. Benson 6,1502.12%0
Prohibition Frank Hanly 175 [lower-alpha 1] 0.06%0
Totals289,852100.00%8

Results by county

1916 United States presidential election in West Virginia by county [4]
CountyCharles Evans Hughes
Republican
Thomas Woodrow Wilson
Democratic
Allan Louis Benson
Socialist
MarginTotal votes cast
# %# %# %# %
Barbour 2,08352.23%1,84846.34%571.43%2355.89%3,988
Berkeley 2,80248.09%2,93850.43%861.48%-136-2.33%5,826
Boone 1,50450.03%1,39746.47%1053.49%1073.56%3,006
Braxton 2,33244.02%2,95755.81%90.17%-625-11.80%5,298
Brooke 1,42250.73%1,26144.99%1204.28%1615.74%2,803
Cabell 5,72846.18%6,44651.97%2291.85%-718-5.79%12,403
Calhoun 93641.31%1,31758.12%130.57%-381-16.81%2,266
Clay 1,02148.76%1,04750.00%261.24%-26-1.24%2,094
Doddridge 1,80362.07%1,06136.52%411.41%74225.54%2,905
Fayette 5,51148.99%5,37747.80%3613.21%1341.19%11,249
Gilmer 94335.63%1,69564.03%90.34%-752-28.41%2,647
Grant 1,43878.41%39121.32%50.27%1,04757.09%1,834
Greenbrier 2,60144.41%3,17054.12%861.47%-569-9.71%5,857
Hampshire 74525.37%2,18174.28%100.34%-1,436-48.91%2,936
Hancock 1,43458.72%89136.49%1174.79%54322.24%2,442
Hardy 70132.88%1,42566.84%60.28%-724-33.96%2,132
Harrison 6,26248.86%5,97046.58%5844.56%2922.28%12,816
Jackson 2,47454.55%2,03244.81%290.64%4429.75%4,535
Jefferson 1,18131.33%2,54467.50%441.17%-1,363-36.16%3,769
Kanawha 10,09648.14%10,27649.00%5982.85%-180-0.86%20,970
Lewis 2,26349.06%2,24848.73%1022.21%150.33%4,613
Lincoln 2,10449.20%2,11349.42%591.38%-9-0.21%4,276
Logan 2,10738.74%3,27060.12%621.14%-1,163-21.38%5,439
Marion 4,44342.81%5,49352.92%4434.27%-1,050-10.12%10,379
Marshall 3,69953.42%2,99743.28%2293.31%70210.14%6,925
Mason 2,45450.17%2,33647.76%1012.07%1182.41%4,891
McDowell 7,08665.62%3,69234.19%200.19%3,39431.43%10,798
Mercer 4,78849.47%4,83649.96%550.57%-48-0.50%9,679
Mineral 1,96551.83%1,74746.08%792.08%2185.75%3,791
Mingo 2,22347.25%2,47252.54%100.21%-249-5.29%4,705
Monongalia 3,41257.48%2,22737.52%2975.00%1,18519.96%5,936
Monroe 1,58449.48%1,60950.27%80.25%-25-0.78%3,201
Morgan 1,20863.45%66634.98%301.58%54228.47%1,904
Nicholas 2,05644.77%2,46753.72%691.50%-411-8.95%4,592
Ohio 7,34952.75%6,07443.60%5093.65%1,2759.15%13,932
Pendleton 88840.87%1,27658.72%90.41%-388-17.86%2,173
Pleasants 87649.16%89950.45%70.39%-23-1.29%1,782
Pocahontas 1,55044.90%1,84953.56%531.54%-299-8.66%3,452
Preston 3,83868.09%1,69430.05%1051.86%2,14438.03%5,637
Putnam 1,92549.45%1,83747.19%1313.37%882.26%3,893
Raleigh 3,79152.21%3,31945.71%1512.08%4726.50%7,261
Randolph 2,16539.78%3,02455.57%2534.65%-859-15.78%5,442
Ritchie 2,22556.03%1,65741.73%892.24%56814.30%3,971
Roane 2,40651.97%2,18647.21%380.82%2204.75%4,630
Summers 1,78142.47%2,38956.96%240.57%-608-14.50%4,194
Taylor 2,00253.23%1,67244.46%872.31%3308.77%3,761
Tucker 1,53149.76%1,38845.11%1585.13%1434.65%3,077
Tyler 1,90057.51%1,33640.44%682.06%56417.07%3,304
Upshur 2,55370.14%1,01927.99%681.87%1,53442.14%3,640
Wayne 2,21542.21%2,98956.97%430.82%-774-14.75%5,247
Webster 85435.87%1,51363.54%140.59%-659-27.68%2,381
Wetzel 1,91039.92%2,79758.47%771.61%-887-18.54%4,784
Wirt 95146.73%1,07252.68%120.59%-121-5.95%2,035
Wood 4,52147.69%4,81750.81%1421.50%-296-3.12%9,480
Wyoming 1,48455.17%1,19944.57%70.26%28510.59%2,690
Totals143,12449.41%140,40348.47%6,1502.12%2,7210.94%289,677

Notes

  1. These votes were listed only as a statewide total and not by county.

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References

  1. Schwartzman, Gabe; ‘How Central Appalachia Went Right’; Daily Yonder, January 13, 2015
  2. Cohn, Nate; ‘Demographic Shift: Southern Whites’ Loyalty to G.O.P. Nearing That of Blacks to Democrats’, New York Times , April 24, 2014
  3. "1916 Presidential General Election Results — West Virginia". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved August 2, 2013.
  4. West Virginia Secretary of State (1917). West Virginia Vote for President — 1916-1912 (Report). The Tribune Printing Co., Charleston, West Virginia. West Virginia Legislative Hand Book and Manual and Official Register.