1908 United States presidential election in Wisconsin explained

See main article: article and 1908 United States presidential election.

Election Name:	1908 United States presidential election in Wisconsin
Country:	Wisconsin
Flag Year:	1866
Type:	presidential
Ongoing:	no
Previous Election:	1904 United States presidential election in Wisconsin
Previous Year:	1904
Next Election:	1912 United States presidential election in Wisconsin
Next Year:	1912
Election Date:	November 3, 1908
Image1:	William Howard Taft, Bain bw photo portrait, 1908.jpg
Nominee1:	William Howard Taft
Party1:	Republican Party (United States)
Home State1:	Ohio
Running Mate1:	James S. Sherman
Electoral Vote1:	13
Popular Vote1:	247,747
Percentage1:	54.51%
Nominee2:	William Jennings Bryan
Party2:	Democratic Party (United States)
Home State2:	Nebraska
Running Mate2:	John W. Kern
Electoral Vote2:	0
Popular Vote2:	166,632
Percentage2:	36.66%
Image3:	EugeneVDebs.png
Nominee3:	Eugene V. Debs
Party3:	Socialist Party of America
Home State3:	Indiana
Running Mate3:	Ben Hanford
Electoral Vote3:	0
Popular Vote3:	28,170
Percentage3:	6.20%
Map Size:	315px
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 Wisconsin was held on November 3, 1908 as part of the 1908 United States presidential election. State voters chose 13 electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Ever since the decline of the Populist movement, Wisconsin had become almost a one-party state dominated by the Republican Party.^[1] The Democratic Party became entirely uncompetitive outside certain German Catholic counties adjoining Lake Michigan as the upper classes, along with the majority of workers who followed them, completely fled from William Jennings Bryan’s agrarian and free silver sympathies.^[2] As Democratic strength weakened severely after 1894 – although the state did develop a strong Socialist Party to provide opposition to the GOP – Wisconsin developed the direct Republican primary in 1903 and this ultimately created competition between the “League” under Robert M. La Follette, and the conservative “Regular” faction.^[3]

When William Jennings Bryan was nominated for a third presidential bid, he visited Wisconsin in early August to urge the Democrats in the state legislature to support his state policies.^[4] An earlier poll had suggest Bryan gaining a substantial part of the radical La Follette following,^[5] and Bryan would ridicule new Republican nominee William Howard Taft in Milwaukee during the last week of September.^[6]

Despite Bryan’s campaigns, October polls by the Chicago Record-Herald said that Wisconsin was certain to vote for Taft,^[7] As things turned out, the Record-Herald polls were accurate, with Taft winning by eighty-one thousand votes, and carrying all but six counties. However, Taft's victory, while still large, was considerably narrower than the Republican victories in the state in the previous three elections.

Bryan had previously lost Wisconsin to William McKinley in both 1896 and 1900.

Results

+ General Election Results^[8]	Party		Pledged to	Elector	Votes
	Republican Party	William Howard Taft	William C. Brumder	247,747
	Republican Party	William Howard Taft	Frank M. Durkee	247,696
	Republican Party	William Howard Taft	John Dengler	247,689
	Republican Party	William Howard Taft	John M. Beffel	247,683
	Republican Party	William Howard Taft	Robert H. DeLap	247,681
	Republican Party	William Howard Taft	W. T. Sarles	247,681
	Republican Party	William Howard Taft	Florian Lampert	247,679
	Republican Party	William Howard Taft	C. F. Greenwood	247,678
	Republican Party	William Howard Taft	Herbert L. Peterson	247,678
	Republican Party	William Howard Taft	John A. Stolper	247,677
	Republican Party	William Howard Taft	William Kohl	247,675
	Republican Party	William Howard Taft	D. E. Riordan	247,668
	Republican Party	William Howard Taft	O. K. Hawley	247,666
	Democratic Party	William Jennings Bryan	Ernest C. Zimmerman	166,632
	Democratic Party	William Jennings Bryan	Adolph J. Schmitz	166,603
	Democratic Party	William Jennings Bryan	Gilbert T. Hodges	166,595
	Democratic Party	William Jennings Bryan	Edward L. Luckow	166,585
	Democratic Party	William Jennings Bryan	W. S. Henry	166,583
	Democratic Party	William Jennings Bryan	Edward C. Wall	166,583
	Democratic Party	William Jennings Bryan	John Toohey	166,574
	Democratic Party	William Jennings Bryan	Patrick O'Meara	166,571
	Democratic Party	William Jennings Bryan	Thomas H. Ryan	166,526
	Democratic Party	William Jennings Bryan	Philip Sheridan	166,503
	Democratic Party	William Jennings Bryan	Frank J. Egerer	166,488
	Democratic Party	William Jennings Bryan	Emil Wittzack	166,486
	Democratic Party	William Jennings Bryan	Thomas Emmerton	166,484
	Social Democratic Party	Eugene V. Debs	C. W. Staples	28,170
	Social Democratic Party	Eugene V. Debs	J. E. Harris	28,168
	Social Democratic Party	Eugene V. Debs	C. I. Sandquist	28,168
	Social Democratic Party	Eugene V. Debs	Julius Crary	28,167
	Social Democratic Party	Eugene V. Debs	Martin Georgenson	28,167
	Social Democratic Party	Eugene V. Debs	Robert Seidel	28,167
	Social Democratic Party	Eugene V. Debs	John C. Boll	28,165
	Social Democratic Party	Eugene V. Debs	Walter Ramstack	28,165
	Social Democratic Party	Eugene V. Debs	F. W. Hammond	28,164
	Social Democratic Party	Eugene V. Debs	Frank Metcalf	28,164
	Social Democratic Party	Eugene V. Debs	Joseph Paul	28,164
	Social Democratic Party	Eugene V. Debs	Henry Durham	28,163
	Social Democratic Party	Eugene V. Debs	Arne Peterson	28,161
	Prohibition Party	Eugene W. Chafin	Lincoln Abraham	11,572
	Prohibition Party	Eugene W. Chafin	Olav Repsdal	11,564
	Prohibition Party	Eugene W. Chafin	Truman T. Parker	11,557
	Prohibition Party	Eugene W. Chafin	John W. Evans	11,554
	Prohibition Party	Eugene W. Chafin	Richard B. Griggs	11,554
	Prohibition Party	Eugene W. Chafin	Dyer Walters	11,554
	Prohibition Party	Eugene W. Chafin	Moritz A. Schmoyer	11,552
	Prohibition Party	Eugene W. Chafin	Charles L. Allen	11,551
	Prohibition Party	Eugene W. Chafin	Will E. Mack	11,550
	Prohibition Party	Eugene W. Chafin	William R. Nethercut	11,550
	Prohibition Party	Eugene W. Chafin	Charles W. Lomas	11,548
	Prohibition Party	Eugene W. Chafin	George W. Wilson	11,525
	Prohibition Party	Eugene W. Chafin	Henry Jorgenson	11,516
	Socialist Labor Party	August Gillhaus	Fred Bartsch	314
	Socialist Labor Party	August Gillhaus	Carl Schulz	313
	Socialist Labor Party	August Gillhaus	Henry Boll	312
	Socialist Labor Party	August Gillhaus	Fred Kremer	312
	Write-in		Scattering	99
Votes cast				454,534

Results by county

County	William Howard Taft Republican		William Jennings Bryan Democratic		Eugene V. Debs Socialist		Eugene W. Chafin Prohibition		August Gillhaus Socialist Labor		Margin		Total votes cast
		%		%		%		%		%		%
	Adams		1,167		68.97%		436		25.77%		32		1.89%		56		3.31%		1		0.06%		731		43.20%		1,692
	Ashland		2,259		54.21%		1,582		37.96%		213		5.11%		110		2.64%		3		0.07%		677		16.25%		4,167
	Barron		3,247		66.43%		1,266		25.90%		130		2.66%		243		4.97%		2		0.04%		1,981		40.53%		4,888
	Bayfield		1,957		70.52%		569		20.50%		174		6.27%		72		2.59%		3		0.11%		1,388		50.02%		2,775
	Brown		4,947		55.25%		3,353		37.45%		517		5.77%		129		1.44%		8		0.09%		1,594		17.80%		8,954
	Buffalo		1,937		63.72%		1,027		33.78%		20		0.66%		56		1.84%		0		0.00%		910		29.93%		3,040
	Burnett		1,181		72.14%		296		18.08%		65		3.97%		94		5.74%		1		0.06%		885		54.06%		1,637
	Calumet		1,576		46.33%		1,711		50.29%		85		2.50%		30		0.88%		0		0.00%		-135		-3.97%		3,402
	Chippewa		3,526		59.07%		2,203		36.91%		90		1.51%		148		2.48%		2		0.03%		1,323		22.16%		5,969
	Clark		3,491		65.74%		1,576		29.68%		90		1.69%		153		2.88%		0		0.00%		1,915		36.06%		5,310
	Columbia		4,072		60.12%		2,363		34.89%		140		2.07%		198		2.92%		0		0.00%		1,709		25.23%		6,773
	Crawford		2,041		54.25%		1,586		42.16%		63		1.67%		72		1.91%		0		0.00%		455		12.09%		3,762
	Dane		9,441		52.42%		7,818		43.41%		257		1.43%		488		2.71%		5		0.03%		1,623		9.01%		18,011
	Dodge		4,015		39.66%		5,883		58.12%		63		0.62%		162		1.60%		0		0.00%		-1,868		-18.45%		10,123
	Door		2,463		73.92%		778		23.35%		37		1.11%		52		1.56%		1		0.03%		1,685		50.57%		3,332
	Douglas		3,509		55.88%		1,715		27.31%		653		10.40%		257		4.09%		146		2.32%		1,794		28.57%		6,280
	Dunn		3,297		74.36%		914		20.61%		119		2.68%		104		2.35%		0		0.00%		2,383		53.74%		4,434
	Eau Claire		3,980		64.50%		1,859		30.12%		158		2.56%		174		2.82%		0		0.00%		2,121		34.37%		6,171
	Florence		541		81.11%		102		15.29%		5		0.75%		19		2.85%		0		0.00%		439		65.82%		667
	Fond du Lac		5,872		50.86%		5,194		44.99%		230		1.99%		243		2.10%		5		0.04%		678		5.87%		11,545
	Forest		1,023		71.69%		324		22.70%		46		3.22%		31		2.17%		3		0.21%		699		48.98%		1,427
	Grant		4,989		55.08%		3,696		40.81%		83		0.92%		289		3.19%		0		0.00%		1,293		14.28%		9,057
	Green		2,617		54.49%		1,856		38.64%		121		2.52%		209		4.35%		0		0.00%		761		15.84%		4,803
	Green Lake		2,094		55.15%		1,608		42.35%		32		0.84%		63		1.66%		0		0.00%		486		12.80%		3,797
	Iowa		2,986		56.18%		2,077		39.08%		12		0.23%		238		4.48%		2		0.04%		909		17.10%		5,315
	Iron		1,134		73.97%		314		20.48%		42		2.74%		43		2.80%		0		0.00%		820		53.49%		1,533
	Jackson		2,603		77.91%		631		18.89%		40		1.20%		65		1.95%		2		0.06%		1,972		59.02%		3,341
	Jefferson		3,207		40.41%		4,492		56.60%		71		0.89%		162		2.04%		2		0.03%		-1,285		-16.19%		7,936
	Juneau		2,454		57.58%		1,691		39.68%		37		0.87%		78		1.83%		2		0.05%		763		17.90%		4,262
	Kenosha		3,409		54.50%		2,006		32.07%		601		9.61%		239		3.82%		0		0.00%		1,403		22.43%		6,255
	Kewaunee		1,590		46.48%		1,731		50.60%		63		1.84%		37		1.08%		0		0.00%		-141		-4.12%		3,421
	La Crosse		4,382		50.14%		4,054		46.38%		112		1.28%		190		2.17%		2		0.02%		328		3.75%		8,740
	Lafayette		2,832		55.92%		2,100		41.47%		24		0.47%		107		2.11%		0		0.00%		732		14.45%		5,064
	Langlade		1,921		57.22%		1,340		39.92%		33		0.98%		63		1.88%		0		0.00%		581		17.31%		3,357
	Lincoln		2,308		53.89%		1,813		42.33%		99		2.31%		63		1.47%		0		0.00%		495		11.56%		4,283
	Manitowoc		4,126		45.37%		3,952		43.45%		950		10.45%		62		0.68%		5		0.05%		174		1.91%		9,095
	Marathon		5,258		50.69%		4,703		45.34%		276		2.66%		133		1.28%		3		0.03%		555		5.35%		10,373
	Marinette		3,454		63.49%		1,597		29.36%		154		2.83%		235		4.32%		0		0.00%		1,857		34.14%		5,440
	Marquette		1,555		64.42%		798		33.06%		17		0.70%		44		1.82%		0		0.00%		757		31.36%		2,414
	Milwaukee		28,625		38.94%		26,00		35.37%		17,496		23.80%		1,277		1.74%		57		0.08%		2,625		3.57%		73,506
	Monroe		3,304		58.11%		2,155		37.90%		91		1.60%		136		2.39%		0		0.00%		1,149		20.21%		5,686
	Oconto		3,020		64.78%		1,453		31.17%		114		2.45%		74		1.59%		1		0.02%		1,567		33.61%		4,662
	Oneida		1,536		58.92%		688		26.39%		354		13.58%		28		1.07%		1		0.04%		848		32.53%		2,607
	Outagamie		5,079		52.34%		4,286		44.17%		118		1.22%		209		2.15%		12		0.12%		793		8.17%		9,704
	Ozaukee		1,216		38.47%		1,856		58.72%		60		1.90%		28		0.89%		1		0.03%		-640		-20.25%		3,161
	Pepin		1,010		67.42%		447		29.84%		5		0.33%		36		2.40%		0		0.00%		563		37.58%		1,498
	Pierce		2,988		71.62%		978		23.44%		56		1.34%		150		3.60%		0		0.00%		2,010		48.18%		4,172
	Polk		2,788		71.99%		816		21.07%		124		3.20%		145		3.74%		0		0.00%		1,972		50.92%		3,873
	Portage		3,269		56.42%		2,362		40.77%		50		0.86%		112		1.93%		1		0.02%		907		15.65%		5,794
	Price		1,738		65.26%		609		22.87%		236		8.86%		79		2.97%		1		0.04%		1,129		42.40%		2,663
	Racine		5,490		52.65%		3,688		35.37%		794		7.61%		429		4.11%		0		0.00%		1,802		17.28%		10,428
	Richland		2,464		54.80%		1,689		37.57%		51		1.13%		291		6.47%		1		0.02%		775		17.24%		4,496
	Rock		7,839		66.73%		3,227		27.47%		264		2.25%		391		3.33%		12		0.10%		4,612		39.26%		11,747
	Rusk		1,431		67.82%		532		25.21%		96		4.55%		48		2.27%		3		0.14%		899		42.61%		2,110
	Sauk		3,854		57.06%		2,571		38.07%		35		0.52%		294		4.35%		0		0.00%		1,283		19.00%		6,754
	Sawyer		815		70.81%		299		25.98%		19		1.65%		18		1.56%		0		0.00%		516		44.83%		1,151
	Shawano		3,349		63.90%		1,750		33.39%		40		0.76%		102		1.95%		0		0.00%		1,599		30.51%		5,241
	Sheboygan		5,948		52.41%		4,405		38.81%		752		6.63%		245		2.16%		0		0.00%		1,543		13.59%		11,350
	St. Croix		3,228		62.29%		1,773		34.21%		83		1.60%		98		1.89%		0		0.00%		1,455		28.08%		5,182
	Taylor		1,627		60.80%		924		34.53%		82		3.06%		42		1.57%		1		0.04%		703		26.27%		2,676
	Trempealeau		3,733		75.31%		1,085		21.89%		22		0.44%		117		2.36%		0		0.00%		2,648		53.42%		4,957
	Vernon		4,114		69.72%		1,561		26.45%		38		0.64%		188		3.19%		0		0.00%		2,553		43.26%		5,901
	Vilas		794		70.70%		278		24.76%		33		2.94%		18		1.60%		0		0.00%		516		45.95%		1,123
	Walworth		4,151		62.20%		1,960		29.37%		73		1.09%		488		7.31%		2		0.03%		2,191		32.83%		6,674
	Washburn		1,114		69.06%		396		24.55%		69		4.28%		34		2.11%		0		0.00%		718		44.51%		1,613
	Washington		2,588		48.54%		2,625		49.23%		77		1.44%		41		0.77%		1		0.02%		-37		-0.69%		5,332
	Waukesha		4,758		55.91%		3,206		37.67%		198		2.33%		345		4.05%		3		0.04%		1,552		18.24%		8,510
	Waupaca		4,785		71.93%		1,483		22.29%		143		2.15%		239		3.59%		2		0.03%		3,302		49.64%		6,652
	Waushara		2,821		79.73%		507		14.33%		82		2.32%		114		3.22%		14		0.40%		2,314		65.40%		3,538
	Winnebago		6,797		52.24%		5,511		42.36%		287		2.21%		413		3.17%		3		0.02%		1,286		9.88%		13,011
	Wood		3,013		50.92%		2,498		42.22%		274		4.63%		132		2.23%		0		0.00%		515		8.70%		5,917
Total	247,747	54.51%	166,632	36.66%	28,170	6.20%	11,572	2.55%	314	0.07%	81,115	17.85%	454,534

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Calumet
• Kewaunee
• Washington

See also

• United States presidential elections in Wisconsin

Notes and References

1. Burnham, Walter Dean; 'The System of 1896: An Analysis'; in The Evolution of American Electoral Systems, pp. 178-179
2. Sundquist, James; Politics and Policy: The Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson Years, p. 526
3. Hansen, John Mark; Shigeo Hirano, and Snyder, James M. Jr.; ‘Parties within Parties: Parties, Factions, and Coordinated Politics, 1900-1980’; in Gerber, Alan S. and Schickler, Eric; Governing in a Polarized Age: Elections, Parties, and Political Representation in America, pp. 165-168
4. ‘LaFollette Country!’; The Idaho Recorder, August 6, 1908, p. 7
5. ‘La Follette’s Part in the Coming Campaign: Looks like a Case of Bob and Bryan’; The Indianapolis News, July 18, 1908, p. 12
6. ‘Bryan Ridivules Taft in Milwaukee: Says Republican Candidate Is not in Sympathy with Convention Principles’; The Gazette (York, Pennsylvania), September 27, 1908, p. 1
7. ‘Wisconsin for Taft: The Record-Herald Poll Suggests a Majority of 87,000’; The Hutchinson News, October 20, 1908, p. 1
8. Wisconsin Historical Society, Statement of Board of Canvassers of the State of Wisconsin for General Election held November 3, 1908