1896 United States presidential election in Washington (state) explained

See main article: 1896 United States presidential election.

Election Name:	1896 United States presidential election in Washington (state)
Country:	Washington
Flag Year:	1923
Type:	presidential
Ongoing:	no
Previous Election:	1892 United States presidential election in Washington (state)
Previous Year:	1892
Next Election:	1900 United States presidential election in Washington (state)
Next Year:	1900
Election Date:	November 3, 1896
Image1:	William Jennings Bryan 2 (cropped).jpg
Image1 Size:	x200px
Nominee1:	William Jennings Bryan
Party1:	Populist
Alliance1:	Democratic Party (United States)
Home State1:	Nebraska
Running Mate1:	Thomas E. Watson (Populist) Arthur Sewall (Democratic)
Electoral Vote1:	4
Popular Vote1:	53,314
Percentage1:	56.97%
Image2 Size:	x200px
Nominee2:	William McKinley
Party2:	Republican Party (United States)
Home State2:	Ohio
Running Mate2:	Garret Hobart
Electoral Vote2:	0
Popular Vote2:	39,153
Percentage2:	41.84%
Map Size:	350px
President
Before Election:	Grover Cleveland
Before Party:	Democratic Party (United States)
After Election:	William McKinley
After Party:	Republican Party (United States)

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

Washington was won by the People's Party nominees, former U.S. Representative William Jennings Bryan of Nebraska and his running mate Thomas E. Watson of Maine. Two electors cast their vice presidential ballots for Bryan's Democratic Party running mate Arthur Sewall. They defeated the Republican nominees, former Governor of Ohio William McKinley and his running mate Garret Hobart of New Jersey. Bryan won the state by a margin of 15.13%,

As a result of his win in the state, Bryan would become the first Democratic presidential candidate to win Washington state. He would later lose the state against McKinley in 1900 and then against William Howard Taft in 1908. The state would not vote Democratic again until 1916.

This is the last time the losing candidate won a majority of Clallam County votes.

Results

Party! Pledged to! Elector! Votes

	People's Party^[1]	William Jennings Bryan	N. T. Caton	51,646
	People's Party	William Jennings Bryan	I. N. Maxwell	50,895
	People's Party	William Jennings Bryan	John B. Hart	50,842
	People's Party	William Jennings Bryan	D. C. Newman	50,643
	Republican Party	William McKinley	L. H. Anderson	39,153
	Republican Party	William McKinley	John N. Conna	38,574
	Republican Party	William McKinley	Solomon Smith	38,573
	Republican Party	William McKinley	W. K. Kennedy	38,439
	Democratic Party	William Jennings Bryan	Thomas Burke	1,668
	Democratic Party	William Jennings Bryan	George W. Stapleton	1,526
	Democratic Party	William Jennings Bryan	W. S. Yearsley	1,517
	Democratic Party	William Jennings Bryan	Y. C. Blalock	1,503
	Prohibition Party	Joshua Levering	D. T. Denny	968
	Prohibition Party	Joshua Levering	R. F. Whittum	844
	Prohibition Party	Joshua Levering	J. J. Ashby	826
	Prohibition Party	Joshua Levering	O. J. Gist	795
	National Party	Charles E. Bentley	Charles Goddard	148
	National Party	Charles E. Bentley	R. H. Peter	135
	National Party	Charles E. Bentley	J. B. Redford	128
	National Party	Charles E. Bentley	Boyd Tyler	125
Votes cast				93,583

Results by county

County	William Jennings Bryan						William McKinley Republican		Joshua Levering Prohibition		Charles Bentley National		Margin		Total votes cast
	Populist		Democratic		Total
		%		%		%		%		%		%		%
	Adams		363		57.99%		9		1.44%		372		59.42%		243		38.82%		11		1.76%	0	0.00%		129		20.61%		626
	Asotin		254		52.16%		15		3.08%		269		55.24%		214		43.94%		3		0.62%	1	0.21%		55		11.29%		487
	Chehalis		1,312		49.68%		38		1.44%		1,350		51.12%		1,267		47.97%		21		0.80%	3	0.11%		83		3.14%		2,641
	Clallam		676		52.53%		41		3.19%		717		55.71%		559		43.43%		6		0.47%	5	0.39%		158		12.28%		1,287
	Clark		1,497		48.23%		50		1.61%		1,547		49.84%		1,497		48.23%		51		1.64%	9	0.29%		50		1.61%		3,104
	Columbia		847		51.30%		15		0.91%		862		52.21%		776		47.00%		9		0.55%	4	0.24%		86		5.21%		1,651
	Cowlitz		935		47.03%		39		1.96%		974		48.99%		989		49.75%		23		1.16%	2	0.10%		-15		-0.75%		1,988
	Douglas		722		67.04%		11		1.02%		733		68.06%		334		31.01%		10		0.93%	0	0.00%		399		37.05%		1,077
	Franklin		108		70.59%		5		3.27%		113		73.86%		38		24.84%		2		1.31%	0	0.00%		75		49.02%		153
	Garfield		469		53.60%		13		1.49%		482		55.09%		378		43.20%		14		1.60%	1	0.11%		104		11.89%		875
	Island		181		44.69%		10		2.47%		191		47.16%		206		50.86%		7		1.73%	1	0.25%		-15		-3.70%		405
	Jefferson		500		40.00%		36		2.88%		536		42.88%		704		56.32%		8		0.64%	2	0.16%		-168		-13.44%		1,250
	King		7,497		52.41%		236		1.65%		7,733		54.06%		6,413		44.83%		144		1.01%	15	0.10%		1,320		9.23%		14,305
	Kitsap		702		47.15%		26		1.75%		728		48.89%		728		48.89%		29		1.95%	4	0.27%		0		0.00%		1,489
	Kittitas		1,296		53.87%		40		1.66%		1,336		55.53%		1,044		43.39%		23		0.96%	3	0.12%		292		12.14%		2,406
	Klickitat		664		41.63%		44		2.76%		708		44.39%		876		54.92%		11		0.69%	0	0.00%		-168		-10.53%		1,595
	Lewis		1,584		48.04%		70		2.12%		1,654		50.17%		1,594		48.35%		37		1.12%	12	0.36%		60		1.82%		3,297
	Lincoln		1,715		66.27%		56		2.16%		1,771		68.43%		781		30.18%		31		1.20%	5	0.19%		990		38.25%		2,588
	Mason		650		60.35%		17		1.58%		667		61.93%		397		36.86%		11		1.02%	2	0.19%		270		25.07%		1,077
	Okanogan		912		72.96%		38		3.04%		950		76.00%		284		22.72%		11		0.88%	5	0.40%		666		53.28%		1,250
	Pacific		512		33.88%		50		3.31%		562		37.19%		925		61.22%		19		1.26%	5	0.33%		-363		-24.02%		1,511
	Pierce		5,404		52.45%		166		1.61%		5,570		54.06%		4,651		45.14%		58		0.56%	24	0.23%		919		8.92%		10,303
	San Juan		283		40.14%		8		1.13%		291		41.28%		411		58.30%		3		0.43%	0	0.00%		-120		-17.02%		705
	Skagit		1,573		53.85%		50		1.71%		1,623		55.56%		1,268		43.41%		28		0.96%	2	0.07%		355		12.15%		2,921
	Skamania		237		62.70%		15		3.97%		252		66.67%		122		32.28%		4		1.06%	0	0.00%		130		34.39%		378
	Snohomish		2,775		58.13%		83		1.74%		2,858		59.87%		1,871		39.19%		43		0.90%	2	0.04%		987		20.67%		4,774
	Spokane		5,725		66.17%		104		1.20%		5,829		67.37%		2,701		31.22%		111		1.28%	11	0.13%		3,128		36.15%		8,652
	Stevens		1,880		78.50%		46		1.92%		1,926		80.42%		433		18.08%		26		1.09%	10	0.42%		1,493		62.34%		2,395
	Thurston		1,371		55.08%		44		1.77%		1,415		56.85%		1,052		42.27%		17		0.68%	5	0.20%		363		14.58%		2,489
	Wahkiakum		376		54.57%		20		2.90%		396		57.47%		290		42.09%		3		0.44%	0	0.00%		106		15.38%		689
	Walla Walla		1,652		49.30%		64		1.91%		1,716		51.21%		1,596		47.63%		37		1.10%	2	0.06%		120		3.58%		3,351
	Whatcom		2,177		50.98%		50		1.17%		2,227		52.15%		1,971		46.16%		68		1.59%	4	0.09%		256		6.00%		4,270
	Whitman		3,578		66.67%		112		2.09%		3,690		68.75%		1,592		29.66%		77		1.43%	8	0.15%		2,098		39.09%		5,367
	Yakima		1,219		54.74%		47		2.11%		1,266		56.85%		948		42.57%		12		0.54%	1	0.04%		318		14.28%		2,227
Totals	51,646	55.19%	1,668	1.78%	53,314	56.97%	39,153	41.84%	968	1.03%	148	0.16%	14,161	15.13%	93,583

Counties that flipped from Republican to Populist

• Adams
• Asotin
• Chehalis
• Clallam
• Clark
• Douglas
• Garfield
• King
• Kittitas
• Lewis
• Okanogan
• Pierce
• Skagit
• Snohomish
• Spokane
• Stevens
• Thurston
• Wahkiakum
• Walla Walla
• Whatcom
• Whitman
• Yakima

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Jefferson

See also

• United States presidential elections in Washington (state)

Notes and References

1. Web site: The Official Ballot. Washington Digital Newspapers . The Seattle Post-Intelligencer. 31 July 2024 . en . 2 Nov 1896.