1896 United States presidential election in North Dakota

The 1896 United States presidential election in North Dakota took place on November 3, 1896. All contemporary 45 states were part of the 1896 United States presidential election. Voters chose three electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president.

1896 United States presidential election in North Dakota

November 3, 1896

Nominee William McKinley William J. Bryan Party Republican Democratic Home state Ohio Nebraska Running mate Garret Hobart Arthur Sewall Electoral vote 3 0 Popular vote 26,335 20,686 Percentage 55.57% 43.65%

County Results McKinley   40-50%   50-60%   60-70%   70-80%   80-90% Bryan   50-60%   60-70%

President before election Grover Cleveland Democratic Elected President William McKinley Republican

Elections in North Dakota
Federal government Presidential 1892 1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 Dem 2008 Dem GOP 2012 GOP 2016 Dem 2020 Dem U.S. Senate 1889 1891 1893 1897 1899 1903 1905 1909 1911 1911 (sp) 1914 1916 1920 1922 1926 1926 (sp) 1928 1932 1934 1938 1940 1944 1946 1946 (sp) 1950 1952 1956 1958 1960 (sp) 1962 1964 1968 1970 1974 1976 1980 1982 1986 1988 1992 1992 (sp) 1994 1998 2000 2004 2006 2010 2012 2016 2018 2022 2024 U.S. House 1889 1890 1892 1894 1896 1898 1900 1902 1904 1906 1908 1910 1912 1914 1916 1917 (1st sp) 1918 1920 1922 1924 2nd sp 1926 1928 1932 1934 1936 1938 1940 1942 1944 1946 1948 1950 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1963 (1st sp) 1964 1966 1968 1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020
State government General elections 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 Gubernatorial elections 1889 1890 1892 1894 1896 1898 1900 1902 1904 1906 1908 1910 1912 1914 1916 1918 1920 1921 1922 1924 1926 1928 1930 1932 1934 1936 1938 1940 1942 1944 1946 1948 1950 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 Secretary of State elections 2018
Ballot measures 2004 Constitutional Measure 1

Although the state had been carried by a fusion ticket under the “Populist” label in 1892, unlike the other Mountain and Plains states, North Dakota was largely Catholic or Lutheran and opposed Populist and Democratic nominee William Jennings Bryan’s evangelistic Protestantism.[1] In spite of the fact that this predominantly wheat-growing state was severely hit by drought, high interest rates and problems of poor transportation,[2] hostility to Bryan’s fundamentalism amongst the Russian-Germans of the southern part of the state was intense, while the Catholic Church under the influence of John Ireland also condemned Bryan’s free silver policy at the same time as Bryan toured North Dakota in October.[3] There was also fear that if Bryan were elected the nation would split as severely as it had in 1861 after the election of Abraham Lincoln,[4] and Archbishop Ireland pointed out that Bryan’s election might create class war.

For these reasons, Bryan was able to carry only the rural Scandinavian-American counties in the Red River Valley and the north of the state adjacent to Minnesota and Canada. In the predominantly German remainder of the state, Republican nominees, former Ohio Governor William McKinley and his running mate Garret Hobart of New Jersey established a Republican dominance of the state’s presidential politics that would prove permanent except during the Prohibition and New Deal era.

McKinley won North Dakota by a margin of 11.92 percentage points, becoming the first Republican presidential candidate to win the state. He repeat this much more decisively four years later, and Bryan would prove the only Democrat to carry any of North Dakota’s counties until Woodrow Wilson in 1912[5] and the only one to obtain a majority in a North Dakota county until Wilson in 1916. This is the only election ever where North Dakota and Kansas didn't choose the same candidate.[lower-alpha 1]