1900 United States presidential election in Florida explained

See main article: 1900 United States presidential election.

Election Name:1900 United States presidential election in Florida
Country:Florida
Flag Year:1868
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:1896 United States presidential election in Florida
Previous Year:1896
Election Date:November 6, 1900
Next Election:1904 United States presidential election in Florida
Next Year:1904
Image1:WilliamJBryan1902 3x4.jpg
Nominee1:William Jennings Bryan
Party1:Democratic Party (United States)
Home State1:Nebraska
Running Mate1:Adlai Stevenson I
Electoral Vote1:4
Popular Vote1:28,273
Percentage1:71.31%
Nominee2:William McKinley
Party2:Republican Party (United States)
Home State2:Ohio
Running Mate2:Theodore Roosevelt
Electoral Vote2:0
Popular Vote2:7,355
Percentage2:18.55%
Image3:Woolley-John-G-1898.tif
Nominee3:John G. Woolley
Party3:Prohibition Party
Home State3:Illinois
Running Mate3:Henry B. Metcalf
Electoral Vote3:0
Popular Vote3:2,244
Percentage3:5.66%
Map Size:400px
President
Before Election:William McKinley
Before Party:Republican Party (United States)
After Election:William McKinley
After Party:Republican Party (United States)

The 1900 United States presidential election in Florida was held on November 6, 1900. Florida voters chose four representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for President and Vice-President.

The anti-Southern animus of the Harrison presidency meant Florida‘s large landowners felt the disfranchisement of blacks was urgent by 1889.[1] A poll tax was introduced in 1889[2] as were the so-called “Myers” and “Dortch” laws which required voters in more populous settlements to register their voting precincts.[3] This dramatically cut voter registration amongst blacks and poorer whites, and since Florida completely lacked upland or German refugee whites opposed to secession, its Republican Party between 1872 and 1888 was entirely dependent upon black votes. Thus this disfranchisement of blacks and poor whites by a poll tax introduced in 1889[4] left Florida as devoid of Republican adherents as Louisiana, Mississippi or South Carolina.[5] The Republican Party did not offer presidential electors in 1892, and it did not carry a single county in 1896.

Florida was won by the Democratic nominees, former U.S. Representative and 1896 Democratic presidential nominee William Jennings Bryan and his running mate, former Vice President Adlai Stevenson I. They defeated the Republican nominees, incumbent President William McKinley of Ohio and his running mate Theodore Roosevelt of New York. Bryan won the state by a landslide margin of 52.76%.

With Bryan appealing to many pineywoods “crackers” who still paid the poll tax, he was able to improve upon his 1896 landslide.[6] The power of Baptist preachers in the settled northern part of the state, however, did produce considerable support for the Prohibition Party’s John G. Woolley in the white counties.[7] This stands as one of the ten occasions when third or minor parties got over 5% of the vote in Florida.[8] This also marks the only time since its statehood that any president has won two terms without ever carrying Florida.

With 71.31% of the popular vote, Florida would prove to be Bryan's fourth strongest state in the 1900 presidential election only after South Carolina, Mississippi and Louisiana.[9]

Bryan had previously won Florida against McKinley four years earlier and would later win the state again in 1908 against William Howard Taft.

Results

1900 United States presidential election in Florida
PartyCandidateVotesPercentageElectoral votes
DemocraticWilliam Jennings Bryan28,27371.31%4
RepublicanWilliam McKinley (incumbent)7,75318.55%0
ProhibitionJohn G. Woolley2,2445.66%0
PopulistWharton Barker1,1432.88%0
SocialistEugene V. Debs6341.60%0
Invalid or blank votes
Totals39,649100.00%4
Voter turnout

Results by county

CountyWilliam Jennings Bryan
Democratic
William McKinley
Republican
John Granville Woolley
Prohibition
Wharton Barker
Populist
Eugene Victor Debs
Socialist
MarginTotal votes cast[10]
%%%%%%
Alachua1,34676.83%33419.06%170.97%502.85%90.51%1,01257.76%1,752
Baker19858.41%11233.04%164.75%82.37%30.89%8625.37%339
Bradford73463.39%27623.83%1018.82%211.83%131.14%45839.55%1,158
Brevard51373.60%12117.36%446.30%182.58%20.29%39256.24%697
Calhoun19667.12%3511.99%3010.27%289.59%31.03%16155.14%292
Citrus41392.19%163.57%184.02%10.22%00.00%39588.17%448
Clay30871.13%9121.02%81.85%194.39%71.62%21750.12%433
Columbia66366.70%25225.35%151.53%444.49%60.61%41141.35%994
Dade80658.62%38928.29%1007.33%543.96%161.17%41730.33%1,375
De Soto52663.99%13416.30%273.28%323.89%10312.53%39247.69%822
Duval1,85766.49%77327.68%240.86%1033.69%311.11%1,08438.81%2,793
Escambia1,43563.47%43219.11%34615.30%301.33%180.80%1,00344.36%2,261
Franklin23956.10%14634.27%255.87%133.05%30.70%9321.83%426
Gadsden68491.32%618.14%00.00%40.53%00.00%62383.18%749
Hamilton32268.08%9620.30%387.87%132.69%142.90%22647.78%473
Hernando25288.11%186.29%103.50%51.75%10.35%23481.82%286
Hillsborough2,25769.55%34910.76%51415.84%361.11%892.74%1,74353.71%3,245
Holmes33972.75%6914.81%469.87%81.72%40.86%27057.94%466
Jackson97878.43%17814.27%141.12%534.25%241.92%80064.15%1,247
Jefferson71182.29%14316.55%40.46%60.69%00.00%56865.74%864
Lafayette32689.07%215.74%133.55%61.64%00.00%30583.33%366
Lake49270.49%14320.49%415.90%172.45%20.29%34950.00%698
Lee27881.29%3911.40%205.85%20.58%30.88%23969.88%342
Leon93280.28%16213.95%433.70%211.81%30.26%77066.32%1,161
Levy38367.31%15727.59%40.70%234.04%20.35%22639.72%569
Liberty12788.19%106.94%64.17%10.69%00.00%11781.25%144
Madison51076.92%446.64%8312.65%71.07%121.83%42764.27%663
Manatee53581.68%609.16%426.10%91.31%426.10%47572.52%655
Marion1,13275.02%26417.50%322.13%523.47%191.27%86857.52%1,509
Monroe74766.28%25222.36%564.97%504.44%221.95%49543.92%1,127
Nassau44170.56%14923.84%111.77%172.73%50.80%29246.72%625
Orange85761.65%40228.92%523.75%564.04%181.30%45532.73%1,390
Osceola26671.89%4211.35%4712.63%112.96%61.61%21959.26%370
Pasco49284.68%325.51%437.40%142.41%00.00%44977.28%581
Polk98379.60%13310.77%90.73%241.94%866.96%85068.83%1,235
Putnam64865.32%25025.20%565.63%242.41%171.71%39840.12%992
St. John’s76470.35%23421.55%151.39%534.92%111.02%53048.80%1,086
Santa Rosa51988.42%386.47%81.36%142.39%81.36%48181.95%587
Sumter34381.28%5312.56%81.90%143.33%20.48%29068.72%422
Suwannee67771.41%15316.14%768.04%343.60%50.53%52455.27%948
Taylor25360.38%10525.06%51.20%5312.74%00.00%14835.32%419
Volusia75567.47%25522.79%605.34%403.56%131.16%50044.68%1,119
Wakulla25485.81%103.38%3210.81%00.00%00.00%22275.00%296
Walton38267.97%13924.73%305.34%111.96%00.00%24343.24%562
Washington38749.05%29136.88%556.97%445.58%121.52%9612.17%789
Totals28,26071.05%7,46318.76%2,2445.64%1,1432.87%6340.51%20,79752.29%39,775

See also

Notes and References

  1. Perman, Michael; Struggle for Mastery: Disfranchisement in the South, 1888-1908, pp. 67-68
  2. Brooker, Russell; The American Civil Rights Movement 1865-1950: Black Agency and People of Good Will, p. 61
  3. Ogden, Frederick D. (1958); The Poll Tax in the South, p. 118
  4. [Joel H. Silbey|Silbey, Joel H.]
  5. Phillips, Kevin P.; The Emerging Republican Majority, pp. 208, 210
  6. Granthan, Dewey W.; The Life and Death of the Solid South: A Political History, p. 39
  7. Link, William A.; The Paradox of Southern Progressivism, 1880-1930, pp. 32-33
  8. Web site: 1900 Presidential General Election Results – Florida. Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Leip. David. 2017-07-07.
  9. Web site: 1900 Presidential Election Statistics. Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. 2018-03-05.
  10. Robinson, Edgar Eugene; The Presidential Vote 1896-1932, pp. 156-161