1912 United States presidential election in Massachusetts

The 1912 United States presidential election in Massachusetts took place on November 5, 1912, as part of the 1912 United States presidential election, which was held throughout all contemporary 48 states. Voters chose 18 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

1912 United States presidential election in Massachusetts

November 5, 1912
Turnout63.4%[1] 1.7 pp
 
Nominee Woodrow Wilson William H. Taft Theodore Roosevelt
Party Democratic Republican Progressive
Home state New Jersey Ohio New York
Running mate Thomas R. Marshall Nicholas M. Butler
(replacing James S. Sherman)
Hiram Johnson
Electoral vote 18 0 0
Popular vote 173,408[lower-alpha 1] 155,948 142,228
Percentage 35.53% 31.95% 29.14%

County Results

President before election

William Howard Taft
Republican

Elected President

Woodrow Wilson
Democratic

Massachusetts 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 Massachusetts with a plurality of 35.53% of the vote, Taft came in second, with 31.95%, and Roosevelt came in third, with 29.14%, Wilson's margin over Taft being 3.58%. Debs came in fourth, with 2.58% of the total vote. In terms of margin, Massachusetts was about 11% more Republican than the national average.

Massachusetts had long been a typical Yankee Republican bastion in the wake of the Civil War, having voted Republican in every election from 1856 through 1908. However, in 1912, former Republican President Theodore Roosevelt decided to run as a third-party candidate with his Bull Moose Party against incumbent Republican President William Howard Taft, splitting the Republican vote and allowing Woodrow Wilson as the Democratic candidate to win Massachusetts with a plurality of only 35.53% of the vote. Were Taft and Roosevelt voters united behind a single Republican candidate, they would have taken a combined majority of over 61% of the vote, but the split would instead prove fatal to the Republicans both nationally and in Massachusetts. 1912 marked the first time in history that Massachusetts had ever given its electoral votes to a Democratic presidential candidate.

Theodore Roosevelt finished strong for a third-party candidate with 29.14% of the vote, about 2% more than he received nationally, although Massachusetts was not amongst his strongest states. Nonetheless, Roosevelt’s performance remains as of 2017 the best-ever third-party presidential performance in Massachusetts.[2] The state's traditional Republican voters, especially in rural Western Massachusetts,[3] proved to be mostly loyal to President Taft as the official Republican nominee. While Roosevelt came in second place nationally ahead of Taft, in Massachusetts, Taft beat Roosevelt and finished second behind Wilson.

Taft carried the most counties in Massachusetts, winning 6 of the state's 14 counties, while Wilson and Roosevelt each took 4. Taft’s support was strongest in Western and Central Massachusetts, his most significant win being Worcester County, where he won with over 40% of the vote. Roosevelt was strongest in the southeast part of the state, his overall most significant win being Plymouth County, where he won with over 40% of the vote. Roosevelt's most populous county win was Norfolk County, although he only won it with a plurality of less than forty percent of the vote.

However Wilson was able to edge them out statewide by holding on to the Democratic base of support in the cities. Wilson's most important county victory by far was winning Suffolk County, home to the state's capital and largest city, Boston, winning it with over 40% of the vote. Hampden County, home to the city of Springfield, provided Wilson another key win, although with a plurality of less than 40% of the vote. Wilson also won heavily populated Middlesex County with a plurality of less than 40% of the vote. Middlesex County would not vote Democratic again until 1948.

While, due to vote-splitting, Massachusetts finally voted Democratic for the first time ever in 1912, this was not indicative of any long-term trend at the time. With the Republican base re-united in 1916, Massachusetts returned to the Republican column, and remained solidly Republican until 1928.

Results

Results by municipality.
1912 United States presidential election in Massachusetts[4]
Party Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Democratic Woodrow Wilson 173,408[lower-alpha 1] 35.53% 18
Republican William Howard Taft 155,948 31.95% 0
Progressive Theodore Roosevelt 142,228 29.14% 0
Socialist Eugene V. Debs 12,616 2.58% 0
Prohibition Eugene W. Chafin 2,754 0.56% 0
Socialist Labor Arthur E. Reimer 1,102 0.23% 0
Write-ins Write-ins 1 0.00% 0
Totals 488,057 100.00% 18

Results by county

County Woodrow Wilson[5]Democratic William Howard Taft[5]Republican Theodore Roosevelt[6]Progressive Eugene Debs[7]Socialist Eugene Chafin[7]Prohibition Arthur Reimer[7]Socialist Labor Total votes cast
# % # % # % # % # % # %
Barnstable 1,322 26.57% 1,249 25.11% 2,315 46.53% 20 0.40% 67 1.35% 2 0.04% 4,975
Berkshire 6,211 36.10% 6,397 37.19% 3,809 22.14% 598 3.48% 124 0.72% 64 0.37% 17,203
Bristol 12,420 32.72% 13,279 34.98% 10,630 28.00% 1,118 2.94% 377 0.99% 139 0.37% 37,963
Dukes 215 27.78% 269 34.75% 278 35.92% 1 0.13% 11 1.42% 0 0.00% 774
Essex 20,691 31.05% 21,441 32.17% 21,098 31.66% 2,716 4.08% 444 0.67% 249 0.37% 66,639
Franklin 2,046 28.00% 2,636 36.08% 2,268 31.04% 269 3.68% 73 1.00% 14 0.19% 7,306
Hampden 11,420[lower-alpha 1] 36.58% 11,393 36.49% 7,099 22.74% 1,094 3.50% 132 0.42% 84 0.27% 31,222
Hampshire 3,088 32.06% 4,512 46.84% 1,606 16.67% 292 3.03% 112 1.16% 22 0.23% 9,632
Middlesex 36,689 35.67% 30,511 29.66% 33,517 32.58% 1,530 1.49% 446 0.43% 174 0.17% 102,867
Nantucket 247 43.79% 123 21.81% 194 34.40% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 564
Norfolk 9,244 31.41% 9,650 32.79% 9,779 33.23% 609 2.07% 101 0.34% 48 0.16% 29,431
Plymouth 6,991 29.56% 5,590 23.63% 9,645 40.78% 1,216 5.14% 171 0.72% 40 0.17% 23,653
Suffolk 46,059 47.07% 24,179 24.71% 24,977 25.53% 2,155 2.20% 299 0.31% 182 0.19% 97,851
Worcester 17,565 29.88% 24,719 42.06% 15,013 25.54% 998 1.70% 397 0.68% 84 0.14% 58,776
Totals174,20835.64%155,94831.90%142,22829.09%12,6162.58%2,7540.56%1,1020.23%488,856

See also

Notes

  1. Sources differ in the Democratic total for Hampden County. Eugene E. Robinson has 800 extra Wilson votes here, which would give the county to Wilson, whereas Géoelections and Dave Leip have Taft carrying the county without these votes.

References

  1. Bicentennial Edition: Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to 1970, part 2, p. 1072.
  2. Thomas, G. Scott; The Pursuit of the White House: A Handbook of Presidential Election Statistics and History, p. 433 ISBN 0313257957
  3. Robinson, Edgar Eugene; ‘Distribution of the Presidential Vote of 1912’; American Journal of Sociology, vol. 20, no. 1 (July 1914), pp. 18-30
  4. "1912 Presidential General Election Results - Massachusetts". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved 2013-02-07.
  5. Robinson, Edgar Eugene; The Presidential Vote; 1896-1932 (second edition); pp. 226-227 Published 1947 by Stanford University Press
  6. Géoelections; 1912 Presidential Election Popular Vote Archived 2018-06-13 at the Wayback Machine (xlsx file for €15)
  7. Géoelections; 1912 Presidential Election Popular Vote for Eugene Debs (xlsx file for €15)
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