1916 United States presidential election in New Jersey explained

See main article: article and 1916 United States presidential election.

Election Name:1916 United States presidential election in New Jersey
Country:New Jersey
Flag Year:1896
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:1912 United States presidential election in New Jersey
Previous Year:1912
Next Election:1920 United States presidential election in New Jersey
Next Year:1920
Election Date:November 7, 1916
Image1:Governor Charles Evans Hughes (cropped).jpg
Nominee1:Charles Evans Hughes
Party1:Republican Party (United States)
Home State1:New York
Running Mate1:Charles W. Fairbanks
Electoral Vote1:14
Popular Vote1:268,982
Percentage1:54.40%
Nominee2:Woodrow Wilson
Party2:Democratic Party (United States)
Home State2:New Jersey
Running Mate2:Thomas R. Marshall
Electoral Vote2:0
Popular Vote2:211,018
Percentage2:42.68%
Map Size:405px
President
Before Election:Woodrow Wilson
Before Party:Democratic Party (United States)
After Election:Woodrow Wilson
After Party:Democratic Party (United States)

The 1916 United States presidential election in New Jersey took place on November 7, 1916. All contemporary 48 states were part of the 1916 United States presidential election. Voters chose 14 electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president.

New Jersey was won by the Republican nominees, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Charles Evans Hughes of New York and his running mate, former Vice President Charles W. Fairbanks of Indiana. Hughes and Fairbanks defeated the Democratic nominees, incumbent President Woodrow Wilson of New Jersey and his running mate incumbent Vice President Thomas R. Marshall of Indiana.

Hughes carried New Jersey decisively with 54.40 percent of the vote to Wilson's 42.68 percent, a victory margin of 11.72 points.[1] Coming in a distant third was Socialist candidate Allan L. Benson, who took 2.10 percent.

Like much of the Northeast, New Jersey in this era was a staunchly Republican state, having not given a majority of the vote to a Democratic presidential candidate since 1892. However, in 1912, Woodrow Wilson, then the sitting Governor of New Jersey, had won the state's electoral votes, but with a plurality of only 41 percent in a 3-way race against a split Republican field, with former Republican President Theodore Roosevelt running as a third party candidate against incumbent Republican President William Howard Taft. However, with the Republican base re-united behind Charles Evans Hughes in 1916, Wilson lost his home state to the GOP by a decisive 12-point margin in a head-to-head match-up, despite having served as the state's governor.

On the county level map, reflecting his comfortable victory, Hughes carried 17 of the state's 21 counties, breaking sixty percent of the vote in three. Wilson's only significant win was urban Hudson County, while he also won the three rural counties in western North Jersey, Warren, Sussex, and Hunterdon, which had long been non-Yankee Democratic enclaves in the otherwise Republican Northeast.[2] Warren and Hunterdon had never voted Republican as of 1916 – and Sussex only for William McKinley in 1896 – yet Wilson would prove the last Democrat to win Sussex County until Lyndon Johnson in 1964.[3]

Despite being Wilson's home state, New Jersey registered as the second most Republican state in the nation in terms of vote share after Vermont and the fourth most Republican state in the nation in terms of margin, the state being about 15 points more Republican than the national average.[4] Woodrow Wilson is one of 4 presidents to lose his home state on a successful presidential bid. The others are James K. Polk and Donald Trump. This was the first time a Democrat won without the state since 1844.

Results

1916 United States presidential election in New Jersey
PartyCandidateVotesPercentageElectoral votes
RepublicanCharles Evans Hughes268,98254.40%14
DemocraticWoodrow Wilson (incumbent)211,01842.68%0
SocialistAllan L. Benson10,405 2.10%0
ProhibitionFrank Hanly3,182 0.64%0
Socialist LaborArthur E. Reimer8550.17%0
Totals494,442100.0%14

Results by county

CountyCharles Evans Hughes
Republican
Thomas Woodrow Wilson
Democratic
Allan Louis Benson
Socialist
James Franklin Hanly
Prohibition
Arthur Elmer Reimer
Socialist Labor
MarginTotal votes cast[5]
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"%data-sort-type="number"data-sort-type="number"%
Atlantic9,71362.88%5,46735.39%1220.79%1330.86%120.08%4,24627.49%15,447
Bergen18,49460.05%11,53037.44%5951.93%1130.37%650.21%6,96422.61%30,797
Burlington8,80356.36%6,53541.84%1150.74%1581.01%90.06%2,26814.52%15,620
Camden18,31854.17%14,01041.43%1,1013.26%3501.03%380.11%4,30812.74%33,817
Cape May2,90456.85%2,09741.05%370.72%661.29%40.08%80715.80%5,108
Cumberland5,69252.14%4,57341.89%3082.82%3232.96%210.19%1,11910.25%10,917
Essex54,16759.24%34,59637.84%2,2802.49%1840.20%2120.23%19,57121.40%91,439
Gloucester5,35254.82%3,74538.36%1181.21%5385.51%90.09%1,60716.46%9,762
Hudson42,51847.66%44,66350.07%1,8112.03%730.08%1400.16%-2,145-2.40%89,205
Hunterdon3,40842.69%4,46255.89%450.56%650.81%40.05%-1,054-13.20%7,984
Mercer14,21355.75%10,62141.66%4601.80%1540.60%450.18%3,59214.09%25,493
Middlesex11,85153.51%9,97545.04%1850.84%1030.47%320.14%1,8768.47%22,146
Monmouth11,62451.46%10,72947.49%1030.46%1200.53%140.06%8953.96%22,590
Morris8,53054.23%6,79843.22%2141.36%1721.09%140.09%1,73211.01%15,728
Ocean3,38661.26%2,07637.56%310.56%280.51%60.11%1,31023.70%5,527
Passaic18,75455.32%13,34039.35%1,5614.60%1280.38%1210.36%5,41415.97%33,904
Salem4,08053.77%3,35344.19%680.90%841.11%30.04%7279.58%7,588
Somerset4,70755.70%3,65343.23%340.40%500.59%70.08%1,05412.47%8,451
Sussex2,46143.38%3,09354.52%701.23%420.74%70.12%-632-11.14%5,673
Union16,70559.21%10,32836.61%1,0403.69%970.34%440.16%6,37722.60%28,214
Warren3,30236.56%5,37459.50%1071.18%2012.23%480.53%-2,072-22.94%9,032
Totals268,98254.40%211,01842.68%10,4052.10%3,1820.64%8550.17%57,96411.72%494,442

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 1916 Presidential General Election Results - New Jersey. Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. 5 February 2014.
  2. [Kevin Phillips (political commentator)|Phillips, Kevin P.]
  3. Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004, pp. 258-259
  4. Web site: 1916 Presidential Election Statistics. Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. 2018-03-05.
  5. New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety Division of Elections; Manual of the Legislature of New Jersey 1917 pp. 574-602