1912 United States presidential election in Michigan explained

See main article: article and 1912 United States presidential election.

Election Name:	1912 United States presidential election in Michigan
Country:	Michigan
Flag Year:	1923
Type:	presidential
Ongoing:	no
Previous Election:	1908 United States presidential election in Michigan
Previous Year:	1908
Next Election:	1916 United States presidential election in Michigan
Next Year:	1916
Election Date:	November 5, 1912
Votes For Election:	All 15 Michigan votes to the Electoral College
Image1:	Unsuccessful 1912 2.jpg
Nominee1:	Theodore Roosevelt
Party1:	Progressive
Color1:	A2ED70
Home State1:	New York
Running Mate1:	Hiram Johnson
Electoral Vote1:	15
Popular Vote1:	214,584
Percentage1:	38.95%
Nominee2:	William Howard Taft
Party2:	Republican Party (United States)
Home State2:	Ohio
Running Mate2:	Nicholas Murray Butler
Electoral Vote2:	0
Popular Vote2:	152,244
Percentage2:	27.63%
Image3:	Woodrow Wilson-H&E.jpg
Nominee3:	Woodrow Wilson
Party3:	Democratic Party (United States)
Home State3:	New Jersey
Running Mate3:	Thomas R. Marshall
Electoral Vote3:	0
Popular Vote3:	150,751
Percentage3:	27.36%
President
Before Election:	William Howard Taft
Before Party:	Republican Party (United States)
After Election:	Woodrow Wilson
After Party:	Democratic Party (United States)
Map Size:	375px

The 1912 United States presidential election in Michigan took place on November 5, 1912, as part of the 1912 United States presidential election. Voters chose 15 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Following the Panic of 1893 and the Populist movement, Michigan would turn from a competitive Republican-leaning state into a rigidly one-party polity dominated by the Republican Party.^[1] The dominance of the culture of the Lower Peninsula by anti-slavery Yankees^[2] would be augmented by the turn of formerly Democratic-leaning German Catholics away from that party as a result of the remodelled party’s agrarian and free silver sympathies, which became rigidly opposed by both the upper class and workers who followed them.^[3] The state Democratic Party was further crippled via the Populist movement severing its critical financial ties with business and commerce in Michigan as in other Northern states.^[4] A brief turn of the strongly evangelical Cabinet Counties toward the Populist movement in the 1896 presidential election would reverse itself following the return to prosperity under President William McKinley, so that these joined in Republican hegemony until the Great Depression.

In the 1894 elections, the Democratic Party lost all but one seat in the Michigan legislature,^[5] and the party would only make minor gains there for the next third of a century. Unlike the other states of the Upper Midwest, the Yankee influence on the culture of the Lower Peninsula was so strong that left-wing third parties did not provide significant opposition to the Republicans, nor was there more than a moderate degree of coordinated factionalism within the hegemonic Michigan Republican Party.^[6]

The state was not seriously affected by the split within the nationally dominant Republican Party during the Taft presidency. Only two of its ten Republican Congressmen were amongst the “Insurgents” who aligned with a revived Democratic Party.^[7] However, during 1911 state Governor Chase Osborn became one of the first politicians to work for a return of Theodore Roosevelt to the White House,^[8] and would soon call for both incumbent President Taft and rival progressive Robert M. La Follette to withdraw for Roosevelt to gain the nomination outright.^[8] Roosevelt would also soon gain the support of state party leader Frank Knox,^[9] although Taft supporters would dominate the state at actual party conventions.^[10] The state’s few Democratic delegates backed eventual nominee, Princeton University President Woodrow Wilson of Virginia.^[11]

Former president Theodore Roosevelt and his Progressive Party campaigned extensively in the state during October^[12] but early polls had Wilson making a close race even in this most Republican of states. Indeed, during October the state was viewed as close between Roosevelt and Wilson,^[13] or even seeing Wilson ahead.^[14] However, Michigan was actually comfortably won by Roosevelt and running mate governor of California Hiram Johnson, with 38.95 percent of the popular vote, against the incumbent president William Howard Taft (R–Ohio), and running mate Columbia University President Nicholas Murray Butler, with 27.63 percent of the popular vote. Wilson and running mate governor of Indiana Thomas R. Marshall finished third with 27.36 percent.^[15]

Results

Results by county

1912 United States presidential election in Michigan by county

County	William Howard Taft Republican		Thomas Woodrow Wilson Democratic		Theodore Roosevelt Progressive "Bull Moose"		Eugene Victor Debs Socialist		Eugene Wilder Chafin Prohibition		Arthur Elmer Reimer Socialist Labor		Margin		Total votes cast^[16]
	data-sort-type="number" width="6%"		data-sort-type="number" width="6%"	%	data-sort-type="number" width="7%"		data-sort-type="number" width="7%"	%	data-sort-type="number" width="5%"		data-sort-type="number" width="5%"	%	data-sort-type="number" width="6%"			data-sort-type="number" width="6%"	%	data-sort-type="number" width="6%"		data-sort-type="number" width="6%"	%	data-sort-type="number" width="6%"		data-sort-type="number" width="6%"	%	data-sort-type="number" width="5%"		data-sort-type="number" width="5%"	%
	Alcona		291		29.45%		145		14.68%		461		46.66%		81		8.20%		9		0.91%		1		0.10%		-170		-17.21%		988
	Alger		290		26.56%		263		24.08%		469		42.95%		53		4.85%		17		1.56%		0		0.00%		-179		-16.39%		1,092
	Allegan		2,121		27.92%		1,925		25.34%		3,103		40.85%		291		3.83%		130		1.71%		26		0.34%		-982		-12.93%		7,596
	Alpena		709		19.99%		1,105		31.15%		1,642		46.29%		64		1.80%		23		0.65%		4		0.11%		-537		-15.14%		3,547
	Antrim		603		24.22%		450		18.07%		1,221		49.04%		180		7.23%		36		1.45%		0		0.00%		-618		-24.82%		2,490
	Arenac		421		21.17%		452		22.72%		955		48.01%		115		5.78%		43		2.16%		3		0.15%		-503		-25.29%		1,989
	Baraga		295		25.97%		280		24.65%		507		44.63%		37		3.26%		17		1.50%		0		0.00%		-212		-18.66%		1,136
	Barry		1,585		28.84%		1,800		32.75%		1,880		34.21%		105		1.91%		121		2.20%		5		0.09%		-80		-1.46%		5,496
	Bay		2,625		23.43%		2,990		26.68%		4,748		42.37%		521		4.65%		238		2.12%		83		0.74%		-1,758		-15.69%		11,205
	Benzie		568		29.69%		326		17.04%		645		33.72%		264		13.80%		102		5.33%		8		0.42%		-77		-4.03%		1,913
	Berrien		2,752		23.06%		4,225		35.40%		4,341		36.37%		442		3.70%		175		1.47%		0		0.00%		-116		-0.97%		11,935
	Branch		1,865		30.11%		2,185		35.28%		1,840		29.71%		170		2.75%		125		2.02%		8		0.13%		320		5.17%		6,193
	Calhoun		3,447		26.42%		3,781		28.98%		4,450		34.11%		979		7.50%		223		1.71%		165		1.26%		-669		-5.13%		13,045
	Cass		1,462		27.14%		2,076		38.54%		1,433		26.60%		343		6.37%		73		1.36%		0		0.00%		-614		-11.40%		5,387
	Charlevoix		1,296		36.82%		566		16.08%		1,201		34.12%		407		11.56%		44		1.25%		6		0.17%		95		2.70%		3,520
	Cheboygan		896		27.69%		981		30.32%		1,167		36.06%		146		4.51%		31		0.96%		15		0.46%		-186		-5.75%		3,236
	Chippewa		889		23.31%		879		23.05%		1,599		41.92%		192		5.03%		248		6.50%		7		0.18%		-710		-18.62%		3,814
	Clare		563		30.99%		435		23.94%		658		36.21%		125		6.88%		29		1.60%		7		0.39%		-95		-5.23%		1,827
	Clinton		1,723		31.97%		1,723		31.97%		1,812		33.62%		41		0.76%		87		1.61%		3		0.06%		-89		-1.65%		5,389
	Crawford		257		34.97%		185		25.17%		249		33.88%		35		4.76%		8		1.09%		1		0.14%		8		1.09%		735
	Delta		1,111		25.38%		1,066		24.35%		1,913		43.70%		244		5.57%		44		1.01%		0		0.00%		-802		-18.32%		4,378
	Dickinson		1,371		40.90%		361		10.77%		1,337		39.89%		233		6.95%		43		1.28%		7		0.21%		34		1.01%		3,352
	Eaton		2,333		32.02%		2,482		34.06%		2,217		30.42%		125		1.72%		111		1.52%		19		0.26%		149		2.04%		7,287
	Emmet		830		25.00%		920		27.71%		1,100		33.13%		417		12.56%		53		1.60%		0		0.00%		-180		-5.42%		3,320
	Genesee		3,426		25.73%		3,005		22.57%		5,934		44.57%		659		4.95%		255		1.92%		34		0.26%		-2,508		-18.84%		13,313
	Gladwin		638		39.07%		331		20.27%		549		33.62%		85		5.21%		25		1.53%		5		0.31%		89		5.45%		1,633
	Gogebic		818		26.92%		572		18.82%		1,360		44.75%		124		4.08%		146		4.80%		19		0.63%		-542		-17.83%		3,039
	Grand Traverse		899		23.25%		937		24.23%		1,676		43.34%		283		7.32%		53		1.37%		19		0.49%		-739		-19.11%		3,867
	Gratiot		1,809		30.64%		1,835		31.08%		2,130		36.07%		45		0.76%		83		1.41%		3		0.05%		-295		-5.00%		5,905
	Hillsdale		1,437		20.68%		2,229		32.08%		3,047		43.85%		59		0.85%		171		2.46%		6		0.09%		-818		-11.77%		6,949
	Houghton		3,571		29.18%		2,385		19.49%		5,460		44.62%		443		3.62%		369		3.02%		10		0.08%		-1,889		-15.44%		12,238
	Huron		1,813		28.61%		1,236		19.50%		3,165		49.94%		68		1.07%		53		0.84%		2		0.03%		-1,352		-21.34%		6,337
	Ingham		3,515		26.71%		3,915		29.75%		4,780		36.32%		574		4.36%		324		2.46%		51		0.39%		-865		-6.57%		13,159
	Ionia		2,049		26.50%		2,757		35.66%		2,579		33.35%		170		2.20%		165		2.13%		12		0.16%		178		2.30%		7,732
	Iosco		521		28.90%		418		23.18%		808		44.81%		30		1.66%		24		1.33%		2		0.11%		-287		-15.92%		1,803
	Iron		1,031		45.24%		218		9.57%		871		38.22%		108		4.74%		24		1.05%		27		1.18%		160		7.02%		2,279
	Isabella		1,417		29.71%		1,389		29.13%		1,754		36.78%		141		2.96%		64		1.34%		4		0.08%		-337		-7.07%		4,769
	Jackson		2,456		18.68%		4,283		32.58%		5,801		44.13%		375		2.85%		198		1.51%		32		0.24%		-1,518		-11.55%		13,145
	Kalamazoo		2,642		21.47%		3,660		29.74%		4,125		33.51%		1,438		11.68%		403		3.27%		40		0.32%		-465		-3.78%		12,308
	Kalkaska		488		32.28%		293		21.11%		473		34.08%		126		9.08%		44		3.17%		4		0.29%		-25		-1.80%		1,428
	Kent		6,498		20.35%		9,412		29.48%		13,610		42.63%		1,899		5.95%		447		1.40%		60		0.19%		-4,198		-13.15%		31,926
	Keweenaw		495		44.80%		59		5.34%		500		45.25%		33		2.99%		17		1.54%		1		0.09%		-5		-0.45%		1,105
	Lake		227		24.02%		186		19.68%		478		50.58%		45		4.76%		9		0.95%		0		0.00%		-251		-26.56%		945
	Lapeer		1,728		32.09%		1,200		22.28%		2,311		42.92%		39		0.72%		103		1.91%		4		0.07%		-583		-10.83%		5,385
	Leelanau		621		35.42%		344		19.62%		678		38.68%		84		4.79%		21		1.20%		5		0.29%		-57		-3.25%		1,753
	Lenawee		2,996		27.02%		4,239		38.23%		3,497		31.54%		139		1.25%		218		1.97%		0		0.00%		742		6.69%		11,089
	Livingston		1,408		28.49%		1,960		39.66%		1,455		29.44%		14		0.28%		104		2.10%		1		0.02%		505		10.22%		4,942
	Luce		234		37.38%		102		16.29%		271		43.29%		11		1.76%		8		1.28%		0		0.00%		-37		-5.91%		626
	Mackinac		612		34.63%		730		41.31%		395		22.35%		0		0.00%		28		1.58%		2		0.11%		-118		-6.68%		1,767
	Macomb		2,508		34.45%		2,829		38.85%		1,800		24.72%		28		0.38%		110		1.51%		6		0.08%		-321		-4.41%		7,281
	Manistee		1,240		26.27%		1,790		37.92%		1,312		27.79%		289		6.12%		76		1.61%		14		0.30%		478		10.12%		4,721
	Marquette		2,603		33.28%		997		12.75%		3,607		46.11%		490		6.26%		103		1.32%		22		0.28%		-1,004		-12.84%		7,822
	Mason		844		21.51%		1,073		27.34%		1,726		43.99%		174		4.43%		104		2.65%		3		0.08%		-653		-16.64%		3,924
	Mecosta		1,059		26.84%		958		24.28%		1,637		41.50%		201		5.10%		85		2.15%		5		0.13%		-578		-14.65%		3,945
	Menominee		1,191		26.94%		1,195		27.03%		1,810		40.94%		191		4.32%		30		0.68%		4		0.09%		-615		-13.91%		4,421
	Midland		902		29.09%		671		21.64%		1,440		46.44%		44		1.42%		43		1.39%		1		0.03%		-538		-17.35%		3,101
	Missaukee		671		32.88%		347		17.00%		899		44.05%		83		4.07%		33		1.62%		8		0.39%		-228		-11.17%		2,041
	Monroe		2,253		30.88%		2,995		41.04%		1,881		25.78%		69		0.95%		89		1.22%		10		0.14%		-742		-10.17%		7,297
	Montcalm		1,874		28.80%		1,373		21.10%		2,843		43.68%		288		4.43%		112		1.72%		18		0.28%		-969		-14.89%		6,508
	Montmorency		325		43.62%		163		21.88%		238		31.95%		16		2.15%		3		0.40%		0		0.00%		87		11.68%		745
	Muskegon		1,523		18.47%		1,678		20.35%		4,314		52.32%		633		7.68%		70		0.85%		28		0.34%		-2,636		-31.97%		8,246
	Newaygo		964		24.59%		776		19.80%		1,850		47.19%		247		6.30%		74		1.89%		9		0.23%		-886		-22.60%		3,920
	Oakland		4,083		35.46%		3,668		31.86%		3,296		28.63%		213		1.85%		249		2.16%		4		0.03%		415		3.60%		11,513
	Oceana		857		23.00%		796		21.36%		1,827		49.03%		119		3.19%		116		3.11%		11		0.30%		-970		-26.03%		3,726
	Ogemaw		541		31.64%		319		18.65%		724		42.34%		77		4.50%		43		2.51%		6		0.35%		-183		-10.70%		1,710
	Ontonagon		719		41.13%		359		20.54%		513		29.35%		137		7.84%		20		1.14%		0		0.00%		206		11.78%		1,748
	Osceola		1,306		37.03%		609		17.27%		1,408		39.92%		104		2.95%		94		2.67%		6		0.17%		-102		-2.89%		3,527
	Oscoda		110		32.45%		66		19.47%		158		46.61%		3		0.88%		1		0.29%		1		0.29%		-48		-14.16%		339
	Otsego		448		42.79%		194		18.53%		378		36.10%		12		1.15%		15		1.43%		0		0.00%		70		6.69%		1,047
	Ottawa		1,825		20.87%		2,036		23.28%		4,411		50.43%		333		3.81%		125		1.43%		16		0.18%		-2,375		-27.16%		8,746
	Presque Isle		729		37.42%		259		13.30%		890		45.69%		59		3.03%		10		0.51%		1		0.05%		-161		-8.26%		1,948
	Roscommon		134		22.60%		150		25.30%		273		46.04%		30		5.06%		5		0.84%		1		0.17%		-123		-20.74%		593
	Saginaw		5,032		27.94%		5,845		32.46%		5,664		31.45%		1,291		7.17%		175		0.97%		0		0.00%		181		1.01%		18,007
	Sanilac		2,166		32.19%		1,161		17.26%		3,215		47.79%		69		1.03%		113		1.68%		4		0.06%		-1,049		-15.59%		6,728
	Schoolcraft		595		37.95%		337		21.49%		570		36.35%		49		3.13%		14		0.89%		3		0.19%		25		1.59%		1,568
	Shiawassee		2,309		30.05%		1,957		25.47%		2,892		37.64%		249		3.24%		263		3.42%		13		0.17%		-583		-7.59%		7,683
	St. Clair		2,958		27.48%		3,008		27.95%		4,423		41.09%		241		2.24%		113		1.05%		21		0.20%		-1,415		-13.15%		10,764
	St. Joseph		1,224		19.03%		2,388		37.13%		2,395		37.24%		325		5.05%		90		1.40%		10		0.16%		-7		-0.11%		6,432
	Tuscola		2,559		34.65%		1,255		16.99%		3,353		45.40%		59		0.80%		148		2.00%		11		0.15%		-794		-10.75%		7,385
	Van Buren		2,101		29.01%		1,994		27.53%		2,809		38.79%		250		3.45%		88		1.22%		0		0.00%		-708		-9.78%		7,242
	Washtenaw		2,495		23.64%		4,164		39.45%		3,642		34.50%		118		1.12%		121		1.15%		16		0.15%		522		4.95%		10,556
	Wayne		26,599		30.08%		22,678		25.65%		34,680		39.22%		3,657		4.14%		547		0.62%		260		0.29%		-8,081		-9.14%		88,421
	Wexford		1,075		26.52%		817		20.15%		1,710		42.18%		310		7.65%		126		3.11%		16		0.39%		-635		-15.66%		4,054
Totals	152,244	27.63%	150,751	27.36%	214,584	38.95%	23,211	4.21%	8,934	1.62%	1,252	0.23%	-62,340	-11.31%	550,976

Analysis

Michigan was one of only two states where Democratic candidate Woodrow Wilson came in third behind former president of the United States Theodore Roosevelt and the current president of the United States William Howard Taft — the only other such state being Vermont where Wilson finished a much more distant third. Since 1912 there has been only one occasion (Bill Clinton in Utah in 1992) where a winning presidential candidate finished third in any non-Confederate state.

, this is the last election in which Ottawa County, Sanilac County, and Missaukee County did not support the Republican candidate.^{[17] [18]} This was the first time since 1852 that Michigan voted for a non-Republican presidential candidate, and the only time Michigan ever voted for a third-party presidential candidate.

With 38.95 percent of the popular vote, Michigan would prove to be Roosevelt's third-strongest state in terms of popular vote percentage in the 1912 election after South Dakota (where Taft was not on the ballot) and California (where Taft was a write-in candidate).^[19]

See also

• United States presidential elections in Michigan

Notes and References

1. Book: Burnham, Walter Dean. The System of 1896: An Analysis. The Evolution of American Electoral Systems. December 23, 1981 . 178–179. Bloomsbury Academic . 0313213798.
2. English, Gustavus P.; Proceedings of the Ninth Republican National Convention (1888), p. 234
3. Book: Sundquist, James. Politics and Policy: The Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson Years. December 2010 . 526. Brookings Institution Press . 978-0815719090.
4. Book: Rogowski, Ronald. Commerce and Coalitions: How Trade Affects Domestic Political Alignments. 978-0691219431. Princeton University Press. 2020.
5. News: Swamped! The Democrats Drowned Out by a Tremendous Republican Tidal Wave. The L'Anse Sentinel. November 10, 1894. L'Anse. 1.
6. Book: Hansen. John Mark. Shigeo. Hirano. Snyder Jr.. James M.. Parties within Parties: Parties, Factions, and Coordinated Politics, 1900-1980. Gerber. Alan S.. Schickler. Eric. Governing in a Polarized Age: Elections, Parties, and Political Representation in America. February 27, 2017 . 165–168. Cambridge University Press . 978-1-107-09509-0.
7. Baker. John D.. The Character of the Congressional Revolution of 1910. The Journal of American History. 60. 3. December 1973. 679–691. 10.2307/1917684 . 1917684 .
8. Pavord. Andrew C.. The Gamble for Power: Theodore Roosevelt's Decision to Run for the Presidency in 1912. Presidential Studies Quarterly. Summer 1996. 26. 3. 633–647.
9. Steven Macdonald. Mark. An American Interventionist: Frank Knox and United States Foreign Relations. 1977. 32–55.
10. Book: Chace, James. 1912: Wilson, Roosevelt, Taft and Debs — The Election that Changed the Country. 109, 112. 978-1439188262. Simon and Schuster. 2009.
11. Chace; 1912: Wilson, Roosevelt, Taft and Debs, p. 156
12. Chace; 1912: Wilson, Roosevelt, Taft and Debs, p. 229
13. News: Wilson Leading in Nearly every State: Polls by New York Herald Indicate Victory for Democrats — Illinois and Michigan Are Exceptions. October 9, 1912. Wichita Falls Times. Wichita Falls, Texas.
14. News: Comment and Gossip. September 27, 1912. Fremont Herald. Fremont, Nebraska. 3.
15. Web site: 1912 Presidential Election Results — Michigan.
16. Michigan Department of State – Bureau of Elections; Michigan Manual (1913), pp. 672–673 (counties), 739 (total)
17. Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004, pp. 222-227
18. Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
19. Web site: 1912 Presidential Election Statistics. Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. 2018-03-05.