1916 United States presidential election in Minnesota explained

See main article: 1916 United States presidential election.

Election Name:	1916 United States presidential election in Minnesota
Country:	Minnesota
Flag Year:	1893
Type:	presidential
Ongoing:	no
Previous Election:	1912 United States presidential election in Minnesota
Previous Year:	1912
Next Election:	1920 United States presidential election in Minnesota
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:	12
Popular Vote1:	179,544
Percentage1:	46.35%
Nominee2:	Woodrow Wilson
Party2:	Democratic Party (United States)
Home State2:	New Jersey
Running Mate2:	Thomas R. Marshall
Electoral Vote2:	0
Popular Vote2:	179,152
Percentage2:	46.25%
Image3:	Allan Louis Benson (1871–1940) circa 1915 (cropped_closein).jpg
Nominee3:	Allan L. Benson
Party3:	Socialist Party of America
Home State3:	New York
Running Mate3:	George Ross Kirkpatrick
Electoral Vote3:	0
Popular Vote3:	20,117
Percentage3:	5.19%
Map Size:	350px
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 Minnesota took place on November 7, 1916 as part of the 1916 United States presidential election. Minnesota voters chose 12 electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president. Minnesota held its first Presidential Primary on March 14, 1916.

Minnesota was won by the Republican candidate, former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Charles Evans Hughes won the state over incumbent President Woodrow Wilson by a margin of just 392 votes, or 0.1011968% (one vote in 988). This is the fifteenth-closest statewide presidential election on record, and although it was only the second-closest result in 1916 after New Hampshire, there was not to be a closer result until Adlai Stevenson II won Kentucky in 1952 by 700 of 993,148 votes.

Wilson's performance was the closest any Democrat had come to carrying the Republican stronghold of Minnesota since Minnesota's statehood inception in 1858^[1] – he was almost five percent ahead of his losing margin in 1912 when the state was won by Progressive Theodore Roosevelt. Wilson comfortably won the urban counties of Ramsey, Hennepin, and St. Louis, which became rigid strongholds for the Democratic Party. Wilson also led Hughes in the socialist strongholds of the forestry- and mining-dominated northern counties. Nevertheless, Hughes won the state with the dominance of the farming districts in the south and his ability to carry fifty-three of eighty-seven state counties. Wilson was however the first Democrat to ever carry Lake, Kandiyohi, Saint Louis, Norman, Todd, Lyon, Murray and Martin Counties,^[2] the first to carry Carlton County since Winfield Scott Hancock in 1880, and the first to win Hubbard County since Grover Cleveland in 1888.^[2]

this would be the last time that a Democrat would win the presidency without carrying Minnesota, and the only time since statehood that a Democrat won two consecutive terms without ever carrying the state.

Primary elections

Republican primary

The Republican primary took place on March 14, 1916. Albert B. Cummins, Henry D. Estabrook and William Grant Webster were the three candidates.

1916 Minnesota Republican presidential primary^[3] ! style="text-align:left;"
Candidate	Votes	%
Albert B. Cummins	54,214	76.77
Henry D. Estabrook	12,693	17.97
Wm. Grant Webster	3,710	5.25
Total	70,617	100.0

Democratic primary

The Democratic primary took place on March 14, 1916. Incumbent president, Woodrow Wilson, ran unopposed in the Democratic primary.

1916 Minnesota Democratic presidential primary^[4] ! style="text-align:left;"
Candidate	Votes	%
Woodrow Wilson	45,136	100.00
Total	45,136	100.0

Prohibition primary

The Prohibition primary took place on March 14, 1916. William Sulzer, Eugene Foss were the two candidates, neither of which were members of the Prohibition party, although Sulzer had been nominated by the Prohibition party for Governor of New York in 1914.

1916 Minnesota Prohibition presidential primary^[5] ! style="text-align:left;"
Candidate	Votes	%
William Sulzer	3,334	57.49
Eugene N. Foss	2,465	42.51
Total	5,799	100.0

Results

1916 United States presidential election in Minnesota^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Republican	Charles Evans Hughes	179,544	46.35%	12
	Democratic	Woodrow Wilson	179,152	46.25%	0
	Socialist	Allan L. Benson	20,117	5.19%	0
	Prohibition	Frank Hanly	7,793	2.01%	0
	Socialist Labor	Arthur E. Reimer	468	0.12%	0
	Progressive	No candidate	290	0.07%	0
Totals			387,364	100.00%	12

Results by county

County	Charles Evans Hughes Republican		Thomas Woodrow Wilson Democratic		Allan Louis Benson^[7] Socialist		Various candidates Other parties		Margin		Total votes cast^[8]
County		%		%		%		%		%	Total votes cast^[8]
	Aitkin		1,122		46.23%		877		36.14%		385	15.59%	43	1.77%	245	10.09%	2,427
	Anoka		1,262		48.95%		1,171		45.42%		77	2.91%	68	2.64%	91	3.53%	2,578
	Becker		1,761		50.44%		1,453		41.62%		181	5.05%	96	2.75%	308	8.82%	3,491
	Beltrami		1,331		33.04%		1,912		47.47%		716	17.48%	69	1.71%	-581	-14.42%	4,028
	Benton		1,020		49.09%		945		45.48%		81	3.84%	32	1.54%	75	3.61%	2,078
	Big Stone		810		44.88%		869		48.14%		77	4.15%	49	2.71%	-59	-3.27%	1,805
	Blue Earth		2,864		53.96%		2,211		41.65%		95	1.74%	138	2.60%	653	12.30%	5,308
	Brown		2,078		59.68%		1,101		31.62%		252	7.13%	51	1.46%	977	28.06%	3,482
	Carlton		1,096		40.18%		1,115		40.87%		425	15.07%	92	3.37%	-19	-0.70%	2,728
	Carver		1,950		65.57%		960		32.28%		34	1.13%	30	1.01%	990	33.29%	2,974
	Cass		982		38.21%		1,260		49.03%		281	10.74%	47	1.83%	-278	-10.82%	2,570
	Chippewa		1,311		46.79%		1,134		40.47%		261	9.01%	96	3.43%	177	6.32%	2,802
	Chisago		1,749		61.22%		944		33.04%		130	4.50%	34	1.19%	805	28.18%	2,857
	Clay		1,549		44.79%		1,716		49.62%		104	2.93%	89	2.57%	-167	-4.83%	3,458
	Clearwater		493		39.92%		544		44.05%		158	12.39%	40	3.24%	-51	-4.13%	1,235
	Cook		125		34.44%		162		44.63%		63	16.76%	13	3.58%	-37	-10.19%	363
	Cottonwood		1,425		60.23%		762		32.21%		116	4.78%	63	2.66%	663	28.02%	2,366
	Crow Wing		1,715		44.42%		1,568		40.61%		445	11.14%	133	3.44%	147	3.81%	3,861
	Dakota		1,881		41.73%		2,373		52.64%		144	3.12%	110	2.44%	-492	-10.91%	4,508
	Dodge		1,260		55.80%		895		39.64%		45	1.94%	58	2.57%	365	16.16%	2,258
	Douglas		1,709		50.26%		1,398		41.12%		176	5.00%	117	3.44%	311	9.15%	3,400
	Faribault		2,184		61.71%		1,123		31.73%		76	2.06%	156	4.41%	1,061	29.98%	3,539
	Fillmore		2,945		65.20%		1,313		29.07%		92	1.96%	167	3.70%	1,632	36.13%	4,517
	Freeborn		2,418		60.07%		1,347		33.47%		106	2.54%	154	3.83%	1,071	26.61%	4,025
	Goodhue		2,471		53.09%		1,875		40.29%		122	2.09%	186	3.29%	1,596	28.23%	4,654
	Grant		878		49.19%		778		43.59%		66	3.57%	63	3.53%	100	5.60%	1,785
	Hennepin		27,957		40.78%		36,395		53.09%		3,302	4.75%	902	1.32%	-8,438	-12.31%	68,556
	Houston		1,783		69.08%		744		28.83%		23	0.88%	31	1.20%	1,039	40.26%	2,581
	Hubbard		685		40.39%		799		47.11%		171	9.84%	41	2.42%	-114	-6.72%	1,696
	Isanti		1,123		48.18%		935		40.11%		217	9.09%	56	2.40%	188	8.07%	2,331
	Itasca		1,163		36.89%		1,504		47.70%		429	13.36%	57	1.81%	-341	-10.82%	3,153
	Jackson		1,503		51.95%		1,272		43.97%		75	2.55%	43	1.49%	231	7.98%	2,893
	Kanabec		776		49.02%		608		38.41%		174	10.82%	25	1.58%	168	10.61%	1,583
	Kandiyohi		1,612		41.82%		1,968		51.05%		167	4.21%	108	2.80%	-356	-9.23%	3,855
	Kittson		709		43.98%		749		46.46%		107	6.45%	47	2.92%	-40	-2.48%	1,612
	Koochiching		474		25.68%		1,089		58.99%		255	13.61%	28	1.52%	-615	-33.32%	1,846
	Lac qui Parle		1,614		56.30%		1,047		36.52%		100	3.36%	106	3.70%	567	19.78%	2,867
	Lake		401		30.22%		506		38.13%		366	26.50%	54	4.07%	-105	-7.91%	1,327
	Le Sueur		1,430		43.89%		1,723		52.89%		53	1.60%	52	1.60%	-293	-8.99%	3,258
	Lincoln		777		38.18%		1,174		57.69%		40	1.92%	44	2.16%	-397	-19.51%	2,035
	Lyon		1,389		38.97%		1,893		53.11%		200	5.49%	82	2.30%	-504	-14.14%	3,564
	McLeod		1,772		55.22%		1,305		40.67%		69	2.11%	63	1.96%	467	14.55%	3,209
	Mahnomen		262		36.39%		411		57.08%		43	5.94%	4	0.56%	-149	-20.69%	720
	Marshall		1,461		44.73%		1,513		46.33%		204	6.08%	88	2.69%	-52	-1.59%	3,266
	Martin		1,741		47.16%		1,756		47.56%		88	2.32%	107	2.90%	-15	-0.41%	3,692
	Meeker		1,780		52.69%		1,475		43.66%		67	1.95%	56	1.66%	305	9.03%	3,378
	Mille Lacs		1,127		44.58%		1,113		44.03%		248	9.66%	40	1.58%	14	0.55%	2,528
	Morrison		1,887		48.84%		1,650		42.70%		225	5.67%	102	2.64%	237	6.13%	3,864
	Mower		2,520		59.43%		1,572		37.08%		64	1.48%	84	1.98%	948	22.36%	4,240
	Murray		1,137		46.64%		1,193		48.93%		69	2.79%	39	1.60%	-56	-2.30%	2,438
	Nicollet		1,288		58.44%		814		36.93%		38	1.68%	64	2.90%	474	21.51%	2,204
	Nobles		1,413		50.39%		1,280		45.65%		46	1.60%	65	2.32%	133	4.74%	2,804
	Norman		1,046		42.11%		1,076		43.32%		227	8.67%	135	5.43%	-30	-1.21%	2,484
	Olmsted		2,101		49.67%		1,926		45.53%		90	2.07%	113	2.67%	175	4.14%	4,230
	Otter Tail		4,238		53.81%		2,858		36.29%		502	6.09%	278	3.49%	1,470	18.45%	7,876
	Pennington		868		40.47%		1,004		46.81%		237	10.87%	36	1.68%	-136	-6.34%	2,145
	Pine		1,531		44.38%		1,507		43.68%		341	9.68%	71	2.06%	24	0.70%	3,450
	Pipestone		1,010		52.44%		732		38.01%		151	7.71%	33	1.71%	278	14.43%	1,926
	Polk		2,471		37.93%		3,498		53.70%		381	5.71%	164	2.52%	-1,027	-15.77%	6,514
	Pope		1,321		51.18%		1,121		43.43%		57	2.14%	82	3.18%	200	7.75%	2,581
	Ramsey		13,317		35.08%		22,291		58.72%		1,684	4.36%	669	1.76%	-8,974	-23.64%	37,961
	Red Lake		463		37.70%		694		56.51%		50	4.00%	21	1.71%	-231	-18.81%	1,228
	Redwood		2,029		56.98%		1,361		38.22%		121	3.35%	50	1.40%	668	18.76%	3,561
	Renville		2,432		55.25%		1,660		37.71%		115	2.50%	195	4.43%	772	17.54%	4,402
	Rice		2,408		51.66%		2,083		44.69%		56	1.17%	114	2.45%	325	6.97%	4,661
	Rock		1,196		59.68%		705		35.18%		66	3.23%	37	1.85%	491	24.50%	2,004
	Roseau		821		38.71%		834		39.32%		405	18.56%	61	2.88%	-13	-0.61%	2,121
	Saint Louis		10,834		41.47%		12,056		46.15%		2,544	9.49%	690	2.64%	-1,222	-4.68%	26,124
	Scott		972		40.86%		1,361		57.21%		13	0.54%	33	1.39%	-389	-16.35%	2,379
	Sherburne		965		54.09%		731		40.98%		41	2.24%	47	2.63%	234	13.12%	1,784
	Sibley		1,737		62.37%		973		34.94%		37	1.31%	38	1.36%	764	27.43%	2,785
	Stearns		4,312		54.44%		3,350		42.29%		141	1.75%	118	1.49%	962	12.14%	7,921
	Steele		1,734		52.20%		1,497		45.06%		41	1.22%	50	1.51%	237	7.13%	3,322
	Stevens		943		52.56%		787		43.87%		24	1.31%	40	2.23%	156	8.70%	1,794
	Swift		1,335		50.21%		1,181		44.42%		85	3.13%	58	2.18%	154	5.79%	2,659
	Todd		1,919		44.50%		1,922		44.57%		339	7.63%	132	3.06%	-3	-0.07%	4,312
	Traverse		774		48.71%		779		49.02%		27	1.69%	9	0.57%	-5	-0.31%	1,589
	Wabasha		1,787		53.11%		1,449		43.06%		41	1.19%	88	2.62%	338	10.04%	3,365
	Wadena		938		54.31%		651		37.70%		116	6.63%	22	1.27%	287	16.62%	1,727
	Waseca		1,522		54.11%		1,178		41.88%		47	1.63%	66	2.35%	344	12.23%	2,813
	Washington		2,167		53.55%		1,610		39.78%		149	3.57%	121	2.99%	557	13.76%	4,047
	Watonwan		1,300		59.94%		801		36.93%		30	1.36%	38	1.75%	499	23.01%	2,169
	Wilkin		690		44.20%		808		51.76%		42	2.65%	21	1.35%	-118	-7.56%	1,561
	Winona		2,916		47.94%		2,907		47.80%		133	2.14%	126	2.07%	9	0.15%	6,082
	Wright		2,683		52.24%		2,262		44.04%		87	1.66%	104	2.02%	421	8.20%	5,136
	Yellow Medicine		1,501		50.08%		1,238		41.31%		149	4.80%	109	3.64%	263	8.78%	2,997
Totals	179,544	46.35%	179,152	46.25%	20,117	5.08%	8,551	2.21%	392	0.10%	387,364

Notes and References

"Minnesota", Counting the Votes.
Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004, pp. 228-231
Web site: Presidential Preference Primary . August 15, 2022.
Web site: Presidential Preference Primary . August 15, 2022.
Web site: Presidential Preference Primary . August 15, 2022.
Web site: 1916 Presidential Election Results, 1916 . 2016-10-06 . Dave Leip’s U.S. Election Atlas.
Minnesota Office of the Secretary of State Elections; ‘Abstract of Votes Polled for President by Counties, 1916’; The Legislative Manual for the State of Minnesota 1917 pp. 508-509
Robinson, Edgar Eugene; The Presidential Vote 1896-1932, pp. 234-241