1916 United States presidential election in Wisconsin

Main article: 1916 United States presidential election

1916 United States presidential election in Wisconsin

←  1912 November 7, 1916 1920  →

Nominee Charles Evans Hughes Woodrow Wilson Allan L. Benson Party Republican Democratic Socialist Home state New York New Jersey New York Running mate Charles W. Fairbanks Thomas R. Marshall George Ross Kirkpatrick Electoral vote 13 0 Popular vote 221,323 193,042 27,846 Percentage 49.25% 42.96% 6.20%

County Results Hughes   40-50%   50-60%   60-70% Wilson   40-50%   50-60%   60-70%

President before election Woodrow Wilson Democratic Elected President Woodrow Wilson Democratic

The 1916 United States presidential election in Wisconsin was held on November 7, 1916 as part of the 1916 United States presidential election. State voters chose 13 electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Ever since the decline of the Populist movement, Wisconsin had become almost a one-party state dominated by the Republican Party. ^[1] The Democratic Party became entirely uncompetitive outside certain German Catholic counties adjoining Lake Michigan as the upper classes, along with the majority of workers who followed them, completely fled from William Jennings Bryan's agrarian and free silver sympathies. ^[2] As Democratic strength weakened severely after 1894 – although the state did develop a strong Socialist Party to provide opposition to the GOP – Wisconsin developed the direct Republican primary in 1903 and this ultimately created competition between the "League" under Robert M. La Follette, and the conservative "Regular" faction. ^[3]

At the turn of the decade, the Democratic Party underwent a brief revival, as it made significant gains upon its small share of state legislative seats and many people in the state saw in New Jersey Governor Woodrow Wilson the possibility of the party returning to the ideals it was felt to have deserted with Bryan fifteen years beforehand. ^[4] Wilson would carry Wisconsin in 1912 and in fact improve upon Bryan's share of the vote from 1908.

During his term, however, Wisconsin's heavily German-American population turned against Wilson, with the result that in 1914 the Democrats lost ground in the state legislature, and with the outbreak of war in Europe this opposition increased, because the concurrent Irish rebellion was believed to lie in the interests of the Central Powers, and Wilson was viewed as strongly pro-British. ^[5] The position of President Wilson as strongly pro-British was intensified when he failed to accept clemency for Roger Casement. ^[5]

Republican nominee Charles Evans Hughes campaigned in the state during September, ^[6] but President Wilson did not campaign in the state, although it was viewed as doubtful in September despite strong feelings that German-American opposition would eliminate Wilson's chance. ^[7] Near the end of October, a Tennessean polls suggested that Wilson would carry the state due to his anti-war sentiment, ^[8] but the Los Angeles Times said Hughes would carry the state by a "moderate margin" despite a straw poll in favour of Wilson. ^[9] The Oshkosh Northwestern on October 26 viewed the state as "doubtful", but said their polls indicated Hughes would win by around fifteen thousand votes. ^[10]

Results

General Election Results ^{[11] [a]}

Party		Pledged to	Elector	Votes
	Republican Party	Charles Evans Hughes	L. K. Baker	221,323
	Republican Party	Charles Evans Hughes	William W. Storms	221,215
	Republican Party	Charles Evans Hughes	Frank Smith	221,181
	Republican Party	Charles Evans Hughes	Walter J. Kohler	221,026
	Republican Party	Charles Evans Hughes	Fred C. Pritzlaff	221,011
	Republican Party	Charles Evans Hughes	O. G. Munson	220,979
	Republican Party	Charles Evans Hughes	L. M. Alexander	220,968
	Republican Party	Charles Evans Hughes	H. D. Lauson	220,952
	Republican Party	Charles Evans Hughes	G. A. Walter Jr.	220,923
	Republican Party	Charles Evans Hughes	John S. Medary	220,897
	Republican Party	Charles Evans Hughes	O. K. Hawley	220,866
	Republican Party	Charles Evans Hughes	A. H. Stange	220,866
	Republican Party	Charles Evans Hughes	James T. Drought	220,857
	Democratic Party	Woodrow Wilson	John C. Karel	193,042
	Democratic Party	Woodrow Wilson	Charles W. Wiesse	191,857
	Democratic Party	Woodrow Wilson	J. E. Dodge	191,834
	Democratic Party	Woodrow Wilson	Vincent J. Schoenecker	191,692
	Democratic Party	Woodrow Wilson	W. J. Kershaw	191,665
	Democratic Party	Woodrow Wilson	Aldro Jenks	191,562
	Democratic Party	Woodrow Wilson	Andrew R. McDonald	191,548
	Democratic Party	Woodrow Wilson	Henry Moehlenpah	191,491
	Democratic Party	Woodrow Wilson	John R. Matthews	191,488
	Democratic Party	Woodrow Wilson	L. J. Pasternecki	191,483
	Democratic Party	Woodrow Wilson	Otto C. Wernecke	191,469
	Democratic Party	Woodrow Wilson	J. H. Cernahan	191,450
	Democratic Party	Woodrow Wilson	J. A. Hobe	191,245
	Socialist Party	Allan L. Benson	A. J. Melms	27,846
	Socialist Party	Allan L. Benson	Oscar Ameringer	27,802
	Socialist Party	Allan L. Benson	Edward Ziegler	27,739
	Socialist Party	Allan L. Benson	James Vint	27,703
	Socialist Party	Allan L. Benson	Charles H. Olson	27,692
	Socialist Party	Allan L. Benson	John Doerfler Sr.	27,678
	Socialist Party	Allan L. Benson	John Chilson	27,665
	Socialist Party	Allan L. Benson	Edward D. Deuss	27,656
	Socialist Party	Allan L. Benson	Robert Schuttler	27,656
	Socialist Party	Allan L. Benson	Curtis A. Boorman	27,637
	Socialist Party	Allan L. Benson	G. M. Schmitz	27,631
	Socialist Party	Allan L. Benson	D. V. Lawell	27,621
	Socialist Party	Allan L. Benson	Otto F. Eick	27,600
	Prohibition Party	James Hanly	Anthony J. Benjamin	7,166
	Prohibition Party	James Hanly	Frank R. Derrick	7,130
	Prohibition Party	James Hanly	Charles Schlafer	7,117
	Prohibition Party	James Hanly	Louis M. Sagen	7,110
	Prohibition Party	James Hanly	Jasper Dexter	7,108
	Prohibition Party	James Hanly	Herbert S. Siggelko	7,104
	Prohibition Party	James Hanly	Almon I. Collins	7,096
	Prohibition Party	James Hanly	Pliny F. Meyers	7,093
	Prohibition Party	James Hanly	William R. Nethercut	7,084
	Prohibition Party	James Hanly	Oliver Needham	7,076
	Prohibition Party	James Hanly	Charles E. Badger	7,068
	Prohibition Party	James Hanly	David W. Emerson	7,047
	Prohibition Party	James Hanly	Waldemar Ager	7,025
	Write-in		Scattering	25
Votes cast [b]				449,402

Results by county

County [11] [12] [13]	Charles Evans Hughes Republican		Woodrow Wilson Democratic		Allan L. Benson Socialist		James Hanly Prohibition		Margin		Total votes cast [c] [d]
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Adams	957	51.15%	824	44.04%	48	2.57%	42	2.24%	133	7.11%	1,871
Ashland	2,017	51.94%	1,599	41.18%	189	4.87%	78	2.01%	418	10.76%	3,883
Barron	2,772	54.91%	1,890	37.44%	136	2.69%	250	4.95%	882	17.47%	5,048
Bayfield	1,321	51.12%	997	38.58%	225	8.71%	41	1.59%	324	12.54%	2,584
Brown	4,132	40.01%	5,771	55.88%	223	2.16%	201	1.95%	-1,639	-15.87%	10,327
Buffalo	1,492	56.56%	1,044	39.58%	63	2.39%	39	1.48%	448	16.98%	2,638
Burnett	1,007	53.97%	638	34.19%	169	9.06%	52	2.79%	369	19.77%	1,866
Calumet	1,981	57.20%	1,384	39.97%	74	2.14%	24	0.69%	597	17.24%	3,463
Chippewa	3,327	58.15%	2,234	39.05%	72	1.26%	88	1.54%	1,093	19.11%	5,721
Clark	3,413	64.95%	1,629	31.00%	129	2.45%	84	1.60%	1,784	33.95%	5,255
Columbia	3,432	57.66%	2,314	38.88%	80	1.34%	126	2.12%	1,118	18.78%	5,952
Crawford	1,883	50.66%	1,764	47.46%	32	0.86%	38	1.02%	119	3.20%	3,717
Dane	6,947	40.04%	9,923	57.19%	190	1.10%	291	1.68%	-2,976	-17.15%	17,351
Dodge	4,916	50.73%	4,535	46.80%	111	1.15%	128	1.32%	381	3.93%	9,690
Door	1,656	56.27%	1,204	40.91%	38	1.29%	45	1.53%	452	15.36%	2,943
Douglas	3,060	43.82%	2,971	42.55%	798	11.43%	154	2.21%	89	1.27%	6,983
Dunn	2,589	60.20%	1,457	33.88%	172	4.00%	83	1.93%	1,132	26.32%	4,301
Eau Claire	2,961	53.19%	2,302	41.35%	187	3.36%	117	2.10%	659	11.84%	5,567
Florence	412	69.36%	162	27.27%	9	1.52%	11	1.85%	250	42.09%	594
Fond du Lac	5,820	51.86%	5,118	45.61%	130	1.16%	154	1.37%	702	6.26%	11,222
Forest	739	52.15%	638	45.02%	18	1.27%	22	1.55%	101	7.13%	1,417
Grant	4,720	56.30%	3,460	41.27%	70	0.84%	133	1.59%	1,260	15.03%	8,383
Green	2,446	55.84%	1,699	38.79%	65	1.48%	170	3.88%	747	17.05%	4,380
Green Lake	1,650	53.07%	1,353	43.52%	34	1.09%	47	1.51%	297	9.55%	3,109 [e]
Iowa	2,271	48.79%	2,230	47.91%	19	0.41%	135	2.90%	41	0.88%	4,655
Iron	672	54.63%	475	38.62%	43	3.50%	40	3.25%	197	16.02%	1,230
Jackson	1,866	64.10%	966	33.18%	50	1.72%	29	1.00%	900	30.92%	2,911
Jefferson	3,809	49.54%	3,676	47.81%	84	1.09%	120	1.56%	133	1.73%	7,689
Juneau	2,335	58.99%	1,449	36.61%	109	2.75%	65	1.64%	886	22.39%	3,958
Kenosha	3,537	50.99%	2,817	40.61%	497	7.16%	86	1.24%	720	10.38%	6,937
Kewaunee	1,104	35.04%	2,011	63.82%	20	0.63%	16	0.51%	-907	-28.78%	3,151
La Crosse	3,659	44.57%	4,160	50.68%	281	3.42%	109	1.33%	-501	-6.10%	8,209
Lafayette	2,545	54.09%	2,059	43.76%	18	0.38%	83	1.76%	486	10.33%	4,705
Langlade	1,540	45.10%	1,757	51.45%	81	2.37%	37	1.08%	-217	-6.35%	3,415
Lincoln	2,191	60.74%	1,282	35.54%	98	2.72%	36	1.00%	909	25.20%	3,607
Manitowoc	4,236	46.43%	4,364	47.84%	453	4.97%	70	0.77%	-128	-1.40%	9,123
Marathon	5,868	57.13%	3,702	36.04%	607	5.91%	95	0.92%	2,166	21.09%	10,272
Marinette	2,807	53.40%	2,212	42.08%	146	2.78%	92	1.75%	595	11.32%	5,257
Marquette	1,385	58.86%	924	39.27%	15	0.64%	29	1.23%	461	19.59%	2,353
Milwaukee	27,957	34.73%	35,041	43.53%	17,076	21.21%	427	0.53%	-7,084	-8.80%	80,501
Monroe	3,068	57.81%	2,012	37.91%	121	2.28%	106	2.00%	1,056	19.90%	5,307
Oconto	2,614	56.45%	1,907	41.18%	70	1.51%	40	0.86%	707	15.27%	4,631
Oneida	1,103	45.02%	1,085	44.29%	249	10.16%	13	0.53%	18	0.73%	2,450
Outagamie	5,346	52.84%	4,505	44.52%	166	1.64%	101	1.00%	841	8.31%	10,118
Ozaukee	1,610	49.39%	1,579	48.44%	51	1.56%	20	0.61%	31	0.95%	3,260
Pepin	766	53.19%	623	43.26%	25	1.74%	26	1.81%	143	9.93%	1,440
Pierce	1,946	51.88%	1,652	44.04%	72	1.92%	81	2.16%	294	7.84%	3,751
Polk	2,080	51.19%	1,714	42.19%	195	4.80%	74	1.82%	366	9.01%	4,063
Portage	2,523	44.54%	3,001	52.98%	71	1.25%	69	1.22%	-478	-8.44%	5,664
Price	1,621	56.36%	1,051	36.54%	147	5.11%	57	1.98%	570	19.82%	2,876
Racine [f] [12] [13]	4,496	42.26%	5,083	47.78%	605	5.69%	455	4.28%	-587	-5.52%	10,639
Richland	2,053	48.55%	1,848	43.70%	89	2.10%	239	5.65%	205	4.85%	4,229
Rock	7,042	61.11%	4,032	34.99%	223	1.94%	227	1.97%	3,010	26.12%	11,524
Rusk	989	47.62%	926	44.58%	114	5.49%	48	2.31%	63	3.03%	2,077
Sauk	3,786	59.53%	2,276	35.79%	43	0.68%	255	4.01%	1,510	23.74%	6,360
Sawyer	551	46.62%	562	47.55%	51	4.31%	18	1.52%	-11	-0.93%	1,182
Shawano	3,417	68.72%	1,368	27.51%	130	2.61%	57	1.15%	2,049	41.21%	4,972
Sheboygan	5,573	52.89%	3,903	37.04%	976	9.26%	85	0.81%	1,670	15.85%	10,537
St. Croix	2,739	50.99%	2,373	44.17%	176	3.28%	84	1.56%	366	6.81%	5,372
Taylor	1,544	60.17%	846	32.97%	136	5.30%	40	1.56%	698	27.20%	2,566
Trempealeau	2,139	56.05%	1,578	41.35%	29	0.76%	70	1.83%	561	14.70%	3,816
Vernon	2,928	58.64%	1,839	36.83%	49	0.98%	177	3.54%	1,089	21.81%	4,993
Vilas	531	48.49%	467	42.65%	81	7.40%	16	1.46%	64	5.84%	1,095
Walworth	4,004	59.60%	2,458	36.59%	57	0.85%	199	2.96%	1,546	23.01%	6,718
Washburn	938	55.31%	647	38.15%	77	4.54%	34	2.00%	291	17.16%	1,696
Washington	2,896	50.31%	2,736	47.53%	75	1.30%	49	0.85%	160	2.78%	5,756
Waukesha	3,778	45.15%	4,219	50.42%	146	1.74%	225	2.69%	-441	-5.27%	8,368
Waupaca	4,493	69.85%	1,721	26.76%	98	1.52%	120	1.87%	2,772	43.10%	6,432
Waushara	2,345	67.31%	1,015	29.13%	78	2.24%	46	1.32%	1,330	38.17%	3,484
Winnebago	5,993	50.51%	5,328	44.90%	383	3.23%	162	1.37%	665	5.60%	11,866
Wood	2,979	50.30%	2,653	44.80%	204	3.44%	86	1.45%	326	5.50%	5,922
Total	221,323	49.25%	193,042	42.96%	27,846	6.20%	7,166	1.59%	28,281	6.29%	449,402

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Ashland
• Calumet
• Chippewa
• Columbia
• Crawford
• Dodge
• Fond du Lac
• Forest
• Grant
• Green
• Green Lake
• Iowa
• Jefferson
• Kenosha
• Lafayette
• Lincoln
• Marathon
• Marquette
• Monroe
• Outagamie
• Ozaukee
• Sauk
• Shawano
• Sheboygan
• St. Croix
• Taylor
• Vilas
• Walworth
• Washington
• Winnebago
• Wood

Counties that flipped from Progressive to Republican

• Bayfield
• Burnett
• Douglas
• Pierce
• Polk
• Washburn

Analysis

As things turned out, Wisconsin would be comfortably, if not overwhelmingly, carried by Republican nominee Hughes, who won the state by 6.29 percentage points. Signs of the collapse of German Catholic Democratic loyalties were seen in Hughes carrying Ozaukee County, which no Republican had ever won before and was Wisconsin's only county to resist major Republican landslides by backing both William Jennings Bryan in 1896 and 1900 and Alton Brooks Parker in 1904. ^[14] This German Catholic Democratic collapse – broken abruptly by a powerful vote for coreligionist Al Smith in 1928 and for Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932 – would be a major feature of interwar Wisconsin presidential politics.

By backing Wilson, Portage County voted for the statewide loser for the first time ever; the county's bellwether streak had extended all the way back to Wisconsin's statehood in 1848. Simultaneously, this election began several very long bellwether streaks in other counties: Adams County and Jackson County would back the statewide winner in every election until 2020; Washburn County in every election until 2000; Burnett County in every election until 1980; and Eau Claire County in every election until 1968.

See also

• United States presidential elections in Wisconsin

Notes

1. The 1917 Blue Book gives the totals as Hughes 220,822; Wilson 191,363; Benson 27,631; Hanly 7,318; and no Scattering. Based on the Board of Canvassers report, these numbers are simply incorrect. No elector on any ticket received those numbers of votes. Indeed, the Blue Book is an unreliable source for Wisconsin election data from about 1890 to 1920 and its figures frequently differ from the figures listed in the Board of Canvassers reports. The 1917 Blue Book also excludes the soldier vote for the presidential election (although it includes it for the state election). The soldier vote was recorded by county, separate from the regular home vote.
2. Based on totals for highest elector on each ticket
3. Based on highest elector on each ticket
4. Includes the separately reported soldier vote
5. Includes 25 Scattering votes
6. The 1917 Blue Book has a critical mistake in this county: it swaps the votes for Wilson and Hughes. However, the original report by the Board of Canvassers clearly shows the Democratic ticket receiving more votes than the Republican ticket. Thus, it was actually Wilson who won Racine County in 1916 and not Hughes.

References

1. Burnham, Walter Dean; 'The System of 1896: An Analysis'; in The Evolution of American Electoral Systems, pp. 178-179 ISBN   0-313-21379-8
2. Sundquist, James; Politics and Policy: The Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson Years, p. 526 ISBN   0-8157-1909-4
3. Hansen, John Mark; Shigeo Hirano, and Snyder, James M. Jr.; 'Parties within Parties: Parties, Factions, and Coordinated Politics, 1900-1980'; in Gerber, Alan S. and Schickler, Eric; Governing in a Polarized Age: Elections, Parties, and Political Representation in America, pp. 165-168 ISBN   978-1-107-09509-0
4. Crews, Kenneth D.; 'Woodrow Wilson, Wisconsin, and the Election of 1912'; Presidential Studies Quarterly, Vol. 12, No. 3: 'Presidents, Vice Presidents and Political Parties: Performance and Prospects' (Summer, 1982), pp. 369-376
5. Leary, William M. (jr.); 'Woodrow Wilson, Irish Americans, and the Election of 1916'; The Journal of American History, Vol. 54, No. 1 (June 1967), pp. 57-72
6. 'The Barometer of Public Opinion'; The Watertown News (Watertown, Wisconsin), September 27, 1916, p. 4
7. 'Hughes or Wilson in Wisconsin?'; The La Crosse Tribunal, September 15, 1916, p. 3
8. 'Drift Continues Unmistakably to Wilson; Republicans Are Still Striving to Stem the Swelling Tide of Defeat'; The Tennessean, October 29, 1916, p. 11
9. Tribunes Poll'; Los Angeles Times, October 29, 1916, p. 4
10. 'Wisconsin Is Doubtful: One Summary of State'; Oshkosh Northwestern, October 26, 1916, p. 11
11. Wisconsin Historical Society, Certificate of Board of Canvassers of the State of Wisconsin - Presidential Electors
12. "Election Returns". The Chicago Daily News Almanac and Year-Book for 1917. The Chicago Daily News Company. 1916. p. 466.
13. "Election Returns and State Governments". The World Almanac and Encyclopedia 1917. New York, New York: The Press Publishing Co. 1917. p. 819.
14. Menendez, Albert J. The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004, p. 48 ISBN   0-7864-2217-3