1908 United States presidential election in Utah

The 1908 United States presidential election in Utah was held on November 3, 1908, throughout all forty-six contemporary states as part of the 1908 United States presidential election. State voters chose three representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president. This was the last election when Utah had the minimum three electoral votes as it would gain a second congressional district after the 1910 Census.

1908 United States presidential election in Utah

November 3, 1908
 
Nominee William Howard Taft William Jennings Bryan
Party Republican Democratic
Home state Ohio Nebraska
Running mate James S. Sherman John Worth Kern
Electoral vote 3 0
Popular vote 61,165 42,637
Percentage 56.23% 39.19%

County Results

President before election

Theodore Roosevelt
Republican

Elected President

William Howard Taft
Republican

Background

Although Democrat/Populist Bryan had carried Utah in its debut presidential election by a five-to-one margin, the Republican Party – ditching ancestral hostility to the state's dominant Mormon religion[1] – was soon able to take control of the state, despite a threat from the anti-Mormon "American Party" in urban areas with sizeable non-Mormon ("Gentile") populations.[2] In its third election of 1904, the Beehive State had given a virtual two-to-one majority for Theodore Roosevelt against New York Democrat Alton B. Parker, who carried only Dixie's Washington County.

Believing that the election could only be won in the West and Midwest,[3] Bryan – who had had no trouble winning a third Democratic nomination – chose Indiana's John Worth Kern as his running mate. However, although many in the media supported the election of Bryan and praised his policies, the rapid recovery from the "Panic of 1907" meant that Bryan struggled severely in the Progressive-minded Western States once campaigning began.[4]

The antagonism towards Bryan of business meant that Taft had little trouble repeating Theodore Roosevelt's triumph of 1904, although Bryan was able to cut Alton Parker's losing margin from 29 to 17 percentage points. A powerful socialist movement in mining districts[5] failed to equal Debs' support from the 1904 election as his policies were not considered feasible or were co-opted by the two major parties.[4] Taft was further helped by the unseating of delegates for Bryan as a result of conflict between pro- and anti-Mormon factions.[6]

Results

1908 United States presidential election in Utah[7][lower-alpha 1]
Party Candidate Running mate Popular vote Electoral vote
Count % Count %
Republican William Howard Taft of Ohio James Schoolcraft Sherman of New York 61,165 56.23% 3 100.00%
Democratic William Jennings Bryan of Nebraska John Worth Kern of Indiana 42,637 39.19% 0 0.00%
Socialist Eugene Victor Debs of Indiana Ben Hanford of New York 4,890 4.50% 0 0.00%
Independence Thomas Louis Hisgen of Massachusetts John Temple Graves of Georgia 92 0.08% 0 0.00%
Total 108,784 100.00% 3 100.00%

Results by county

County William Howard Taft
Republican
William Jennings Bryan
Democratic
Eugene Victor Debs[8]
Socialist
Thomas Hisgen[8]
Independence
Margin Total votes cast[7]
# % # % # % # % # %
Beaver 945 55.13% 741 43.23% 27 1.58% 1 0.06% 204 11.90% 1,714
Box Elder 2,401 62.20% 1,417 36.71% 40 1.04% 2 0.05% 984 25.49% 3,860
Cache 3,795 52.86% 3,317 46.20% 64 0.89% 3 0.04% 478 6.66% 7,179
Carbon 1,027 59.92% 581 33.90% 106 6.18% 0 0.00% 446 26.02% 1,714
Davis 1,740 55.95% 1,331 42.80% 34 1.09% 5 0.16% 409 13.15% 3,110
Emery 1,098 54.76% 749 37.36% 158 7.88% 0 0.00% 349 17.41% 2,005
Garfield 878 72.03% 299 24.53% 42 3.45% 0 0.00% 579 47.50% 1,219
Grand 233 48.85% 215 45.07% 24 5.03% 5 1.05% 18 3.77% 477
Iron 718 56.01% 488 38.07% 76 5.93% 0 0.00% 230 17.94% 1,282
Juab 1,619 48.46% 1,421 42.53% 300 8.98% 1 0.03% 198 5.93% 3,341
Kane 414 79.77% 102 19.65% 3 0.58% 0 0.00% 312 60.12% 519
Millard 1,004 55.56% 765 42.34% 38 2.10% 0 0.00% 239 13.23% 1,807
Morgan 490 57.99% 306 36.21% 49 5.80% 0 0.00% 184 21.78% 845
Piute 332 56.46% 157 26.70% 98 16.67% 1 0.17% 175 29.76% 588
Rich 427 59.55% 285 39.75% 0 0.00% 5 0.70% 142 19.80% 717
Salt Lake 20,755 57.96% 12,954 36.18% 2,059 5.75% 41 0.11% 7,801 21.79% 35,809
San Juan 131 53.25% 109 44.31% 3 1.22% 3 1.22% 22 8.94% 246
Sanpete 3,333 57.77% 2,307 39.99% 128 2.22% 1 0.02% 1,026 17.78% 5,769
Sevier 1,777 54.90% 1,272 39.30% 187 5.78% 1 0.03% 505 15.60% 3,237
Summit 1,612 50.84% 1,402 44.21% 148 4.67% 9 0.28% 210 6.62% 3,171
Tooele 1,106 56.03% 808 40.93% 59 2.99% 1 0.05% 298 15.10% 1,974
Uintah 782 48.57% 683 42.42% 145 9.01% 0 0.00% 99 6.15% 1,610
Utah 6,390 54.88% 4,984 42.81% 267 2.29% 2 0.02% 1,406 12.08% 11,643
Wasatch 1,265 53.83% 985 41.91% 98 4.17% 2 0.09% 280 11.91% 2,350
Washington 738 47.49% 810 52.12% 5 0.32% 1 0.06% -72 -4.63% 1,554
Wayne 276 49.64% 184 33.09% 96 17.27% 0 0.00% 92 16.55% 556
Weber 5,879 56.05% 3,965 37.81% 636 6.06% 8 0.08% 1,914 18.25% 10,488
Total61,16556.23%42,63739.19%4,8904.50%920.08%18,52817.03%108,784

Notes

  1. These results differ slightly from those in Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections

References

  1. Peterson, Charles S.; Utah: A History; pp. 163-164 ISBN 0393302210
  2. Wahlquist, C. Austin; 'The 1912 Presidential Election in Utah' (A Thesis Presented to the Department of History, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah)
  3. Deskins, Donald Richard; Walton, Hanes and Puckett, Sherman C.; Presidential Elections, 1789-2008: County, State, and National Mapping of Election Data, p. 286 ISBN 0472116975
  4. Hornig, Edgar A.; 'Campaign Issues in the Presidential Election of 1908'; Indiana Magazine of History, vol. 54, no. 3 (September 1958), pp. 237-264
  5. Salvatore, Nick; Eugene V. Debs: Citizen and Socialist, p. 220 ISBN 0252011481
  6. 'Both Parties Claim Northwest States: Republicans Seem to Have Best Chance in Wyoming and Colorado'; The New York Times, August 26, 1908, p. 4
  7. Robinson, Edgar Eugene; The Presidential Vote; 1896-1932 (second edition); pp. 223-224 Published 1947 by Stanford University Press
  8. Géoelections; Popular Vote at the Presidential Election for 1908 (.xlsx file for €30 including full minor party figures)
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