Electoral history of Woodrow Wilson

This is the electoral history of Thomas Woodrow Wilson, a Democrat, who served as the 28th President of the United States (1913–1921), and earlier as the 34th Governor of New Jersey (1911–1913).

Wilson's electoral record is fairly short compared with most other American Presidents. Throughout his lifetime Wilson competed in only three public elections, winning all of them.

 
Results of the 1910 gubernatorial election in New Jersey. Wilson won the counties in blue.

Candidates

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Major party candidates

Other candidates

  • Wilson B. Killingbeck, Socialist
  • C. F. Repp, Prohibition Party
  • John C. Butterworth, Socialist Labor Party of America

Results

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New Jersey gubernatorial election, 1910[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Woodrow Wilson 233,682 53.93%
Republican Vivian M. Lewis 184,626 42.61%
Socialist Wilson B. Killingbeck 10,134 2.34%
Prohibition C. F. Repp 2,818 0.65%
Socialist Labor John C. Butterworth 2,032 0.47%
Majority
Turnout
Democratic gain from Republican Swing

1912 Presidential Election

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Democratic party nomination

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1912 Democratic Party presidential primaries
 
March 19 to June 4, 1912 1916 →
     
Candidate Woodrow Wilson Champ Clark
Home state New Jersey Missouri
Contests won 5 5
Popular vote 435,169 405,537
Percentage 44.6% 41.6%

     
Candidate Judson Harmon John Burke
Home state Ohio North Dakota
Contests won 1 1
Popular vote 116,294 9,357
Percentage 11.9% 1.0%

 

Previous Democratic nominee

William Jennings Bryan

Democratic nominee

Woodrow Wilson


1912 Democratic Party presidential primaries

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Wilson emerged the overall victor from the 12 Democratic Party caucuses and presidential primaries held in the lead up to the 1912 Democratic National Convention. The primary process was not what it is today however, most states did not hold primaries or caucuses and the party was not bound by the results in the way it is today.



The Democratic National Convention

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The 1912 Democratic National Convention was one of the most protracted and contested in history. Wilson lost the first thirty ballots to House Speaker Champ Clark. Even though Clark secured a majority on the 9th Ballot, to be the party nominee, DNC rules at the time required at least two-thirds, so the voting continued. Wilson's chances steadily increased after he received the endorsement of William Jennings Bryant starting on the 10th Ballot. After initially trailing and almost giving up hope, Wilson finally prevailed on the 46th Ballot.[2]






















General Election

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In the general election, Wilson faced two major opponents: incumbent Republican President William Howard Taft, and former Republican President Theodore Roosevelt, running on the "Bull Moose" Party ticket. Eugene V. Debs was the Socialist Party candidate and attracted far from token support. At the 1912 Republican National Convention Taft narrowly won re-nomination against Roosevelt, under whom he had served as Secretary of War. Roosevelt felt he had been cheated by party bosses and along with his supporters walked out of the convention. This split proved as expected, to be a major boost for Democrats in the general election. Wilson went on to become the first Democrat victor in a presidential election since 1892.[3]

1912 United States presidential election
 
← 1908 November 5, 1912 1916 →

531 members of the Electoral College
266 electoral votes needed to win
Turnout58.8%[4]   6.6 pp
     
Nominee Woodrow Wilson Theodore Roosevelt
Party Democratic Progressive
Home state New Jersey New York
Running mate Thomas R. Marshall Hiram Johnson
Electoral vote 435 88
States carried 40 6
Popular vote 6,296,284 4,122,721
Percentage 41.8% 27.4%

     
Nominee William Howard Taft Eugene V. Debs
Party Republican Socialist
Home state Ohio Indiana
Running mate Nicholas M. Butler[a] Emil Seidel
Electoral vote 8 0
States carried 2 0
Popular vote 3,486,242 918,332
Percentage 23.2% 6.0%

 1912 United States presidential election in California1912 United States presidential election in Oregon1912 United States presidential election in Washington (state)1912 United States presidential election in Idaho1912 United States presidential election in Nevada1912 United States presidential election in Utah1912 United States presidential election in Arizona1912 United States presidential election in Montana1912 United States presidential election in Wyoming1912 United States presidential election in Colorado1912 United States presidential election in New Mexico1912 United States presidential election in North Dakota1912 United States presidential election in South Dakota1912 United States presidential election in Nebraska1912 United States presidential election in Kansas1912 United States presidential election in Oklahoma1912 United States presidential election in Texas1912 United States presidential election in Minnesota1912 United States presidential election in Iowa1912 United States presidential election in Missouri1912 United States presidential election in Arkansas1912 United States presidential election in Louisiana1912 United States presidential election in Wisconsin1912 United States presidential election in Illinois1912 United States presidential election in Michigan1912 United States presidential election in Indiana1912 United States presidential election in Ohio1912 United States presidential election in Kentucky1912 United States presidential election in Tennessee1912 United States presidential election in Mississippi1912 United States presidential election in Alabama1912 United States presidential election in Georgia1912 United States presidential election in Florida1912 United States presidential election in South Carolina1912 United States presidential election in North Carolina1912 United States presidential election in Virginia1912 United States presidential election in West Virginia1912 United States presidential election in Maryland1912 United States presidential election in Delaware1912 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania1912 United States presidential election in New Jersey1912 United States presidential election in New York1912 United States presidential election in Connecticut1912 United States presidential election in Rhode Island1912 United States presidential election in Maryland1912 United States presidential election in Vermont1912 United States presidential election in New Hampshire1912 United States presidential election in Maine1912 United States presidential election in Massachusetts1912 United States presidential election in Maryland1912 United States presidential election in Delaware1912 United States presidential election in New Jersey1912 United States presidential election in Connecticut1912 United States presidential election in Rhode Island1912 United States presidential election in Massachusetts1912 United States presidential election in Vermont1912 United States presidential election in New Hampshire
Presidential election results map. Blue denotes those won by Wilson/Marshall, light green denotes those won by Roosevelt/Johnson, red denotes states won by Taft/Butler. Numbers indicate the number of electoral votes allotted to each state.

President before election

William Howard Taft
Republican

Elected President

Woodrow Wilson
Democratic


Results

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On November 5, Wilson captured the presidency handily by carrying a record 40 states.

As of 2024, this is the only presidential election since 1860 in which 4 candidates received more than 5% of the popular vote and a third-party candidate outperformed a major party candidate in the general election. Wilson won the presidency with a lower percentage of the popular vote than any candidate since Abraham Lincoln in 1860. Taft's result remains the worst performance for any incumbent president, both in terms of electoral votes (8) and share of popular votes (23.17%). His 8 electoral votes remain the fewest by a Republican and by a losing major party candidate, matched by Alf Landon's 1936 campaign.[5]

Despite his clear victory in electoral college votes, Wilson's popular vote total was less than that of William Jennings Bryan, in any of his three preceding presidential campaigns as the Democratic Party's nominee for president.[6] In only two regions, New England and the Pacific, was Wilson's vote greater than the greatest Bryan vote.[7] Wilson won a plurality, not a majority of the popular vote. Wilson's popular vote percentage was lowest of any victor in a U.S. Presidential Election since Abraham Lincoln in 1860.

1916 Presidential Election

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1916 United States presidential election
 
← 1912 November 7, 1916 1920 →

531 members of the Electoral College
266 electoral votes needed to win
Turnout61.6%[8]   2.8 pp
     
Nominee Woodrow Wilson Charles Evans Hughes
Party Democratic Republican
Home state New Jersey New York
Running mate Thomas R. Marshall Charles W. Fairbanks
Electoral vote 277 254
States carried 30 18
Popular vote 9,126,868 8,548,728
Percentage 49.2% 46.1%

 1916 United States presidential election in California1916 United States presidential election in Oregon1916 United States presidential election in Washington (state)1916 United States presidential election in Idaho1916 United States presidential election in Nevada1916 United States presidential election in Utah1916 United States presidential election in Arizona1916 United States presidential election in Montana1916 United States presidential election in Wyoming1916 United States presidential election in Colorado1916 United States presidential election in New Mexico1916 United States presidential election in North Dakota1916 United States presidential election in South Dakota1916 United States presidential election in Nebraska1916 United States presidential election in Kansas1916 United States presidential election in Oklahoma1916 United States presidential election in Texas1916 United States presidential election in Minnesota1916 United States presidential election in Iowa1916 United States presidential election in Missouri1916 United States presidential election in Arkansas1916 United States presidential election in Louisiana1916 United States presidential election in Wisconsin1916 United States presidential election in Illinois1916 United States presidential election in Michigan1916 United States presidential election in Indiana1916 United States presidential election in Ohio1916 United States presidential election in Kentucky1916 United States presidential election in Tennessee1916 United States presidential election in Mississippi1916 United States presidential election in Alabama1916 United States presidential election in Georgia1916 United States presidential election in Florida1916 United States presidential election in South Carolina1916 United States presidential election in North Carolina1916 United States presidential election in Virginia1916 United States presidential election in West Virginia1916 United States presidential election in Maryland1916 United States presidential election in Delaware1916 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania1916 United States presidential election in New Jersey1916 United States presidential election in New York1916 United States presidential election in Connecticut1916 United States presidential election in Rhode Island1916 United States presidential election in Vermont1916 United States presidential election in New Hampshire1916 United States presidential election in Maine1916 United States presidential election in Massachusetts1916 United States presidential election in Maryland1916 United States presidential election in Delaware1916 United States presidential election in New Jersey1916 United States presidential election in Connecticut1916 United States presidential election in Rhode Island1916 United States presidential election in Massachusetts1916 United States presidential election in Vermont1916 United States presidential election in New Hampshire
Presidential election results map. Blue denotes those won by Wilson/Marshall, red denotes states won by Hughes/Fairbanks. Numbers indicate the number of electoral votes allotted to each state.

President before election

Woodrow Wilson
Democratic

Elected President

Woodrow Wilson
Democratic

In 1916, Wilson ran for re-election. After easily securing re-nomination at the Democratic Convention, Wilson went on to narrowly win the general election against Republican Charles Hughes.[9]


References

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  1. ^ Incumbent vice-president James S. Sherman was re-nominated to serve as Taft's running-mate, but died six days prior to the election. Butler was chosen to receive the Republican vice-presidential votes after the election.
  1. ^ Kalb, Deborah, "Guide to U.S. Elections." Published December 2015. books.google.com/books?id=9CZECwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1715.
  2. ^ "Woodrow Wilson is Nominated for President; Gov. Marshall of Indiana for Vice President". The New York Times (July 3, 1912). partners.nytimes.com/library/politics/camp/120703convention-dem-ra.html. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
  3. ^ Cooper (2009), pp. 154–155
  4. ^ "Voter Turnout in Presidential Elections". The American Presidency Project. UC Santa Barbara.
  5. ^ "1936 Presidential General Election Data - National". Retrieved March 11, 2021.
  6. ^ The Presidential Vote, 1896–1932, Edgar E. Robinson, pg. 14
  7. ^ The Presidential Vote, 1896–1932, Edgar E. Robinson, pg. 15
  8. ^ "Voter Turnout in Presidential Elections". The American Presidency Project. UC Santa Barbara.
  9. ^ Leary, William M. (1967). "Woodrow Wilson, Irish Americans, and the Election of 1916". The Journal of American History. 54 (1): 57–72. doi:10.2307/1900319. JSTOR 1900319.