1908 United States presidential election in Virginia explained

See main article: 1908 United States presidential election.

Election Name:1908 United States presidential election in Virginia
Country:Virginia
Flag Year:1861
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:1904 United States presidential election in Virginia
Previous Year:1904
Next Election:1912 United States presidential election in Virginia
Next Year:1912
Election Date:November 3, 1908
Image1:Unsuccessful 1908.jpg
Nominee1:William Jennings Bryan
Party1:Democratic Party (United States)
Home State1:Nebraska
Running Mate1:John W. Kern
Electoral Vote1:12
Popular Vote1:82,946
Percentage1:60.52%
Nominee2:William Howard Taft
Party2:Republican Party (United States)
Home State2:Ohio
Running Mate2:James S. Sherman
Electoral Vote2:0
Popular Vote2:52,572
Percentage2:38.36%
Map Size:435px
President
Before Election:Theodore Roosevelt
Before Party:Republican Party (United States)
After Election:William Howard Taft
After Party:Republican Party (United States)

The 1908 United States presidential election in Virginia took place on November 3, 1908, as part of the 1908 United States presidential election. Voters chose twelve representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

The 1900s had seen Virginia, like all former Confederate States, almost completely disenfranchise its black and poor white populations through the use of a cumulative poll tax and literacy tests.[1] So severe was the disenfranchising effect of the new 1902 Constitution that the electorate for the 1904 presidential election was halved compared to that of previous elections, and it has been calculated that a third of those who voted were state employees and officeholders.[1] The limited electorate meant Virginian politics was controlled by political machines — firstly one led by Thomas Staples Martin and after he died the Byrd Organization.

However, unlike the Deep South, historical fusion with the “Readjuster” Democrats,[2] defection of substantial proportions of the Northeast-aligned white electorate of the Shenandoah Valley and Southwest Virginia over free silver,[3] and an early move towards a “lily white” Jim Crow party[2] meant that in general elections the Republicans retained around one-third of the small statewide electorate.[4]

Following the failure of Theodore Roosevelt to reconcile with the South, and a hiccup when Republican elector and long-time Lily-White party leader William H. Robinson refused to support party nominee, former Secretary of War William Howard Taft because he was a Unitarian,[5] Taft would in July stay for a month in Hot Springs[6] and in October become the first Republican candidate to tour the Confederacy.[7] Early in the campaign third-time Democratic candidate William Jennings Bryan criticised Taft as adopting Democratic policies in a slavish manner,[6] but during his later tour of Virginia, Taft was very critical of Bryan for focusing too much on short-term issues.[8] In front of a crowd of twelve thousand in Richmond, Taft argued that he was the man to bring Virginia and the northern states closer together, and that voting for Republican candidates and policies was highly reasonable.[9]

Despite the enthusiastic reception Taft received in Richmond, he was hindered by the fact that the Richmond Times-Dispatch, which had endorsed William McKinley twelve years previously,[10] endorsed Bryan this time.[9] Polls in mid-October saw Virginia as safe for Bryan,[9] which would be confirmed at the beginning of the fourth week of that month.[11] Bryan ultimately would win the state by a margin of 22.16 percentage points. At the time this was the largest margin in Virginia since Andrew Jackson won the state by 49.93 percentage points in 1832, although Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan have since surpassed Bryan’s performance.

Bryan had previously won Virginia against William McKinley in both 1896 and 1900.

Results

1908 United States presidential election in Virginia[12]
PartyCandidateVotesPercentageElectoral votes
DemocraticWilliam Jennings Bryan82,94660.52%12
RepublicanWilliam Howard Taft52,57238.36%0
ProhibitionEugene W. Chafin1,1110.81%0
SocialistEugene V. Debs2550.19%0
PopulistThomas E. Watson1050.08%0
IndependenceThomas L. Hisgen510.04%0
Socialist LaborAugust Gillhaus250.02%0
Totals137,065100.0%12

Results by county

1908 United States presidential election in Virginia by counties and independent cities[13]
County or Independent CityWilliam Jennings Bryan
Democratic		William Howard Taft
Republican		Eugene Wilder Chafin
Prohibition		Various candidates
Other parties		Margindata-sort-type="number" rowspan="2"Total 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"%data-sort-type="number"data-sort-type="number"%
Accomack County1,74881.64%33715.74%582.71%00.00%1,41165.90%2,141
Albemarle County99971.05%38027.03%70.50%201.42%61944.03%1,406
Alexandria County35467.82%16531.61%545.58%80.83%18936.21%522
Alleghany County42243.64%48349.95%20.62%00.00%-61-6.31%967
Amelia County24776.71%7322.67%10.10%10.10%17454.04%322
Amherst County84983.65%16416.16%20.27%00.00%68567.49%1,015
Appomattox County63384.18%11715.56%00.00%30.57%51668.62%752
Augusta County1,43556.56%98738.90%1094.30%60.24%44817.66%2,537
Bath County34058.02%23239.59%122.05%20.34%10818.43%586
Bedford County1,27571.11%46325.82%452.51%100.56%81245.29%1,793
Bland County33945.81%39753.65%40.54%00.00%-58-7.84%740
Botetourt County80850.16%79249.16%110.68%00.00%160.99%1,611
Brunswick County50779.84%12319.37%50.79%00.00%38460.47%635
Buchanan County39538.35%63561.65%00.00%00.00%-240-23.30%1,030
Buckingham County67666.86%33332.94%20.20%00.00%34333.93%1,011
Campbell County62476.94%17421.45%91.11%40.49%45055.49%811
Caroline County49459.73%32639.42%60.73%10.12%16820.31%827
Carroll County85936.09%1,52163.91%00.00%00.00%-662-27.82%2,380
Charles City County9953.51%8445.41%00.00%21.08%158.11%185
Charlotte County53768.49%24230.87%40.51%10.13%29537.63%784
Chesterfield County60876.57%16721.03%111.39%81.01%44155.54%794
Clarke County51785.88%7412.29%71.16%40.66%44373.59%602
Craig County36461.38%22437.77%50.84%00.00%14023.61%593
Culpeper County96280.37%23319.47%20.17%00.00%72960.90%1,197
Cumberland County37484.62%6815.38%00.00%00.00%30669.23%442
Dickenson County55144.87%67154.64%00.00%60.49%-120-9.77%1,228
Dinwiddie County44573.80%15726.04%10.17%00.00%28847.76%603
Elizabeth City County67371.67%25126.73%101.06%50.53%42244.94%939
Essex County36474.74%12325.26%00.00%00.00%24149.49%487
Fairfax County1,14373.27%40425.90%100.64%30.19%73947.37%1,560
Fauquier County1,35478.58%36321.07%40.23%20.12%99157.52%1,723
Floyd County39025.28%1,14974.47%40.26%00.00%-759-49.19%1,543
Fluvanna County45176.83%13523.00%00.00%10.17%31653.83%587
Franklin County1,21852.50%1,10147.46%10.04%00.00%1175.04%2,320
Frederick County86669.56%35428.43%252.01%00.00%51241.12%1,245
Giles County70553.13%60545.59%141.06%30.23%1007.54%1,327
Gloucester County47783.10%9416.38%00.00%30.52%38366.72%574
Goochland County29453.85%24645.05%20.37%40.73%488.79%546
Grayson County84140.36%1,24359.64%00.00%00.00%-402-19.29%2,084
Greene County25240.78%36659.22%00.00%00.00%-114-18.45%618
Greensville County27376.69%7721.63%30.84%30.84%19655.06%356
Halifax County1,26865.63%65033.64%80.41%60.31%61831.99%1,932
Hanover County52270.92%20427.72%60.82%40.54%31843.21%736
Henrico County62774.11%21525.41%30.35%10.12%41248.70%846
Henry County76151.11%71648.09%70.47%50.34%453.02%1,489
Highland County29247.25%30549.35%213.40%00.00%-13-2.10%618
Isle of Wight County53072.70%19927.30%00.00%00.00%33145.40%729
James City County13267.35%6231.63%21.02%00.00%7035.71%196
King and Queen County34965.60%18134.02%20.38%00.00%16831.58%532
King George County29659.80%19840.00%00.00%10.20%9819.80%495
King William County27654.33%22844.88%40.79%00.00%489.45%508
Lancaster County46878.00%12220.33%30.50%71.17%34657.67%600
Lee County80537.56%1,33462.25%30.14%10.05%-529-24.69%2,143
Loudoun County1,57075.05%44721.37%663.15%90.43%1,12353.68%2,092
Louisa County69269.83%29029.26%60.61%30.30%40240.57%991
Lunenburg County41479.46%10520.15%10.19%10.19%30959.31%521
Madison County46660.28%30539.46%10.13%10.13%16120.83%773
Mathews County57786.25%8612.86%40.60%20.30%49173.39%669
Mecklenburg County1,00079.24%25219.97%60.48%40.32%74859.27%1,262
Middlesex County41371.58%16428.42%00.00%00.00%24943.15%577
Montgomery County73447.45%79551.39%110.71%70.45%-61-3.94%1,547
Nansemond County85775.04%27223.82%110.96%20.18%58551.23%1,142
Nelson County74270.27%30829.17%50.47%10.09%43441.10%1,056
New Kent County19354.52%15944.92%00.00%20.56%349.60%354
Norfolk County87954.33%73945.67%00.00%00.00%1408.65%1,618
Northampton County67378.44%17420.28%111.28%00.00%49958.16%858
Northumberland County41068.68%18530.99%20.34%00.00%22537.69%597
Nottoway County48178.85%11819.34%101.64%10.16%36359.51%610
Orange County58774.02%19824.97%81.01%00.00%38949.05%793
Page County80449.42%80249.29%140.86%70.43%20.12%1,627
Patrick County72339.77%1,09260.07%00.00%30.17%-369-20.30%1,818
Pittsylvania County1,47160.19%96239.36%90.37%20.08%50920.83%2,444
Powhatan County25563.43%14636.32%00.00%10.25%10927.11%402
Prince Edward County56182.38%11717.18%30.44%00.00%44465.20%681
Prince George County17166.02%8833.98%00.00%00.00%8332.05%259
Prince William County73877.77%20021.07%00.00%00.00%53856.69%949
Princess Anne County40380.28%9919.72%90.95%20.21%30460.56%502
Pulaski County71447.44%78051.83%50.33%60.40%-66-4.39%1,505
Rappahannock County43373.02%15826.64%20.34%00.00%27546.37%593
Richmond County33862.13%20537.68%00.00%10.18%13324.45%544
Roanoke County73261.67%42635.89%262.19%30.25%30625.78%1,187
Rockbridge County1,00054.82%81044.41%100.55%40.22%19010.42%1,824
Rockingham County1,73650.66%1,58046.10%1033.01%80.23%1564.55%3,427
Russell County82741.10%1,17358.30%80.40%40.20%-346-17.20%2,012
Scott County1,14539.09%1,78160.81%00.00%30.10%-636-21.71%2,929
Shenandoah County1,29446.71%1,44952.31%180.65%90.32%-155-5.60%2,770
Smyth County90640.07%1,35059.71%40.18%10.04%-444-19.64%2,261
Southampton County81878.88%20619.86%100.96%30.29%61259.02%1,037
Spotsylvania County34653.89%28243.93%132.02%10.16%649.97%642
Stafford County40645.93%47453.62%00.00%40.45%-68-7.69%884
Surry County26975.99%8223.16%10.28%20.56%18752.82%354
Sussex County41278.18%11521.82%00.00%00.00%29756.36%527
Tazewell County80936.38%1,39862.86%70.31%100.45%-589-26.48%2,224
Warren County56271.68%20926.66%131.66%00.00%35345.03%784
Warwick County10162.35%5835.80%10.62%21.23%4326.54%162
Washington County1,55846.91%1,74152.42%180.54%40.12%-183-5.51%3,321
Westmoreland County35368.68%16131.32%00.00%00.00%19237.35%514
Wise County99339.19%1,52760.26%40.16%100.39%-534-21.07%2,534
Wythe County95038.98%1,48761.02%00.00%00.00%-537-22.04%2,437
York County21475.89%6121.63%62.13%10.35%15354.26%282
Alexandria City1,21882.69%24716.77%40.27%40.27%97165.92%1,473
Bristol City40567.61%18731.22%50.83%20.33%21836.39%599
Buena Vista City13762.56%8036.53%10.46%10.46%5726.03%219
Charlottesville City42882.63%8215.83%20.39%61.16%34666.80%518
Clifton Forge City40273.36%13324.27%71.28%61.09%26949.09%548
Danville City96380.99%20617.33%141.18%60.50%75763.67%1,189
Fredericksburg City28552.88%25246.75%40.74%00.00%336.12%539
Lynchburg City96266.39%47332.64%130.90%10.07%48933.75%1,449
Manchester City36374.85%11423.51%10.21%71.44%24951.34%485
Newport News City78859.88%49837.84%50.38%251.90%29022.04%1,316
Norfolk City2,27168.99%99130.10%200.61%100.30%1,28038.88%3,292
Petersburg City90581.17%20518.39%40.36%10.09%70062.78%1,115
Portsmouth City1,15473.50%40725.92%30.19%60.38%74747.58%1,570
Radford City20457.79%14139.94%41.13%41.13%6317.85%353
Richmond City4,14277.68%1,13521.29%220.41%330.62%3,00756.40%5,332
Roanoke City1,40870.19%59329.56%30.15%20.10%81540.63%2,006
Staunton City51455.93%34737.76%566.09%20.22%16718.17%919
Williamsburg City12070.59%4828.24%21.18%00.00%7242.35%170
Winchester City44960.35%26635.75%263.49%30.40%18324.60%744
Totals82,93660.55%52,56838.38%1,1110.81%3680.27%30,36822.17%136,979

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: Kousser, J. Morgan. The Shaping of Southern Politics Suffrage Restriction and the Establishment of the One-Party South, 1880-1910. Yale University Press. 178–181. 0-300-01696-4.
  2. Book: Heersink. Boris. Jenkins. Jeffrey A.. Republican Party Politics and the American South, 1865-1968. 217–221. 1107158435.
  3. Moger. Allen. The Rift in Virginia Democracy in 1896. The Journal of Southern History. 4. 3. 295–317.
  4. [Kevin Phillips (political commentator)|Phillips, Kevin P.]
  5. News: Taft Man for Bryan. 1. Talladega, Alabama. Our Mountain Home. August 19, 1908.
  6. News: Taft Leaves for Virginia; Bryan Dissects His Speech. July 30, 1908. The Lexington Herald. Lexington, Kentucky. 1.
  7. Tindall. George B.. Southern Strategy: A Historical Perspective. North Carolina Historical Review. 48. 2. April 1971. 126–141.
  8. News: Taft Scores Bryan in Virginia Town. October 20, 1908. The Morning Post. Camden, New Jersey. 7.
  9. News: October 18, 1908. The Baltimore Sun. 1. Baltimore. Virginia Cheers Taft: He Speaks to an Audience of 12,000 in Richmond.
  10. Moger. Allen. The Rift in Virginia Democracy in 1896. The Journal of Southern History. 4. 3. 295–317.
  11. News: Taft Regarded a Sure Winner: Republican Candidate Is Conceded 298 Electoral Votes, or 56 More than Necessary — Bryan Conceded 161 — 24 Doubtful. October 22, 2008. Tazewell Republican. Tazewell, Virginia.
  12. Web site: 1908 Presidential General Election Results — Virginia. U.S. Election Atlas. 12 April 2013.
  13. Robinson, Edgar Eugene; The Presidential Vote 1896-1932, pp. 354-361

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