1912 United States presidential election in Florida

The 1912 United States presidential election in Florida was held on November 5, 1912. Voters chose six representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

United States presidential election in Florida, 1912

November 5, 1912
 
Nominee Woodrow Wilson Eugene Debs
Party Democratic Socialist
Home state New Jersey Indiana
Running mate Thomas R. Marshall Emil Seidel
Electoral vote 6 0
Popular vote 35,343 4,806
Percentage 69.52% 9.45%

 
Nominee Theodore Roosevelt William Taft
Party Progressive Republican
Home state New York Ohio
Running mate Hiram W. Johnson Nicholas Murray Butler
Electoral vote 0 0
Popular vote 4,555 4,279
Percentage 8.96% 8.42%

County Results
Wilson
  50–60%
  60–70%
  70–80%
  80–90%


President before election

William Taft
Republican

Elected President

Woodrow Wilson
Democratic

Background

Ever since the disfranchisement of blacks at the beginning of the 1890s, Florida had been a one-party state ruled by the Democratic Party. Because, unlike southern states extending into the Appalachian Mountains or Ozarks, or Texas with its German settlements in the Edwards Plateau, Florida completely lacked upland or German refugee whites opposed to secession, its Republican Party between 1872 and 1888 was entirely dependent upon black votes. An illustration of the original Florida GOP’s dependence upon black votes can be seen in that, as late as the landmark court case of Smith v. Allwright, half of Florida’s registered Republicans were still black[1] – although very few blacks in Florida had ever voted within the previous fifty-five years. Thus this disfranchisement of blacks and poor whites by a poll tax introduced in 1889[2] left Florida as devoid of Republican adherents as Louisiana, Mississippi or South Carolina.[3]

The Democratic Party won every county in Florida in each election from 1892[lower-alpha 1] until 1904, and all bar Calhoun County in 1908.[4] Only once since 1897 – and then only for a single term – had a Republican served in either house of the state legislature.

Despite this disfranchisement of most of the state’s lower classes, by the 1912 election, southern Florida – settled after the Civil War – was to develop a considerable socialist movement at the beginning of the 1910s – most strongly in Tampa.[5] Although this movement had no effect on the overall presidential result – Democrat Woodrow Wilson was to win every county with an absolute majority of votes – it did allow Socialist Eugene Debs to achieve the unique feat for an American socialist of finishing second, ahead of both factions of the splintered national Republican Party.

Results

United States presidential election in Florida, 1912[6]
Party Candidate Running mate Popular vote Electoral vote
Count % Count %
Democratic Woodrow Wilson of New Jersey Thomas R. Marshall of Indiana 35,343 69.52% 6 100.00%
Socialist Eugene Debs of Indiana Emil Seidel of Wisconsin 4,806 9.45% 0 0.00%
Progressive Theodore Roosevelt of New York Hiram W. Johnson of California 4,555 8.96% 0 0.00%
Republican William Howard Taft of Ohio Nicholas Murray Butler of New York 4,279 8.42% 0 0.00%
Prohibition Eugene Chafin of Illinois Aaron Watkins of Ohio 1,854 3.65% 0 0.00%
Total 50,837 100.00% 6 100.00%

Results by county

Thomas Woodrow Wilson

Democratic

William Howard Taft

Republican

Eugene Victor Debs

Socialist

Theodore Roosevelt Jr.

Progressive

Eugene Wilder Chafin

Prohibition

Total votes cast
County #[7] % #[7] % #[8] % #[8] % #[8] % #
Alachua 1,304 75.33% 221 12.77% 56 3.24% 75 4.33% 75 4.33% 1,731
Baker 168 50.76% 37 11.18% 31 9.37% 93 28.10% 2 0.60% 331
Bradford 656 76.55% 95 11.09% 10 1.17% 40 4.67% 56 6.53% 857
Brevard 357 60.51% 61 10.34% 82 13.90% 82 13.90% 8 1.36% 590
Calhoun 332 50.30% 67 10.15% 152 23.03% 59 8.94% 50 7.58% 660
Citrus 417 82.90% 11 2.19% 21 4.17% 44 8.75% 10 1.99% 503
Clay 279 71.54% 26 6.67% 54 13.85% 21 5.38% 10 2.56% 390
Columbia 520 77.61% 66 9.85% 23 3.43% 50 7.46% 11 1.64% 670
Dade 1,171 65.71% 99 5.56% 188 10.55% 291 16.33% 33 1.85% 1,782
DeSoto 847 67.28% 110 8.74% 135 10.72% 78 6.20% 89 7.07% 1,259
Duval 3,514 75.26% 243 5.20% 350 7.50% 485 10.39% 77 1.65% 4,669
Escambia 1,593 77.11% 72 3.48% 158 7.65% 202 9.78% 41 1.98% 2,066
Franklin 266 68.21% 58 14.87% 38 9.74% 23 5.90% 5 1.28% 390
Gadsden 609 78.99% 75 9.73% 31 4.02% 54 7.00% 2 0.26% 771
Hamilton 405 72.71% 46 8.26% 60 10.77% 24 4.31% 22 3.95% 557
Hernando 272 71.02% 18 4.70% 42 10.97% 22 5.74% 29 7.57% 383
Hillsborough 2,641 67.63% 159 4.07% 672 17.21% 269 6.89% 164 4.20% 3,905
Holmes 411 61.16% 52 7.74% 79 11.76% 110 16.37% 20 2.98% 672
Jackson 1,205 71.01% 163 9.61% 146 8.60% 68 4.01% 115 6.78% 1,697
Jefferson 459 82.55% 47 8.45% 9 1.62% 39 7.01% 2 0.36% 556
Lafayette 473 76.79% 73 11.85% 8 1.30% 11 1.79% 51 8.28% 616
Lake 596 73.49% 92 11.34% 39 4.81% 63 7.77% 21 2.59% 811
Lee 432 60.50% 38 5.32% 116 16.25% 97 13.59% 31 4.34% 714
Leon 546 81.98% 56 8.41% 15 2.25% 46 6.91% 3 0.45% 666
Levy 375 70.49% 74 13.91% 30 5.64% 24 4.51% 29 5.45% 532
Liberty 206 77.74% 32 12.08% 7 2.64% 18 6.79% 2 0.75% 265
Madison 480 87.59% 16 2.92% 19 3.47% 30 5.47% 3 0.55% 548
Manatee 712 68.73% 55 5.31% 98 9.46% 108 10.42% 63 6.08% 1,036
Marion 1,165 70.73% 179 10.87% 124 7.53% 117 7.10% 62 3.76% 1,647
Monroe 1,023 55.72% 414 22.55% 221 12.04% 152 8.28% 26 1.42% 1,836
Nassau 441 82.89% 38 7.14% 31 5.83% 17 3.20% 5 0.94% 532
Orange 1,256 68.15% 228 12.37% 124 6.73% 134 7.27% 101 5.48% 1,843
Osceola 512 57.59% 110 12.37% 64 7.20% 159 17.89% 44 4.95% 889
Palm Beach 458 63.17% 31 4.28% 77 10.62% 146 20.14% 13 1.79% 725
Pasco 485 67.45% 60 8.34% 64 8.90% 74 10.29% 36 5.01% 719
Pinellas 853 60.16% 87 6.14% 189 13.33% 250 17.63% 39 2.75% 1,418
Polk 1,520 71.43% 106 4.98% 291 13.67% 141 6.63% 70 3.29% 2,128
Putnam 774 65.93% 229 19.51% 67 5.71% 53 4.51% 51 4.34% 1,174
St. Johns 836 73.08% 45 3.93% 116 10.14% 132 11.54% 15 1.31% 1,144
St. Lucie 352 69.57% 45 8.89% 64 12.65% 36 7.11% 9 1.78% 506
Santa Rosa 592 66.29% 70 7.84% 88 9.85% 48 5.38% 95 10.64% 893
Sumter 417 74.73% 22 3.94% 19 3.41% 71 12.72% 29 5.20% 558
Suwannee 714 69.59% 54 5.26% 214 20.86% 29 2.83% 15 1.46% 1,026
Taylor 236 65.01% 56 15.43% 9 2.48% 19 5.23% 43 11.85% 363
Volusia 942 67.48% 162 11.60% 98 7.02% 72 5.16% 122 8.74% 1,396
Wakulla 215 77.06% 25 8.96% 22 7.89% 15 5.38% 2 0.72% 279
Walton 612 57.95% 74 7.01% 69 6.53% 296 28.03% 5 0.47% 1,056
Washington 694 64.38% 82 7.61% 186 17.25% 68 6.31% 48 4.45% 1,078
Totals35,34369.52%4,2798.42%4,8069.45%4,5558.96%1,8543.65%50,837

References

  1. See Price, Hugh Douglas; ‘The Negro and Florida Politics, 1944-1954’; The Journal of Politics, Vol. 17, No. 2 (May, 1955), pp. 198-220
  2. Silbey, Joel H. and Bogue, Allan G.; The History of American Electoral Behavior, p. 210 ISBN 140087114X
  3. Phillips, Kevin P.; The Emerging Republican Majority, pp. 208, 210 ISBN 9780691163246
  4. Robinson, Edgar Eugene; The Presidential Vote; 1896-1932 (second edition); pp. 156-157 Published 1947 by Stanford University Press
  5. Ford, Edward J.; ‘Life on the Campaign Trail: a Political Anthropology of Local Politics’ (thesis), published 2008 by University of South Florida, pp. 114-118
  6. Leip, David. "1912 Presidential General Election Results – Florida". U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved 2017-06-12.
  7. Robinson; The Presidential Vote, pp. 156-161
  8. "Presidential Election of 1912 – Map by Counties (.xlsx file for €15)". Géoelections. Archived from the original on 2018-06-13. Retrieved 2017-06-06.

Notes

  1. In the 1892 Presidential election, Republican Benjamin Harrison was not on the ballot and the party backed Populist James B. Weaver.
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