1896 United States presidential election in Wisconsin explained

See main article: article and 1896 United States presidential election.

Election Name:	1896 United States presidential election in Wisconsin
Country:	Wisconsin
Flag Year:	1866
Type:	presidential
Ongoing:	no
Previous Election:	1892 United States presidential election in Wisconsin
Previous Year:	1892
Next Election:	1900 United States presidential election in Wisconsin
Next Year:	1900
Election Date:	November 3, 1896
Image1:	William McKinley by Courtney Art Studio, 1896 (cropped).jpg
Nominee1:	William McKinley
Party1:	Republican Party (United States)
Home State1:	Ohio
Running Mate1:	Garret Hobart
Electoral Vote1:	12
Popular Vote1:	268,051
Percentage1:	59.95%
Nominee2:	William Jennings Bryan
Party2:	Democratic Party (United States)
Home State2:	Nebraska
Running Mate2:	Arthur Sewall
Electoral Vote2:	0
Popular Vote2:	165,349
Percentage2:	36.98%
Map Size:	315px
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 Wisconsin was held on November 3, 1896, as part of the 1896 United States presidential election. State voters chose 12 electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Wisconsin during the Third Party System was a Republican-leaning but competitive state whereby historically anti-Civil War German Catholic counties stood opposed to highly pro-war and firmly Republican Yankee areas.^[1] The German Catholics’ Democratic loyalties were related to their opposition to Republican pietism and to the fact that during the Civil War, they had been extremely hostile to Abraham Lincoln’s wartime draft policies which often singled them out.^[1]

Four years prior had seen, aided by favorable demographic shifts,^[2] opposition to the notorious “Bennett Law” requiring attendance at public schools,^[3] and a shift of some GOP voters to Prohibition Party nominee John Bidwell, Democratic nominee Grover Cleveland carry the state for the first time since before the Republican Party was formed. However, expectations that demographic shifts would favor the Democrats were rudely crushed in 1894, when the Republicans took every Congressional seat in the state. President Cleveland became extremely unpopular and the Democratic Party turned towards the Populist movement active in the West in order to revive its fortunes. While the Populist movement would gain almost universal acceptance in the silver mining West, its inflationary monetary policies were opposed by almost all urban classes and viewed as dangerously radical by rural German Catholics,^[4] with free silver being condemned by the Church hierarchy.^[5]

Early polls always had Wisconsin strong for Republican nominee William McKinley, with his supporters saying it would be one of the most Republican states despite voting Democratic in 1892.^[6] During his fall tour of the Midwest, Democratic nominee William Jennings Bryan made fifteen speeches, but was disturbed by a member of McKinley's club,^[7] who attempted to mob Bryan in Janesville.^[8]

As it turned out, McKinley would carry Wisconsin handsomely by over one hundred thousand votes and by a margin of 22.97%. Wisconsin would be McKinley's strongest state outside the Northeast.^[9] McKinley's 59.95% popular vote share was the highest received by any candidate in Wisconsin to that point, though McKinley would break his own record four years later.

Bryan would lose Wisconsin to McKinley again four years later and would later lose the state again in 1908 to William Howard Taft.

McKinley's landslide victory made him the first Republican to ever carry Kewaunee County, Langlade County, Oneida County, Outagamie County, and Washington County. Additionally, McKinley was the first Republican since John C. Frémont in 1856 to win Dodge County and Marathon County and the first Republican since Abraham Lincoln in 1860 to win Jefferson County and Manitowoc County. Waukesha County's well-known Republican tilt began with this election; in prior elections it had been a swing county in Wisconsin but starting with this election, became solidly Republican and has only voted for a Democrat five times since 1892.

Results

+ General Election Results^[10]	Party		Pledged to	Elector	Votes
	Republican Party	William McKinley	John D. Nelsenius	268,051
	Republican Party	William McKinley	William J. Mallmann	268,042
	Republican Party	William McKinley	Ossian M. Pettit	268,033
	Republican Party	William McKinley	Paul Lachmund	268,030
	Republican Party	William McKinley	Mark Curtis	268,027
	Republican Party	William McKinley	Ellicott R. Stillman	267,994
	Republican Party	William McKinley	George D. Breed	267,993
	Republican Party	William McKinley	Frederick A. Hollmann	267,969
	Republican Party	William McKinley	Iver Pederson	267,963
	Republican Party	William McKinley	Oakman A. Ellis	267,960
	Republican Party	William McKinley	Samuel J. Bradford	267,948
	Republican Party	William McKinley	Lewis C. Boyle	267,767
	Democratic Party	William Jennings Bryan	George W. Cate	165,349
	Democratic Party	William Jennings Bryan	John Winans	165,340
	Democratic Party	William Jennings Bryan	Michael J. Warner	165,299
	Democratic Party	William Jennings Bryan	Ernst Merton	165,292
	Democratic Party	William Jennings Bryan	Henry Steinman	165,292
	Democratic Party	William Jennings Bryan	Owen King	165,277
	Democratic Party	William Jennings Bryan	Albinos A. Worsley	165,271
	Democratic Party	William Jennings Bryan	John L. Beau	165,258
	Democratic Party	William Jennings Bryan	Charles L. Brekken	165,251
	Democratic Party	William Jennings Bryan	Herman Naber	165,243
	Democratic Party	William Jennings Bryan	Lester Woodward	165,229
	Democratic Party	William Jennings Bryan	Christian Roemer	164,824
	Prohibition Party	Joshua Levering	Charles Alexander	7,463
	Prohibition Party	Joshua Levering	John C. Martin	7,461
	Prohibition Party	Joshua Levering	Henry A. Miner	7,457
	Prohibition Party	Joshua Levering	Charles F. Cronk	7,456
	Prohibition Party	Joshua Levering	Charles Edward Reed	7,453
	Prohibition Party	Joshua Levering	Newcomb E. Tully	7,452
	Prohibition Party	Joshua Levering	Henry Happell	7,451
	Prohibition Party	Joshua Levering	Solomon Vandewalker	7,448
	Prohibition Party	Joshua Levering	John Faville	7,446
	Prohibition Party	Joshua Levering	Almon Francis Collins	7,445
	Prohibition Party	Joshua Levering	John R. Ogden	7,445
	Prohibition Party	Joshua Levering	Elisha G. Partidge	7,438
	National Democratic Party	John M. Palmer	John B. Kupfer	4,553
	National Democratic Party	John M. Palmer	Charles Franz	4,552
	National Democratic Party	John M. Palmer	George Krouskop	4,552
	National Democratic Party	John M. Palmer	John C. Ludwig	4,552
	National Democratic Party	John M. Palmer	Casper H. M. Petersen	4,550
	National Democratic Party	John M. Palmer	William Dichmann	4,549
	National Democratic Party	John M. Palmer	C. Hugo Jacobi	4,549
	National Democratic Party	John M. Palmer	Bedford B. Hopkins	4,547
	National Democratic Party	John M. Palmer	August Ledyard Smith	4,545
	National Democratic Party	John M. Palmer	Samuel N. Dickinson	4,544
	National Democratic Party	John M. Palmer	Lyman Nash	4,544
	National Democratic Party	John M. Palmer	William F. Shea	4,543
	Socialist Labor Party	Charles H. Matchett	Ruchus Babnik	1,311
	Socialist Labor Party	Charles H. Matchett	Fred Farchmin	1,311
	Socialist Labor Party	Charles H. Matchett	Fred Bugelman	1,310
	Socialist Labor Party	Charles H. Matchett	Carl Groeschel	1,310
	Socialist Labor Party	Charles H. Matchett	Gustav Lauenstein	1,310
	Socialist Labor Party	Charles H. Matchett	Charles Weiss	1,310
	Socialist Labor Party	Charles H. Matchett	Albert Pippenburg	1,309
	Socialist Labor Party	Charles H. Matchett	John Kettemann	1,308
	Socialist Labor Party	Charles H. Matchett	Charles Lachmund	1,308
	Socialist Labor Party	Charles H. Matchett	Emil Reesch	1,308
	Socialist Labor Party	Charles H. Matchett	Paul Reuther	1,308
	Socialist Labor Party	Charles H. Matchett	Otto Schultz	1,306
	National Party	Charles E. Bentley	Annette J. Shaw	366
	National Party	Charles E. Bentley	Martha W. Law	326
	National Party	Charles E. Bentley	Orvie E. Thompson	326
	National Party	Charles E. Bentley	Oliver H. Crowl	324
	National Party	Charles E. Bentley	Newell Demeritt	324
	National Party	Charles E. Bentley	Lily Runals	324
	National Party	Charles E. Bentley	John E. Bartlett	322
	National Party	Charles E. Bentley	Henry E. Ward	322
	National Party	Charles E. Bentley	George W. Sherwood	321
	National Party	Charles E. Bentley	Luther W. Wood	321
	National Party	Charles E. Bentley	Gideon Young	321
	National Party	Charles E. Bentley	Washington I. Carpenter	320
Votes cast				447,093

Results by county

County	William McKinley Republican		William Jennings Bryan Democratic		Joshua Levering Prohibition		John M. Palmer National Democratic		Charles Matchett Socialist Labor		Charles Bentley National		Margin		Total votes cast
		%		%		%		%		%		%		%
	Adams		1,431		76.73%		391		20.97%		27		1.45%		16		0.86%		0		0.00%	0	0.00%		1,040		55.76%		1,865
	Ashland		2,738		59.72%		1,743		38.02%		59		1.29%		26		0.57%		16		0.35%	3	0.07%		995		21.70%		4,585
	Barron		2,772		64.77%		1,323		30.91%		155		3.62%		26		0.61%		0		0.00%	4	0.09%		1,449		33.86%		4,280
	Bayfield		2,230		71.82%		797		25.67%		59		1.90%		13		0.42%		5		0.16%	1	0.03%		1,433		46.15%		3,105
	Brown		5,436		57.53%		3,841		40.65%		87		0.92%		67		0.71%		5		0.05%	13	0.14%		1,595		16.88%		9,449
	Buffalo		2,298		61.89%		1,300		35.01%		61		1.64%		51		1.37%		1		0.03%	2	0.05%		998		26.88%		3,713
	Burnett		799		67.48%		349		29.48%		28		2.36%		4		0.34%		3		0.25%	1	0.08%		450		38.01%		1,184
	Calumet		1,546		44.51%		1,869		53.82%		28		0.81%		27		0.78%		2		0.06%	1	0.03%		-323		-9.30%		3,473
	Chippewa		3,599		54.10%		2,927		44.00%		83		1.25%		35		0.53%		6		0.09%	2	0.03%		672		10.10%		6,652
	Clark		3,327		69.44%		1,316		27.47%		96		2.00%		39		0.81%		12		0.25%	1	0.02%		2,011		41.97%		4,791
	Columbia		4,845		63.59%		2,379		31.22%		278		3.65%		108		1.42%		7		0.09%	2	0.03%		2,466		32.37%		7,619
	Crawford		2,322		59.61%		1,508		38.72%		38		0.98%		24		0.62%		2		0.05%	1	0.03%		814		20.90%		3,895
	Dane		9,074		56.10%		6,521		40.32%		405		2.50%		158		0.98%		4		0.02%	12	0.07%		2,553		15.78%		16,174
	Dodge		5,610		51.61%		4,893		45.01%		119		1.09%		235		2.16%		6		0.06%	8	0.07%		717		6.60%		10,871
	Door		2,399		71.29%		894		26.57%		49		1.46%		21		0.62%		1		0.03%	1	0.03%		1,505		44.73%		3,365
	Douglas		4,272		61.87%		2,487		36.02%		90		1.30%		46		0.67%		8		0.12%	2	0.03%		1,785		25.85%		6,905
	Dunn		3,368		37.97%		1,415		28.56%		131		2.64%		33		0.67%		5		0.10%	3	0.06%		1,953		39.41%		4,955
	Eau Claire		4,520		63.41%		2,364		33.16%		186		2.61%		52		0.73%		0		0.00%	6	0.08%		2,156		30.25%		7,128
	Florence		488		78.33%		128		20.55%		5		0.80%		2		0.32%		0		0.00%	0	0.00%		360		57.78%		623
	Fond du Lac		6,174		54.17%		4,929		43.25%		157		1.38%		128		1.12%		5		0.04%	4	0.04%		1,245		10.92%		11,397
	Forest		406		68.01%		172		28.81%		15		2.51%		2		0.34%		0		0.00%	2	0.34%		234		39.20%		597
	Grant		5,315		57.42%		3,681		39.76%		187		2.02%		67		0.72%		3		0.03%	4	0.04%		1,634		17.65%		9,257
	Green		3,093		54.76%		2,337		41.38%		157		2.78%		53		0.94%		7		0.12%	1	0.02%		756		13.39%		5,648
	Green Lake		2,102		55.70%		1,567		41.52%		61		1.62%		32		0.85%		7		0.19%	5	0.13%		535		14.18%		3,774
	Iowa		3,115		57.46%		2,059		37.98%		173		3.19%		61		1.13%		3		0.06%	10	0.18%		1,056		19.48%		5,421
	Iron		1,288		72.04%		472		26.40%		26		1.45%		0		0.00%		1		0.06%	1	0.06%		816		45.64%		1,788
	Jackson		2,708		74.68%		776		21.40%		97		2.68%		36		0.99%		2		0.06%	7	0.19%		1,932		53.28%		3,626
	Jefferson		4,341		52.60%		3,504		42.46%		137		1.66%		263		3.19%		4		0.05%	4	0.05%		837		10.14%		8,253
	Juneau		2,832		61.49%		1,671		36.28%		59		1.28%		35		0.76%		4		0.09%	5	0.11%		1,161		25.21%		4,606
	Kenosha		2,827		60.54%		1,732		37.09%		40		0.86%		62		1.33%		8		0.17%	1	0.02%		1,095		23.45%		4,670
	Kewaunee		1,834		51.13%		1,647		45.92%		14		0.39%		91		2.54%		0		0.00%	1	0.03%		187		5.21%		3,587
	La Crosse		6,297		64.59%		3,057		31.36%		161		1.65%		224		2.30%		8		0.08%	2	0.02%		3,240		33.23%		9,749
	Lafayette		2,918		54.74%		2,236		41.94%		114		2.14%		59		1.11%		1		0.02%	3	0.06%		682		12.79%		5,331
	Langlade		1,457		58.80%		956		38.58%		23		0.93%		38		1.53%		4		0.16%	0	0.00%		501		20.22%		2,478
	Lincoln		1,706		47.69%		1,802		50.38%		44		1.23%		21		0.59%		2		0.06%	2	0.06%		-96		-2.68%		3,577
	Manitowoc		4,430		51.60%		3,917		45.63%		60		0.70%		162		1.89%		11		0.13%	5	0.06%		513		5.98%		8,585
	Marathon		3,956		49.61%		3,829		48.01%		70		0.88%		87		1.09%		29		0.36%	4	0.05%		127		1.59%		7,975
	Marinette		4,277		68.27%		1,866		29.78%		81		1.29%		29		0.46%		9		0.14%	3	0.05%		2,411		38.48%		6,265
	Marquette		1,476		62.84%		827		35.21%		25		1.06%		20		0.85%		0		0.00%	1	0.04%		649		27.63%		2,349
	Milwaukee		35,939		55.89%		26,505		41.22%		638		0.99%		510		0.79%		679		1.06%	30	0.05%		9,434		14.67%		64,301
	Monroe		3,683		59.48%		2,360		38.11%		102		1.65%		35		0.57%		1		0.02%	11	0.18%		1,323		21.37%		6,192
	Oconto		2,836		67.09%		1,289		30.49%		59		1.40%		35		0.83%		5		0.12%	3	0.07%		1,547		36.60%		4,227
	Oneida		1,452		70.66%		562		27.35%		27		1.31%		14		0.68%		0		0.00%	0	0.00%		890		43.31%		2,055
	Outagamie		5,431		55.44%		4,092		41.77%		138		1.41%		105		1.07%		5		0.05%	25	0.26%		1,339		13.67%		9,796
	Ozaukee		1,534		42.80%		1,946		54.30%		30		0.84%		62		1.73%		11		0.31%	1	0.03%		-412		-11.50%		3,584
	Pepin		1,301		72.52%		435		24.25%		37		2.06%		19		1.06%		1		0.06%	1	0.06%		866		48.27%		1,794
	Pierce		3,724		69.79%		1,412		26.46%		156		2.92%		38		0.71%		3		0.06%	3	0.06%		2,312		43.33%		5,336
	Polk		2,860		74.56%		891		23.23%		61		1.59%		23		0.60%		0		0.00%	1	0.03%		1,969		51.33%		3,836
	Portage		3,529		53.78%		2,890		44.04%		80		1.22%		54		0.82%		3		0.05%	6	0.09%		639		9.74%		6,562
	Price		1,448		70.22%		550		26.67%		37		1.79%		19		0.92%		7		0.34%	1	0.05%		898		43.55%		2,062
	Racine		5,848		57.65%		3,970		39.14%		211		2.08%		103		1.02%		8		0.08%	4	0.04%		1,878		18.51%		10,144
	Richland		2,636		54.05%		2,098		43.02%		127		2.60%		16		0.33%		0		0.00%	0	0.00%		538		11.03%		4,877
	Rock		8,281		67.58%		3,634		29.66%		235		1.92%		86		0.70%		12		0.10%	5	0.04%		4,647		37.93%		12,253
	Sauk		4,623		60.98%		2,608		34.40%		242		3.19%		96		1.27%		9		0.12%	3	0.04%		2,015		26.58%		7,581
	Sawyer		514		56.30%		369		40.42%		28		3.07%		2		0.22%		0		0.00%	0	0.00%		145		15.88%		913
	Shawano		3,033		64.22%		1,589		33.64%		54		1.14%		32		0.68%		12		0.25%	3	0.06%		1,444		30.57%		4,723
	Sheboygan		6,642		62.51%		3,327		31.31%		90		0.85%		245		2.31%		307		2.89%	15	0.14%		3,315		31.20%		10,626
	St. Croix		3,462		56.39%		2,475		40.32%		158		2.57%		38		0.62%		4		0.07%	2	0.03%		987		16.08%		6,139
	Taylor		1,387		64.60%		709		33.02%		20		0.93%		26		1.21%		2		0.09%	3	0.14%		678		31.58%		2,147
	Trempealeau		3,305		67.70%		1,393		28.53%		151		3.09%		23		0.47%		4		0.08%	6	0.12%		1,912		39.16%		4,882
	Vernon		4,392		71.36%		1,626		26.42%		102		1.66%		28		0.45%		3		0.05%	4	0.06%		2,766		44.94%		6,155
	Vilas		753		61.98%		443		36.46%		8		0.66%		9		0.74%		2		0.16%	0	0.00%		310		25.51%		1,215
	Walworth		5,345		70.42%		1,892		24.93%		282		3.72%		57		0.75%		2		0.03%	12	0.16%		3,453		45.49%		7,590
	Washburn		771		73.29%		250		23.76%		21		2.00%		8		0.76%		2		0.19%	0	0.00%		521		49.52%		1,052
	Washington		2,874		53.16%		2,404		44.47%		31		0.57%		86		1.59%		6		0.11%	5	0.09%		470		8.69%		5,406
	Waukesha		5,411		60.96%		3,190		35.94%		161		1.81%		108		1.22%		5		0.06%	2	0.02%		2,221		25.02%		8,877
	Waupaca		5,466		75.19%		1,577		21.69%		128		1.76%		65		0.89%		3		0.04%	31	0.43%		3,889		53.49%		7,270
	Waushara		3,210		84.36%		456		11.98%		102		2.68%		27		0.71%		0		0.00%	10	0.26%		2,754		72.38%		3,805
	Winnebago		7,898		59.25%		5,088		38.17%		210		1.58%		100		0.75%		18		0.14%	15	0.11%		2,810		21.08%		13,329
	Wood		2,837		58.98%		1,877		39.02%		53		1.10%		31		0.64%		6		0.12%	6	0.12%		960		19.96%		4,810
Total	268,051	59.95%	165,349	36.98%	7,463	1.67%	4,553	1.02%	1,311	0.29%	366	0.08%	102,702	22.97%	447,093

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Ashland
• Brown
• Chippewa
• Dane
• Dodge
• Fond du Lac
• Forest
• Green Lake
• Iowa
• Jefferson
• Juneau
• Kenosha
• Kewaunee
• La Crosse
• Langlade
• Manitowoc
• Marathon
• Marinette
• Marquette
• Milwaukee
• Oconto
• Oneida
• Outagamie
• Portage
• Shawano
• Sheboygan
• Taylor
• Washington
• Waukesha
• Winnebago
• Wood

See also

• United States presidential elections in Wisconsin

Notes and References

1. [Kevin Phillips (political commentator)|Phillips, Kevin P.]
2. Kleppner, Paul; The Third Electoral System, 1853-1892: Parties, Votes and Political Cultures, pp. 198-207
3. Hill, Perry C.; ‘Wisconsin Votes for President’, The Wisconsin Magazine of History, Vol. 36, No. 1 (Autumn, 1952), pp. 11-16
4. Phillips; The Emerging Republican Majority, p. 384
5. Harpine, William D.; From the Front Porch to the Front Page: McKinley and Bryan in the 1896 Presidential Campaign, pp. 166-167
6. ‘ Good News for McKinley Leaders: Strong in the Great West – Wisconsin Solid for the Ohio Man’; San Francisco Chronicle, August 13, 1896, p. 5
7. ‘Bryan in Wisconsin: Fifteen Short Speeches to the Badger State Voters’; The Washington Post, October 31, 1896, p. 3
8. ‘Men Almost Mobbed: Bryan in Wisconsin, Palmer and Buckner in Missouri’; Boston Daily Globe, October 31, 1896, p. 3
9. Web site: 1896 Presidential General Election Data – National by State. Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. 2018-03-05.
10. Wisconsin Historical Society, Tabular Statement of the votes given for President and Vice President of the United States at the general election held in the several towns, wards, villages, and election districts in the several counties of the State of Wisconsin on the Tuesday next succeeding the first Monday being the Third day of November A.D. 1896