1912 United States presidential election in New York

The 1912 United States presidential election in New York took place on November 5, 1912. All contemporary 48 states were part of the 1912 United States presidential election. Voters chose 45 electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president.

1912 United States presidential election in New York

← 1908 November 5, 1912 1916 →
Turnout72.1%[1] Decrease 7.6 pp
 
Nominee Woodrow Wilson William Howard Taft Theodore Roosevelt
Party Democratic Republican Progressive
Home state New Jersey Ohio New York
Running mate Thomas R. Marshall Nicholas Murray Butler Hiram Johnson
Electoral vote 45 0 0
Popular vote 655,573 455,487 390,093
Percentage 41.27% 28.68% 24.56%

County Results

President before election

William Howard Taft
Republican

Elected President

Woodrow Wilson
Democratic

New York was won by the Democratic nominees, New Jersey Governor Woodrow Wilson and his running mate, Indiana Governor Thomas R. Marshall. Opposing him were the Republican nominees, incumbent President William Howard Taft and Vice President James S. Sherman, and the Progressive Party candidates, former President Theodore Roosevelt and his running mate California Governor Hiram Johnson. Also in the running was the Socialist Party candidate, Eugene V. Debs, who ran with Emil Seidel.

Wilson won New York with a plurality of 41.27% of the vote, Taft came in second, with 28.68%, and Roosevelt came in third, with 24.56%. Wilson's margin over Taft was thus 12.59%, whilst Debs came in fourth, with 3.99%. In terms of margin, Wilson finished 18.6 percentage points ahead of Taft nationally, but only 12.6 percentage points ahead of Taft in New York State, so New York State weighed in at about 6% more Republican than the nation in the 1912 presidential election. Wilson's vote margin of victory over Taft in the state was by 200,086 votes.

New York during the Fourth Party System was usually a Republican state in presidential elections. However the strong third party run by former Republican President Theodore Roosevelt as the Bull Moose Party candidate against the incumbent Republican President William Howard Taft split the Republican vote, enabling Woodrow Wilson as the Democratic candidate to win New York State's electoral votes in 1912 with a plurality of only 41% of the vote. Were Taft and Roosevelt voters united behind a single Republican candidate, they would have taken a combined majority of over 53% of the vote. This was the only presidential election during the Fourth Party System that New York voted for a Democratic presidential candidate.

Prior to 1912, New York had not given its electoral votes to a Democratic presidential candidate since Grover Cleveland in 1892. Wilson would lose New York State four years later in the midst of his re-election against Charles Evans Hughes in 1916, and the state would not vote Democratic again until 1932.

Results

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1912 United States presidential election in New York[2]
Party Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Democratic Woodrow Wilson 655,573 41.27% 45
Republican William Howard Taft (incumbent) 455,487 28.68% 0
Progressive Theodore Roosevelt 390,093 24.56% 0
Socialist Eugene V. Debs 63,434 3.99% 0
Prohibition Eugene W. Chafin 19,455 1.22% 0
Socialist Labor Arthur E. Reimer 4,273 0.27% 0
Totals 1,588,315 100.0% 45

New York City results

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1912 Presidential Election in New York City Manhattan The Bronx Brooklyn Queens Staten Island Total
Democratic Woodrow Wilson 166,157 109,748 28,076 8,445 312,426 47.06%
47.79% 44.86% 50.32% 53.60%
Progressive Theodore Roosevelt 98,985 71,173 14,967 3,771 188,896 28.45%
28.47% 29.09% 26.82% 23.93%
Republican William Howard Taft 63,107 51,239 9,201 3,035 126,582 19.07%
18.15% 20.94% 16.49% 19.26%
Socialist Eugene V. Debs 18,124 11,459 3,329 327 33,239 5.01%
5.21% 4.68% 5.97% 2.08%
Socialist Labor Arthur E. Reimer 930 568 117 34 1,649 0.25%
0.27% 0.23% 0.21% 0.22%
Prohibition Eugene W. Chafin 352 476 108 145 1,081 0.16%
0.10% 0.19% 0.19% 0.92%
TOTAL 347,655 244,663 55,798 15,757 663,873 100.00%

Results by county

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County Thomas Woodrow Wilson
Democratic
William Howard Taft
Republican
Theodore Roosevelt
Progressive "Bull Moose"
Eugene Victor Debs[3]
Socialist
Eugene Wilder Chafin[3]
Prohibition
Arthur Elmer Reimer[3]
Socialist Labor
Margin Total votes cast[4]
# % # % # % # % # % # % # %
Albany 17,235 40.07% 20,418 47.47% 4,487 10.43% 625 1.45% 198 0.46% 52 0.12% -3,183 -7.40% 43,015
Allegany 2,777 28.15% 3,668 37.19% 2,664 27.01% 283 2.87% 449 4.55% 23 0.23% -891 -9.04% 9,864
Broome 6,533 35.79% 7,949 43.55% 2,586 14.17% 355 1.94% 798 4.37% 31 0.17% -1,416 -7.76% 18,252
Cattaraugus 4,886 34.02% 4,820 33.56% 3,487 24.28% 608 4.23% 537 3.74% 25 0.17% 66 0.46% 14,363
Cayuga 4,691 34.05% 5,788 42.01% 2,428 17.62% 526 3.82% 291 2.11% 53 0.38% -1,097 -7.96% 13,777
Chautauqua 4,954 22.68% 7,899 36.16% 6,577 30.11% 1,354 6.20% 947 4.34% 113 0.52% 1,322[a] 6.05% 21,844
Chemung 6,008 46.27% 3,317 25.54% 2,733 21.05% 410 3.16% 494 3.80% 23 0.18% 2,691 20.73% 12,985
Chenango 3,341 35.29% 4,043 42.71% 1,609 17.00% 98 1.04% 366 3.87% 9 0.10% -702 -7.42% 9,466
Clinton 3,323 38.09% 3,903 44.74% 1,207 13.84% 52 0.60% 215 2.46% 23 0.26% -580 -6.65% 8,723
Columbia 4,599 46.73% 3,741 38.01% 1,318 13.39% 78 0.79% 90 0.91% 15 0.15% 858 8.72% 9,841
Cortland 2,283 30.86% 2,959 39.99% 1,629 22.02% 70 0.95% 446 6.03% 12 0.16% -676 -9.13% 7,399
Delaware 4,511 38.45% 4,731 40.32% 1,895 16.15% 329 2.80% 255 2.17% 12 0.10% -220 -1.87% 11,733
Dutchess 8,871 43.43% 8,916 43.65% 2,126 10.41% 204 1.00% 282 1.38% 26 0.13% -45 -0.22% 20,425
Erie 33,518 39.38% 19,185 22.54% 26,353 30.96% 4,779 5.61% 680 0.80% 598 0.70% 7,165[b] 8.42% 85,113
Essex 2,070 29.26% 3,127 44.20% 1,720 24.31% 68 0.96% 78 1.10% 12 0.17% -1,057 -14.94% 7,075
Franklin 2,711 32.30% 3,930 46.82% 1,363 16.24% 74 0.88% 298 3.55% 17 0.20% -1,219 -14.52% 8,393
Fulton 2,550 25.90% 3,741 38.00% 2,173 22.07% 1,043 10.59% 270 2.74% 69 0.70% -1,191 -12.10% 9,846
Genesee 2,656 32.14% 3,231 39.10% 2,061 24.94% 81 0.98% 225 2.72% 10 0.12% -575 -6.96% 8,264
Greene 3,647 48.82% 2,711 36.29% 818 10.95% 93 1.24% 195 2.61% 7 0.09% 936 12.53% 7,471
Hamilton 493 43.44% 454 40.00% 163 14.36% 7 0.62% 18 1.59% 0 0.00% 39 3.44% 1,135
Herkimer 5,122 37.72% 4,665 34.35% 3,129 23.04% 459 3.38% 163 1.20% 42 0.31% 457 3.37% 13,580
Jefferson 6,054 34.35% 6,692 37.97% 3,603 20.44% 602 3.42% 635 3.60% 38 0.22% -638 -3.62% 17,624
Kings 109,748 44.86% 51,239 20.94% 71,173 29.09% 11,459 4.68% 476 0.19% 568 0.23% 38,575[b] 15.77% 244,663
Lewis 2,339 38.39% 2,064 33.87% 1,512 24.82% 31 0.51% 139 2.28% 8 0.13% 275 4.52% 6,093
Livingston 3,203 35.70% 3,726 41.52% 1,786 19.89% 51 0.57% 200 2.23% 7 0.08% -523 -5.82% 8,973
Madison 3,164 31.86% 3,490 35.15% 2,709 27.28% 290 2.92% 245 2.47% 32 0.32% -326 -3.29% 9,930
Monroe 17,863 33.34% 16,880 31.51% 14,919 27.85% 2,943 5.49% 705 1.32% 267 0.50% 983 1.83% 53,577
Montgomery 4,508 37.57% 5,040 42.00% 1,894 15.78% 408 3.40% 121 1.01% 28 0.23% -532 -4.43% 11,999
Nassau 7,073 38.14% 4,608 24.85% 6,563 35.39% 150 0.81% 142 0.77% 10 0.05% 510[b] 2.75% 18,546
New York 166,157 47.79% 63,107 18.15% 98,985 28.47% 18,124 5.21% 352 0.10% 930 0.27% 67,172[b] 19.32% 347,655
Niagara 7,647 40.66% 5,654 30.06% 4,256 22.63% 766 4.07% 427 2.27% 58 0.31% 1,993 10.60% 18,808
Oneida 12,182 36.17% 11,245 33.39% 8,332 24.74% 1,267 3.76% 454 1.35% 196 0.58% 937 2.78% 33,676
Onondaga 15,827 34.47% 16,202 35.29% 10,694 23.29% 2,430 5.29% 602 1.31% 162 0.35% -375 -0.82% 45,917
Ontario 4,734 38.55% 4,897 39.88% 2,278 18.55% 166 1.35% 191 1.56% 13 0.11% -163 -1.33% 12,279
Orange 9,404 39.14% 10,364 43.14% 3,509 14.61% 398 1.66% 281 1.17% 70 0.29% -960 -4.00% 24,026
Orleans 2,448 33.94% 2,983 41.36% 1,432 19.86% 73 1.01% 268 3.72% 8 0.11% -535 -7.42% 7,212
Oswego 5,256 32.84% 5,996 37.47% 3,950 24.68% 149 0.93% 627 3.92% 25 0.16% -740 -4.63% 16,003
Otsego 5,338 42.23% 5,138 40.65% 1,696 13.42% 125 0.99% 335 2.65% 9 0.07% 200 1.58% 12,641
Putnam 1,321 41.13% 1,267 39.45% 593 18.46% 9 0.28% 20 0.62% 2 0.06% 54 1.68% 3,212
Queens 28,076 50.32% 9,201 16.49% 14,967 26.82% 3,329 5.97% 108 0.19% 117 0.21% 13,109[b] 23.50% 55,798
Rensselaer 11,684 42.50% 10,853 39.48% 3,735 13.59% 859 3.12% 262 0.95% 98 0.36% 831 3.02% 27,491
Richmond 8,445 53.60% 3,035 19.26% 3,771 23.93% 327 2.08% 145 0.92% 34 0.22% 4,674[b] 29.67% 15,757
Rockland 4,241 46.87% 2,221 24.55% 2,302 25.44% 178 1.97% 87 0.96% 19 0.21% 1,939[b] 21.43% 9,048
Saratoga 5,296 36.16% 6,401 43.71% 2,640 18.03% 31 0.21% 272 1.86% 4 0.03% -1,105 -7.55% 14,644
Schenectady 5,345 32.19% 5,230 31.49% 2,220 13.37% 3,456 20.81% 245 1.48% 111 0.67% 115 0.70% 16,607
Schoharie 3,355 51.58% 2,391 36.76% 580 8.92% 41 0.63% 136 2.09% 2 0.03% 964 14.82% 6,505
Schuyler 1,416 37.15% 1,649 43.26% 527 13.82% 84 2.20% 128 3.36% 8 0.21% -233 -6.11% 3,812
Seneca 2,573 38.07% 2,336 34.57% 1,082 16.01% 198 2.93% 543 8.03% 26 0.38% 237 3.50% 6,758
St. Lawrence 5,329 28.52% 8,404 44.98% 4,221 22.59% 341 1.82% 362 1.94% 28 0.15% -3,075 -16.46% 18,685
Steuben 7,396 38.97% 5,986 31.54% 4,109 21.65% 649 3.42% 813 4.28% 27 0.14% 1,410 7.43% 18,980
Suffolk 7,878 40.08% 5,595 28.47% 5,484 27.90% 344 1.75% 319 1.62% 35 0.18% 2,283 11.61% 19,655
Sullivan 3,864 47.75% 3,039 37.56% 961 11.88% 136 1.68% 79 0.98% 13 0.16% 825 10.19% 8,092
Tioga 2,400 37.31% 2,642 41.08% 1,052 16.36% 126 1.96% 199 3.09% 13 0.20% -242 -3.77% 6,432
Tompkins 3,272 40.38% 2,237 27.61% 2,068 25.52% 123 1.52% 377 4.65% 26 0.32% 1,035 12.77% 8,103
Ulster 8,510 43.58% 7,485 38.33% 2,951 15.11% 151 0.77% 406 2.08% 23 0.12% 1,025 5.25% 19,526
Warren 2,802 35.17% 3,155 39.60% 1,608 20.18% 255 3.20% 127 1.59% 21 0.26% -353 -4.43% 7,968
Washington 3,555 31.68% 4,593 40.94% 2,605 23.22% 198 1.76% 255 2.27% 14 0.12% -1,038 -9.26% 11,220
Wayne 3,934 33.26% 4,770 40.32% 2,574 21.76% 82 0.69% 461 3.90% 8 0.07% -836 -7.06% 11,829
Westchester 21,160 39.40% 15,843 29.50% 15,051 28.02% 1,345 2.50% 289 0.54% 23 0.04% 5,317 9.90% 53,711
Wyoming 2,541 32.05% 2,838 35.79% 2,270 28.63% 61 0.77% 212 2.67% 7 0.09% -297 -3.74% 7,929
Yates 1,456 33.34% 1,795 41.10% 905 20.72% 83 1.90% 115 2.63% 13 0.30% -339 -7.76% 4,367
Totals 655,573 41.27% 455,487 28.68% 390,093 24.56% 63,434 3.99% 19,455 1.22% 4,273 0.27% 200,086 !12.79% 1,588,315

Analysis

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Although Theodore Roosevelt finished strong for a third-party candidate with 24.56% of the vote, New York was not amongst his strongest states. New York's Republican Party organization[5] and traditional Republican voters proved to be mostly loyal to President Taft as the official Republican nominee. While Roosevelt came in second place nationally ahead of Taft, Taft beat Roosevelt in New York State and finished second in the state behind Wilson. While Taft won the most counties in New York state, 32 compared to Wilson's 29, Roosevelt failed to win a single county in New York state. As a result, Roosevelt was the last candidate to claim an electoral vote in a presidential election without winning any county in his home state until Mitt Romney 100 years later.[c] Debs performed best in upstate Schenectady County, where he broke 20% of the vote, and it was the only county in the state where Debs finished third, ahead of Roosevelt. In the more sparsely populated rural counties of Upstate New York, Debs tended to be beaten down into fifth place by Prohibition candidate Chafin. While Debs got 3.99% of New York state's vote compared to Chafin's 1.22%, Debs finished below Chafin in 34 of the state's 61 counties.

Wilson won many counties in New York which have been Republican bastions for most of history. However, aside from Schoharie County, every upstate county won by Wilson was won with a plurality of less than fifty percent of the vote and some with less than forty percent. He was the first Democrat to win Cattaraugus County since 1836, Herkimer, Tompkins, and Steuben counties since 1852, Lewis County since 1876, Monroe and Nassau counties for the first time ever, Oneida, Suffolk, Sullivan, and Otsego counties since 1884, and Putnam County since 1868.

Wilson won pluralities in several suburban counties surrounding New York City and in Long Island, as well as several in upstate New York, that would not vote Democratic again until Lyndon B. Johnson swept the state in the 1964 Democratic landslide, namely Cattaraugus, Columbia, Herkimer, Lewis, Nassau, Putnam, Seneca, Steuben, Suffolk, Tompkins, Ulster, and Westchester counties.

Johnson alone has since won Putnam[6] and Steuben Counties.[7] Despite Wilson's relatively strong showing on the county map, upstate New York nevertheless remained one of the most loyally Republican regions in the nation in the 1912 election, and the majority of counties in the region still favored Taft. Taft's most significant wins in the state were his victories in Albany County, home to the state capital of Albany, and Onondaga County, home to the city of Syracuse, while most of his victories came from the many rural counties upstate. However, due to the Republican split, Wilson became the first Democrat to carry the state outside of New York City since 1852, albeit with a 15,000-vote plurality. This would not occur again until 1964.

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ In this county where Roosevelt ran second ahead of Wilson, the margin and percentage margin given are those between Taft and Roosevelt (Taft positive).
  2. ^ a b c d e f g In this county where Roosevelt ran second ahead of Taft, the margins given are those between Wilson and Roosevelt and percentage margin Wilson percentage minus Roosevelt percentage.
  3. ^ James B. Weaver, the Populist candidate in 1892, is the only other case since the Civil War: he won five states but no county in his home state of Iowa.

References

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  1. ^ Bicentennial Edition: Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to 1970, part 2, p. 1072.
  2. ^ "1912 Presidential Election Results - New York". Dave Leip's U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved July 27, 2013.
  3. ^ a b c Géoelections; 1912 Presidential Election Popular Vote for Eugene Debs (xlsx file for €15)
  4. ^ Robinson, Edgar Eugene; The Presidential Vote 1896-1932, pp. 275-280 ISBN 9780804716963
  5. ^ Robinson; Edgar Eugene; 'Distribution of the Presidential Vote of 1912'; The American Journal of Sociology; 20(1) (1914); pp. 18-30
  6. ^ The Political Graveyard; Putnam County, New York
  7. ^ The Political Graveyard; Steuben County, New York