1900 United States presidential election in Virginia explained

See main article: 1900 United States presidential election.

Election Name:1900 United States presidential election in Virginia
Country:Virginia
Flag Year:1861
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:1896 United States presidential election in Virginia
Previous Year:1896
Next Election:1904 United States presidential election in Virginia
Next Year:1904
Election Date:November 6, 1900
Image1:WilliamJBryan1902 3x4.jpg
Nominee1:William Jennings Bryan
Party1:Democratic Party (United States)
Home State1:Nebraska
Running Mate1:Adlai Stevenson I
Electoral Vote1:12
Popular Vote1:146,079
Percentage1:55.29%
Nominee2:William McKinley
Party2:Republican Party (United States)
Home State2:Ohio
Running Mate2:Theodore Roosevelt
Electoral Vote2:0
Popular Vote2:115,769
Percentage2:43.82%
Map Size:435px
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 Virginia took place on November 6, 1900, as part of the 1900 United States presidential election. Voters chose 12 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Following the state’s delayed readmission to the Union, Virginia was unique among ex-Confederate states in not having a period of Republican control during Reconstruction, due to the failure of the Underwood Constitution to pass in 1868[1] and the consequent support for the Conservative Party that fused prewar Democrats and Whigs in the first postwar elections and consistently controlled the state legislature after readmission. From 1879, however, a fusion with the “Readjuster” faction of the state Democratic Party would revitalize the Republicans[1] until 1883, although the state GOP would remain competitive in statewide elections — only narrowly failing to carry the state in 1888[1] — until the Cleveland Administration eliminated federal oversight while the Walton Act created the secret ballot and began large-scale black disenfranchisement.[2]

However, despite its dominant position, the Democratic Party would become deeply divided between the conservative Gold Democrats of a state whose economy was already substantially influenced by the rapidly industrializing Northeast, and a Populist-influenced faction centered in the state’s rural areas.[2] Many Virginia farmers still depended upon a tobacco monoculture and had been affected severely by consistently declining prices, poor harvests[3] and the evolving rift between growing Northern and Southwest Virginia which were deeply tied culturally to the border states, and the declining, agrarian Southside. This divide had the effect of strengthening a now “lily-white” Jim Crow state Republican Party[2] in the 1896 election cycle, as the old Whig minority in Southwest Virginia was less attached to party labels and strongly supported Republican William McKinley. Consequently, Southwest Virginia would become the GOP’s stronghold in the state during the first half of the twentieth century, allowing it to remain more viable than in any other ex-Confederate state other than North Carolina and Tennessee where extremely loyal Unionist Republicanism remained.[4]

Neither candidate campaigned in the state, which had voted Democratic at every election since 1876. In October, it was generally thought that Bryan would be sure to carry the state,[5] and unlike in 1896,[6] even pro-Republican journalists did not believe McKinley possessed any chance.

Virginia voted for the Democratic candidate, former U.S. Representative William Jennings Bryan over the Republican candidate, incumbent President William McKinley. Bryan won the state by a margin of 11.47 percentage points. McKinley is the only recent Republican to win two terms in the White House without carrying Virginia either time, and one of only two presidents of any party to achieve this alongside Bill Clinton, who came within 1.96 percentage points in 1996.

Along with having defeated McKinley in Virginia four years earlier, Bryan would later win the state again in 1908 against William Howard Taft.

Results

1900 United States presidential election in Virginia[7]
PartyCandidateVotesPercentageElectoral votes
DemocraticWilliam Jennings Bryan146,07955.29%12
RepublicanWilliam McKinley (inc.)115,76943.82%0
ProhibitionJohn G. Woolley2,1300.81%0
Socialist LaborJoseph F. Maloney1670.06%0
PopulistWharton Barker630.02%0
Totals264,208100.0%12

Results by county

1900 United States presidential election in Virginia by counties and independent cities[8] [9]
County or Independent CityWilliam Jennings Bryan
Democratic
William McKinley
Republican
John Granville Woolley
Prohibition
Various candidates
Other parties
MarginTotal votes cast
data-sort-type="number"data-sort-type="number"%%data-sort-type="number"data-sort-type="number"%data-sort-type="number"data-sort-type="number"%data-sort-type="number"data-sort-type="number"%
Accomack County3,21067.72%1,46030.80%691.46%10.02%1,75036.92%4,740
Albemarle County2,41158.73%1,67440.78%200.49%00.00%73717.95%4,105
Alexandria County41349.40%42150.36%371.59%00.00%-8-0.96%836
Alleghany County84136.11%1,45162.30%120.82%140.95%-610-26.19%2,329
Amelia County60841.30%83856.93%40.16%180.71%-230-15.63%1,472
Amherst County1,51659.97%99039.16%50.32%30.19%52620.81%2,528
Appomattox County1,08269.94%45729.54%20.24%00.00%62540.40%1,547
Augusta County2,86951.87%2,47344.71%1853.34%40.07%3967.16%5,531
Bath County42247.90%45451.53%50.57%00.00%-32-3.63%881
Bedford County2,53555.08%1,98243.07%841.83%10.02%55312.02%4,602
Bland County51352.29%46547.40%30.31%00.00%484.89%981
Botetourt County1,38250.51%1,32948.57%250.91%00.00%531.94%2,736
Brunswick County1,06447.37%1,17752.40%50.22%00.00%-113-5.03%2,246
Buchanan County58745.82%69454.18%00.00%00.00%-107-8.35%1,281
Buckingham County94250.16%92249.09%140.75%00.00%201.06%1,878
Campbell County1,33950.82%1,28848.88%70.27%10.04%511.94%2,635
Caroline County1,07748.19%1,14451.19%140.63%00.00%-67-3.00%2,235
Carroll County1,43444.77%1,75954.92%90.28%10.03%-325-10.15%3,203
Charlotte County1,01175.67%32324.18%20.15%00.00%68851.50%1,336
Chesterfield County1,36860.11%88438.84%220.97%20.09%48421.27%2,276
Clarke County1,05569.73%42628.16%301.98%20.13%62941.57%1,513
Craig County41557.80%26536.91%385.29%00.00%15020.89%718
Culpeper County1,51264.07%84735.89%10.04%00.00%66528.18%2,360
Cumberland County53771.70%20527.37%10.13%60.80%33244.33%749
Dickenson County72751.56%68348.44%00.00%00.00%443.12%1,410
Dinwiddie County99062.66%58336.90%60.38%10.06%40725.76%1,580
Elizabeth City County1,02759.09%69740.10%80.46%60.35%33018.99%1,738
Essex County73155.30%59044.63%10.08%00.00%14110.67%1,322
Fairfax County2,13558.40%1,50741.22%140.38%00.00%62817.18%3,656
Fauquier County2,61065.30%1,37734.45%80.20%20.05%1,23330.85%3,997
Floyd County64829.22%1,56670.60%40.18%00.00%-918-41.39%2,218
Fluvanna County79053.34%67845.78%130.88%00.00%1127.56%1,481
Franklin County1,78550.72%1,70248.37%240.68%80.23%832.36%3,519
Frederick County1,74871.52%67127.45%210.86%40.16%1,07744.07%2,444
Giles County1,01053.05%85845.06%361.89%00.00%1527.98%1,904
Gloucester County48457.69%35442.19%10.12%00.00%13015.49%839
Goochland County60240.73%87659.27%00.00%00.00%-274-18.54%1,478
Grayson County1,25244.10%1,58555.83%20.07%00.00%-333-11.73%2,839
Greene County51152.68%45947.32%00.00%00.00%525.36%970
Greensville County74057.14%54742.24%40.31%40.31%19314.90%1,295
Halifax County2,86463.00%1,63235.90%450.99%50.11%1,23227.10%4,546
Hanover County1,20349.75%1,20149.67%140.58%00.00%20.08%2,418
Henrico County2,18966.51%1,04931.87%250.76%280.85%1,14034.64%3,291
Henry County1,35649.49%1,36749.89%170.62%00.00%-11-0.40%2,740
Highland County51248.08%54050.70%111.03%20.19%-28-2.63%1,065
Isle of Wight County1,20661.22%76338.73%00.00%10.05%44322.49%1,970
James City County29453.45%25546.36%10.18%00.00%397.09%550
King and Queen County79656.37%61443.48%20.14%00.00%18212.89%1,412
King George County48042.67%64357.16%20.18%00.00%-163-14.49%1,125
King William County46234.38%87164.81%80.60%30.22%-409-30.43%1,344
Lancaster County97165.34%50834.19%70.47%00.00%46331.16%1,486
Lee County1,49351.61%1,39248.12%60.21%20.07%1013.49%2,893
Loudoun County2,69059.79%1,68437.43%1192.65%60.13%1,00622.36%4,499
Louisa County1,16949.16%1,18749.92%220.93%00.00%-18-0.76%2,378
Lunenburg County63464.83%34335.07%90.91%00.00%29129.75%978
Madison County98659.76%66440.24%140.84%00.00%32219.52%1,650
Mathews County72668.88%29427.89%403.77%00.00%43240.99%1,054
Mecklenburg County1,69747.24%1,85551.64%40.11%361.00%-158-4.40%3,592
Middlesex County68651.58%64048.12%564.05%00.00%463.46%1,330
Montgomery County1,10242.58%1,39153.75%50.19%903.48%-289-11.17%2,588
Nansemond County1,48159.74%99240.02%120.48%00.00%48919.73%2,479
Nelson County1,53056.52%1,16342.96%40.15%100.37%36713.56%2,707
New Kent County28238.42%44760.90%10.14%40.54%-165-22.48%734
Norfolk County2,41544.36%3,02455.55%50.09%00.00%-609-11.19%5,444
Northampton County1,18056.43%89642.85%120.57%30.14%28413.58%2,091
Northumberland County80949.85%80749.72%70.43%00.00%20.12%1,623
Nottoway County1,07668.14%48930.97%130.82%10.06%58737.18%1,579
Orange County1,10053.71%92945.36%190.93%00.00%1718.35%2,048
Page County1,04145.64%1,21453.22%261.14%00.00%-173-7.58%2,281
Patrick County1,02644.32%1,28155.33%80.35%00.00%-255-11.02%2,315
Pittsylvania County3,75861.16%2,32837.88%590.96%00.00%1,43023.27%6,145
Powhatan County45844.00%58255.91%10.10%00.00%-124-11.91%1,041
Prince Edward County84359.49%57440.51%00.00%00.00%26918.98%1,417
Prince George County36754.86%30144.99%00.00%10.15%669.87%669
Prince William County1,35166.52%68033.48%00.00%00.00%67133.04%2,031
Princess Anne County74369.31%32730.50%20.19%00.00%41638.81%1,072
Pulaski County1,04845.74%1,24354.26%00.00%00.00%-195-8.51%2,291
Rappahannock County81361.27%50738.21%70.53%00.00%30623.06%1,327
Richmond County69254.49%57445.20%30.24%10.08%1189.29%1,270
Roanoke County94242.95%1,18854.17%582.64%50.23%-246-11.22%2,193
Rockbridge County1,65842.46%2,22356.93%220.56%20.05%-565-14.47%3,905
Rockingham County2,85251.60%2,57246.54%1031.86%00.00%2805.07%5,527
Russell County1,95658.58%1,37741.24%60.18%00.00%57917.34%3,339
Scott County1,81352.17%1,65947.74%30.09%00.00%1544.43%3,475
Shenandoah County1,96550.75%1,86248.09%401.03%50.13%1032.66%3,872
Smyth County1,25240.94%1,79458.67%120.39%00.00%-542-17.72%3,058
Southampton County1,70873.21%61026.15%150.64%00.00%1,09847.06%2,333
Spotsylvania County77448.50%81751.19%50.31%00.00%-43-2.69%1,596
Stafford County64842.74%86757.19%10.07%00.00%-219-14.45%1,516
Surry County83962.85%47335.43%221.65%10.07%36627.42%1,335
Sussex County73362.70%43036.78%10.09%50.43%30325.92%1,169
Tazewell County1,31232.93%2,66366.84%80.20%10.03%-1,351-33.91%3,984
Warren County1,06868.95%46229.83%191.23%00.00%60639.12%1,549
Warwick County52661.02%33638.98%00.00%00.00%19022.04%862
Washington County2,29147.74%2,49852.05%100.21%00.00%-207-4.31%4,799
Westmoreland County69153.19%59745.96%100.77%10.08%947.24%1,299
Wise County1,21541.10%1,72558.36%150.51%10.03%-510-17.25%2,956
Wythe County1,60745.31%1,93254.47%60.17%20.06%-325-9.16%3,547
York County55145.84%63152.50%00.00%201.66%-80-6.66%1,202
Alexandria City2,00368.04%93531.76%60.20%00.00%1,06836.28%2,944
Bristol City78772.80%28125.99%131.20%00.00%50646.81%1,081
Buena Vista City21550.47%20447.89%51.17%20.47%112.58%426
Charlottesville City73166.15%36132.67%111.00%20.18%37033.48%1,105
Danville City1,57579.83%31015.71%874.41%10.05%1,26564.12%1,973
Fredericksburg City58762.18%35337.39%30.32%10.11%23424.79%944
Lynchburg City1,08161.67%66037.65%00.00%120.68%42124.02%1,753
Manchester City64758.03%44239.64%343.03%00.00%20518.39%1,115
Newport News City1,89662.23%1,10836.36%150.49%280.92%78825.86%3,047
Norfolk City3,88362.17%2,30136.84%390.62%230.37%1,58225.33%6,246
Petersburg City1,58969.33%68830.02%90.39%60.26%90139.31%2,292
Portsmouth City1,74374.74%56624.27%140.60%90.39%1,17750.47%2,332
Radford City25755.99%19742.92%51.09%00.00%6013.07%459
Richmond City6,09568.35%2,72930.60%710.80%220.25%3,36637.75%8,917
Roanoke City1,76158.98%1,12037.51%531.77%521.74%64121.47%2,986
Staunton City61257.90%37535.48%706.62%00.00%23722.42%1,057
Williamsburg City16162.89%8834.38%72.73%00.00%7328.52%256
Winchester City59357.74%42341.19%100.97%10.10%17016.55%1,027
Charles City County0N/A0N/A
Totals146,07955.26%115,76943.79%2,1300.81%4730.18%30,31011.47%264,357

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: Heersink. Boris. Jenkins. Jeffrey A.. Republican Party Politics and the American South, 1865–1968. 217–221. 1107158435.
  2. Moger. Allen. The Rift in Virginia Democracy in 1896. The Journal of Southern History. 4. 3. 295–317.
  3. Web site: Wright. James D.. The farmer’s revolt: the election of 1896 in Virginia. University of Richmond. May 18, 1978.
  4. [Kevin Phillips (political commentator)|Phillips, Kevin P.]
  5. News: M‘Kinley 282, Bryan 165: That Is New York Herald’s Estimate from Poll. The Weekly Advertiser. Montgomery, Alabama. October 26, 1900. 8.
  6. News: Doubtful States: Representatives of Them Interviewed on the Outlook — Opinions of the Common People: Results of Visits to Hotels and Railroad Stations — The Views Expressed. Evening Star. Washington, D.C.. October 31, 1896. 10.
  7. Web site: 1900 Presidential General Election Results – Virginia. U.S. Election Atlas. 12 April 2013.
  8. Robinson, Edgar Eugene; The Presidential Vote 1896-1932, pp. 354-361
  9. Web site: Géoelections. Popular Vote for President, 1900 (.xlsx file for €15).