1880 United States presidential election in Kentucky explained

See main article: 1880 United States presidential election.

Election Name:	1880 United States presidential election in Kentucky
Type:	presidential
Ongoing:	no
Previous Election:	1876 United States presidential election in Kentucky
Previous Year:	1876
Next Election:	1884 United States presidential election in Kentucky
Next Year:	1884
Election Date:	November 2, 1880
Image1:	WinfieldScottHancock2 (cropped 3x4).jpg
Nominee1:	Winfield S. Hancock
Party1:	Democratic Party (United States)
Home State1:	Pennsylvania
Running Mate1:	William H. English
Electoral Vote1:	12
Popular Vote1:	148,875
Percentage1:	55.74%
Nominee2:	James A. Garfield
Party2:	Republican Party (United States)
Home State2:	Ohio
Running Mate2:	Chester A. Arthur
Electoral Vote2:	0
Popular Vote2:	106,490
Percentage2:	39.87%
Map Size:	380px
President
Before Election:	Rutherford B. Hayes
Before Party:	Republican Party (United States)
After Election:	James Garfield
After Party:	Republican Party (United States)

The 1880 United States presidential election in Kentucky took place on November 2, 1880. All contemporary thirty-eight states were part of the 1880 United States presidential election. Kentucky voters chose twelve electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president.

Ever since the Civil War, Kentucky had been shaped politically by divisions created by that war between secessionist, Democratic counties and Unionist, Republican ones,^[1] although the state as a whole leaned Democratic throughout this era and the GOP would never carry the state during the Third Party System at either presidential^[2] or gubernatorial level.^[3] Following Samuel J. Tilden’s 24-point victory in the state in 1876, the tobacco-growing Jackson Purchase and Western Coal Field were affected by the Greenback movement. This aimed to restore the fiat money system used to pay for the Civil War, in order to pay off farmer’s debts.^[3] It also was aimed at regulating the railroads which the western landowners – many former slaveholders – saw as siphoning the profit from their cash crop economy.^[4]

The Greenback movement managed to carry 8.3 percent of the vote in the 1879 gubernatorial election,^[3] but a rebound in tobacco prices and the adoption of some key elements of the Greenback platform by Democrats ensured that this decline was arrested and Greenback nominee James B. Weaver won only 4.39 percent of Kentucky’s ballots. Weaver did best in the regions where the Greenback insurgency was always strongest, but received no votes at all in fourteen of Kentucky’s 117 counties (most of those lying in the Eastern Coalfield). Democratic nominee Winfield Scott Hancock thus comfortably carried the state, although his margin was only two-thirds that of Tilden., this is the last occasion when Rockcastle County voted for a Democratic presidential candidate.^[5]

Results

Presidential Candidate	Running Mate	Party	Electoral Vote (EV)	Popular Vote (PV)
Winfield Scott Hancock	William Hayden English	Democratic	12^[6]	148,875	55.74%
James A. Garfield	Chester A. Arthur	Republican	0	106,490	39.87%
James B. Weaver	Barzillai J. Chambers	Greenback	0	11,506	4.31%
Neal Dow	Henry Adams Thompson	Prohibition	0	233	0.09%

Results by county

County	Winfield Scott Hancock^[7] Democratic		James Abram Garfield Republican		James Baird Weaver^[8] Greenback		Neal Dow Prohibition		Margin		Total votes cast
		%		%		%		%		%
	Adair		1,095		50.93%		937		43.58%		118		5.49%		0		0.00%		158		7.35%		2,150
	Allen		949		55.89%		688		40.52%		61		3.59%		0		0.00%		261		15.37%		1,698
	Anderson		1,118		65.08%		595		34.63%		2		0.12%		3		0.17%		523		30.44%		1,718
	Ballard		1,599		77.96%		411		20.04%		41		2.00%		0		0.00%		1,188		57.92%		2,051
	Barren		2,140		59.28%		1,358		37.62%		111		3.07%		1		0.03%		782		21.66%		3,610
	Bath		1,128		56.26%		874		43.59%		3		0.15%		0		0.00%		254		12.67%		2,005
	Bell		261		32.83%		533		67.04%		1		0.13%		0		0.00%		-272		-34.21%		795
	Boone		1,734		79.43%		446		20.43%		3		0.14%		0		0.00%		1,288		59.00%		2,183
	Bourbon		1,686		50.22%		1,668		49.69%		1		0.03%		2		0.06%		18		0.54%		3,357
	Boyd		794		40.33%		959		48.70%		216		10.97%		0		0.00%		-165		-8.38%		1,969
	Boyle		1,284		51.77%		1,191		48.02%		4		0.16%		1		0.04%		93		3.75%		2,480
	Bracken		1,542		63.90%		817		33.86%		32		1.33%		22		0.91%		725		30.05%		2,413
	Breathitt		797		70.28%		330		29.10%		2		0.18%		5		0.44%		467		41.18%		1,134
	Breckinridge		1,376		49.96%		912		33.12%		462		16.78%		4		0.15%		464		16.85%		2,754
	Bullitt		788		71.25%		275		24.86%		43		3.89%		0		0.00%		513		46.38%		1,106
	Butler		540		29.88%		728		40.29%		537		29.72%		2		0.11%		-188		-10.40%		1,807
	Caldwell		1,160		56.15%		899		43.51%		7		0.34%		0		0.00%		261		12.63%		2,066
	Calloway		1,187		69.37%		257		15.02%		267		15.60%		0		0.00%		920		53.77%		1,711
	Campbell		3,059		50.93%		2,899		48.27%		48		0.80%		0		0.00%		160		2.66%		6,006
	Carroll		1,460		79.69%		372		20.31%		0		0.00%		0		0.00%		1,088		59.39%		1,832
	Carter		577		37.30%		695		44.93%		275		17.78%		0		0.00%		-118		-7.63%		1,547
	Casey		892		54.93%		708		43.60%		24		1.48%		0		0.00%		184		11.33%		1,624
	Christian		1,853		35.75%		2,844		54.87%		486		9.38%		0		0.00%		-991		-19.12%		5,183
	Clark		1,263		54.00%		1,059		45.28%		17		0.73%		0		0.00%		204		8.72%		2,339
	Clay		674		42.18%		922		57.70%		2		0.13%		0		0.00%		-248		-15.52%		1,598
	Clinton		323		32.36%		605		60.62%		70		7.01%		0		0.00%		-282		-28.26%		998
	Crittenden		827		45.59%		786		43.33%		201		11.08%		0		0.00%		41		2.26%		1,814
	Cumberland		598		44.56%		729		54.32%		15		1.12%		0		0.00%		-131		-9.76%		1,342
	Daviess		3,054		66.91%		1,271		27.85%		239		5.24%		0		0.00%		1,783		39.07%		4,564
	Edmonson		484		49.24%		432		43.95%		67		6.82%		0		0.00%		52		5.29%		983
	Elliott		623		78.27%		115		14.45%		58		7.29%		0		0.00%		508		63.82%		796
	Estill		809		50.98%		772		48.65%		6		0.38%		0		0.00%		37		2.33%		1,587
	Fayette		2,449		46.03%		2,830		53.20%		39		0.73%		2		0.04%		-381		-7.16%		5,320
	Fleming		1,592		53.53%		1,368		46.00%		9		0.30%		5		0.17%		224		7.53%		2,974
	Floyd		946		70.33%		394		29.29%		5		0.37%		0		0.00%		552		41.04%		1,345
	Franklin		1,751		60.17%		1,134		38.97%		18		0.62%		7		0.24%		617		21.20%		2,910
	Fulton		707		77.52%		179		19.63%		26		2.85%		0		0.00%		528		57.89%		912
	Gallatin		683		71.37%		274		28.63%		0		0.00%		0		0.00%		409		42.74%		957
	Garrard		1,069		46.80%		1,190		52.10%		24		1.05%		1		0.04%		-121		-5.30%		2,284
	Grant		1,333		60.54%		869		39.46%		0		0.00%		0		0.00%		464		21.07%		2,202
	Graves		2,443		69.54%		930		26.47%		140		3.99%		0		0.00%		1,513		43.07%		3,513
	Grayson		1,012		50.07%		724		35.82%		283		14.00%		2		0.10%		288		14.25%		2,021
	Green		685		44.77%		726		47.45%		114		7.45%		5		0.33%		-41		-2.68%		1,530
	Greenup		723		35.60%		925		45.54%		383		18.86%		0		0.00%		-202		-9.95%		2,031
	Hancock		560		41.48%		270		20.00%		517		38.30%		3		0.22%		43		3.19%		1,350
	Hardin		1,677		56.87%		962		32.62%		310		10.51%		0		0.00%		715		24.25%		2,949
	Harlan		166		18.97%		704		80.46%		5		0.57%		0		0.00%		-538		-61.49%		875
	Harrison		1,866		62.26%		1,103		36.80%		1		0.03%		27		0.90%		763		25.46%		2,997
	Hart		1,454		54.42%		1,074		40.19%		144		5.39%		0		0.00%		380		14.22%		2,672
	Henderson		2,217		55.89%		1,504		37.91%		245		6.18%		1		0.03%		713		17.97%		3,967
	Henry		1,661		60.22%		883		32.02%		213		7.72%		1		0.04%		778		28.21%		2,758
	Hickman		1,069		72.04%		386		26.01%		29		1.95%		0		0.00%		683		46.02%		1,484
	Hopkins		1,459		49.81%		838		28.61%		632		21.58%		0		0.00%		621		21.20%		2,929
	Jackson		272		26.15%		758		72.88%		10		0.96%		0		0.00%		-486		-46.73%		1,040
	Jefferson		13,970		60.08%		8,746		37.61%		522		2.24%		14		0.06%		5,224		22.47%		23,252
	Jessamine		979		47.99%		1,057		51.81%		4		0.20%		0		0.00%		-78		-3.82%		2,040
	Johnson		472		40.65%		603		51.94%		86		7.41%		0		0.00%		-131		-11.28%		1,161
	Kenton		4,370		59.29%		2,980		40.43%		13		0.18%		7		0.09%		1,390		18.86%		7,370
	Knox		611		38.60%		964		60.90%		6		0.38%		2		0.13%		-353		-22.30%		1,583
	Larue		1,032		66.97%		469		30.43%		40		2.60%		0		0.00%		563		36.53%		1,541
	Laurel		622		40.55%		905		59.00%		6		0.39%		1		0.07%		-283		-18.45%		1,534
	Lawrence		936		55.19%		726		42.81%		34		2.00%		0		0.00%		210		12.38%		1,696
	Lee		394		48.46%		418		51.41%		1		0.12%		0		0.00%		-24		-2.95%		813
	Leslie		57		9.91%		518		90.09%		0		0.00%		0		0.00%		-461		-80.17%		575
	Letcher		379		55.82%		300		44.18%		0		0.00%		0		0.00%		79		11.63%		679
	Lewis		1,075		42.04%		1,388		54.28%		94		3.68%		0		0.00%		-313		-12.24%		2,557
	Lincoln		1,545		56.91%		1,170		43.09%		0		0.00%		0		0.00%		375		13.81%		2,715
	Livingston		868		76.75%		222		19.63%		41		3.63%		0		0.00%		646		57.12%		1,131
	Logan		2,409		60.23%		1,488		37.20%		103		2.58%		0		0.00%		921		23.03%		4,000
	Lyon		630		54.64%		427		37.03%		96		8.33%		0		0.00%		203		17.61%		1,153
	Madison		2,056		50.50%		2,003		49.20%		4		0.10%		8		0.20%		53		1.30%		4,071
	Magoffin		553		47.18%		619		52.82%		0		0.00%		0		0.00%		-66		-5.63%		1,172
	Marion		1,525		59.59%		1,023		39.98%		11		0.43%		0		0.00%		502		19.62%		2,559
	Marshall		979		72.30%		196		14.48%		179		13.22%		0		0.00%		783		57.83%		1,354
	Martin		121		28.47%		304		71.53%		0		0.00%		0		0.00%		-183		-43.06%		425
	Mason		2,536		60.68%		1,640		39.24%		3		0.07%		0		0.00%		896		21.44%		4,179
	McCracken		1,537		59.12%		1,045		40.19%		18		0.69%		0		0.00%		492		18.92%		2,600
	McLean		755		52.65%		337		23.50%		340		23.71%		2		0.14%		415		28.94%		1,434
	Meade		1,067		67.36%		317		20.01%		200		12.63%		0		0.00%		750		47.35%		1,584
	Menifee		490		75.27%		158		24.27%		1		0.15%		2		0.31%		332		51.00%		651
	Mercer		1,591		57.60%		1,158		41.93%		11		0.40%		2		0.07%		433		15.68%		2,762
	Metcalfe		736		47.89%		772		50.23%		26		1.69%		3		0.20%		-36		-2.34%		1,537
	Monroe		516		36.54%		621		43.98%		275		19.48%		0		0.00%		-105		-7.44%		1,412
	Montgomery		1,211		55.81%		957		44.10%		1		0.05%		1		0.05%		254		11.71%		2,170
	Morgan		1,139		72.00%		443		28.00%		0		0.00%		0		0.00%		696		43.99%		1,582
	Muhlenberg		1,057		45.62%		917		39.58%		339		14.63%		4		0.17%		140		6.04%		2,317
	Nelson		1,758		62.90%		949		33.95%		87		3.11%		1		0.04%		809		28.94%		2,795
	Nicholas		1,416		61.11%		901		38.89%		0		0.00%		0		0.00%		515		22.23%		2,317
	Ohio		1,645		61.11%		702		26.08%		336		12.48%		9		0.33%		943		35.03%		2,692
	Oldham		901		62.35%		502		34.74%		42		2.91%		0		0.00%		399		27.61%		1,445
	Owen		2,644		80.49%		630		19.18%		4		0.12%		7		0.21%		2,014		61.31%		3,285
	Owsley		222		25.08%		663		74.92%		0		0.00%		0		0.00%		-441		-49.83%		885
	Pendleton		1,779		59.58%		1,186		39.72%		2		0.07%		19		0.64%		593		19.86%		2,986
	Perry		318		36.26%		559		63.74%		0		0.00%		0		0.00%		-241		-27.48%		877
	Pike		1,060		57.86%		758		41.38%		11		0.60%		3		0.16%		302		16.48%		1,832
	Powell		343		52.45%		308		47.09%		3		0.46%		0		0.00%		35		5.35%		654
	Pulaski		1,459		43.58%		1,860		55.56%		29		0.87%		0		0.00%		-401		-11.98%		3,348
	Robertson		696		63.56%		395		36.07%		2		0.18%		2		0.18%		301		27.49%		1,095
	Rockcastle		760		48.10%		749		47.41%		71		4.49%		0		0.00%		11		0.70%		1,580
	Rowan		289		48.41%		281		47.07%		27		4.52%		0		0.00%		8		1.34%		597
	Russell		531		51.06%		366		35.19%		143		13.75%		0		0.00%		165		15.87%		1,040
	Scott		1,683		56.34%		1,299		43.49%		3		0.10%		2		0.07%		384		12.86%		2,987
	Shelby		1,849		61.33%		1,039		34.46%		108		3.58%		19		0.63%		810		26.87%		3,015
	Simpson		1,076		67.80%		501		31.57%		2		0.13%		8		0.50%		575		36.23%		1,587
	Spencer		850		70.25%		358		29.59%		1		0.08%		1		0.08%		492		40.66%		1,210
	Taylor		879		62.08%		537		37.92%		0		0.00%		0		0.00%		342		24.15%		1,416
	Todd		1,250		47.10%		1,201		45.25%		202		7.61%		1		0.04%		49		1.85%		2,654
	Trigg		1,262		58.86%		873		40.72%		9		0.42%		0		0.00%		389		18.14%		2,144
	Trimble		1,082		86.98%		151		12.14%		11		0.88%		0		0.00%		931		74.84%		1,244
	Union		1,931		69.86%		514		18.60%		309		11.18%		10		0.36%		1,417		51.27%		2,764
	Warren		2,253		53.63%		1,703		40.54%		239		5.69%		6		0.14%		550		13.09%		4,201
	Washington		1,319		52.16%		1,172		46.34%		38		1.50%		0		0.00%		147		5.81%		2,529
	Wayne		709		51.79%		523		38.20%		137		10.01%		0		0.00%		186		13.59%		1,369
	Webster		946		47.35%		393		19.67%		655		32.78%		4		0.20%		291		14.56%		1,998
	Whitley		479		33.08%		962		66.44%		7		0.48%		0		0.00%		-483		-33.36%		1,448
	Wolfe		572		62.11%		348		37.79%		0		0.00%		1		0.11%		224		24.32%		921
	Woodford		1,228		52.64%		1,104		47.32%		1		0.04%		0		0.00%		124		5.32%		2,333
Totals	148,875	55.74%	106,490	39.87%	11,499	4.31%	233	0.09%	42,385	15.87%	267,097

Notes and References

1. Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
2. [Kevin Phillips (political commentator)|Phillips, Kevin P.]
3. Brown, Thomas J.; ‘The Roots of Bluegrass Insurgency: An Analysis of the Populist Movement in Kentucky’; The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, Vol. 78, No. 3 (Summer 1980), pp. 219-242
4. Humphreys, George G.; ‘Western Kentucky in the Twentieth Century: From the End of Isolation to the Collapse of the “Gibraltar of Democracy”’; The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, Spring/Summer 2015, Vol. 113, No. 2/3, Building a History of Twentieth-Century Kentucky, pp. 357-384
5. Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004; pp. 208-213
6. Web site: 1880 Presidential Election Results – Kentucky. Dave Leip’s U.S. Election Atlas.
7. Géoelections; Presidential election of 1880 Popular Vote (.xlsx file for €15)
8. Géoelections; Presidential election of 1880 Popular Vote for James B. Weaver (.xlsx file for €15)