1896 United States presidential election in Wisconsin

Main article: 1896 United States presidential election
1896 United States presidential election in Wisconsin
← 1892 November 3, 1896 1900 →
 
Nominee William McKinley William Jennings Bryan
Party Republican Democratic
Home state Ohio Nebraska
Running mate Garret Hobart Arthur Sewall
Electoral vote 12 0
Popular vote 268,051 165,349
Percentage 59.95% 36.98%
County Results
President before election

Grover Cleveland
Democratic

Elected President

William McKinley
Republican

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The 1896 United States presidential election in Wisconsin was held on November 3, 1896, as part of the 1896 United States presidential election. State voters chose 12 electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Wisconsin during the Third Party System was a Republican-leaning but competitive state whereby historically anti-Civil War German Catholic counties stood opposed to highly pro-war and firmly Republican Yankee areas.[1] The German Catholics’ Democratic loyalties were related to their opposition to Republican pietism and to the fact that during the Civil War, they had been extremely hostile to Abraham Lincoln’s wartime draft policies which often singled them out.[1]

Four years prior had seen, aided by favorable demographic shifts,[2] opposition to the notorious “Bennett Law” requiring attendance at public schools,[3] and a shift of some GOP voters to Prohibition Party nominee John Bidwell, Democratic nominee Grover Cleveland carry the state for the first time since before the Republican Party was formed. However, expectations that demographic shifts would favor the Democrats were rudely crushed in 1894, when the Republicans took every Congressional seat in the state. President Cleveland became extremely unpopular and the Democratic Party turned towards the Populist movement active in the West in order to revive its fortunes. While the Populist movement would gain almost universal acceptance in the silver mining West, its inflationary monetary policies were opposed by almost all urban classes and viewed as dangerously radical by rural German Catholics,[4] with free silver being condemned by the Church hierarchy.[5]

Early polls always had Wisconsin strong for Republican nominee William McKinley, with his supporters saying it would be one of the most Republican states despite voting Democratic in 1892.[6] During his fall tour of the Midwest, Democratic nominee William Jennings Bryan made fifteen speeches, but was disturbed by a member of McKinley's club,[7] who attempted to mob Bryan in Janesville.[8]

As it turned out, McKinley would carry Wisconsin handsomely by over one hundred thousand votes and by a margin of 22.97%. Wisconsin would be McKinley's strongest state outside the Northeast.[9] McKinley's 59.95% popular vote share was the highest received by any candidate in Wisconsin to that point, though McKinley would break his own record four years later.

Bryan would lose Wisconsin to McKinley again four years later and would later lose the state again in 1908 to William Howard Taft.

McKinley's landslide victory made him the first Republican to ever carry Kewaunee County, Langlade County, Oneida County, Outagamie County, and Washington County. Additionally, McKinley was the first Republican since John C. Frémont in 1856 to win Dodge County and Marathon County and the first Republican since Abraham Lincoln in 1860 to win Jefferson County and Manitowoc County. Waukesha County's well-known Republican tilt began with this election; in prior elections it had been a swing county in Wisconsin but starting with this election, became solidly Republican and has only voted for a Democrat five times since 1892.

Results

[edit]
General Election Results[10][a]
Party Pledged to Elector Votes
Republican Party William McKinley John D. Nelsenius 268,051
Republican Party William McKinley William J. Mallmann 268,042
Republican Party William McKinley Ossian M. Pettit 268,033
Republican Party William McKinley Paul Lachmund 268,030
Republican Party William McKinley Mark Curtis 268,027
Republican Party William McKinley Ellicott R. Stillman 267,994
Republican Party William McKinley George D. Breed 267,993
Republican Party William McKinley Frederick A. Hollmann 267,969
Republican Party William McKinley Iver Pederson 267,963
Republican Party William McKinley Oakman A. Ellis 267,960
Republican Party William McKinley Samuel J. Bradford 267,948
Republican Party William McKinley Lewis C. Boyle 267,767
Democratic Party William Jennings Bryan George W. Cate 165,349[b]
Democratic Party William Jennings Bryan John Winans 165,340
Democratic Party William Jennings Bryan Michael J. Warner 165,299
Democratic Party William Jennings Bryan Ernst Merton 165,292
Democratic Party William Jennings Bryan Henry Steinman 165,292
Democratic Party William Jennings Bryan Owen King 165,277
Democratic Party William Jennings Bryan Albinos A. Worsley 165,271
Democratic Party William Jennings Bryan John L. Beau 165,258
Democratic Party William Jennings Bryan Charles L. Brekken 165,251
Democratic Party William Jennings Bryan Herman Naber 165,243
Democratic Party William Jennings Bryan Lester Woodward 165,229
Democratic Party William Jennings Bryan Christian Roemer 164,824
Prohibition Party Joshua Levering Charles Alexander 7,463[c]
Prohibition Party Joshua Levering John C. Martin 7,461
Prohibition Party Joshua Levering Henry A. Miner 7,457
Prohibition Party Joshua Levering Charles F. Cronk 7,456
Prohibition Party Joshua Levering Charles Edward Reed 7,453
Prohibition Party Joshua Levering Newcomb E. Tully 7,452
Prohibition Party Joshua Levering Henry Happell 7,451
Prohibition Party Joshua Levering Solomon Vandewalker 7,448
Prohibition Party Joshua Levering John Faville 7,446
Prohibition Party Joshua Levering Almon Francis Collins 7,445
Prohibition Party Joshua Levering John R. Ogden 7,445
Prohibition Party Joshua Levering Elisha G. Partidge 7,438
National Democratic Party John M. Palmer John B. Kupfer 4,553
National Democratic Party John M. Palmer Charles Franz 4,552
National Democratic Party John M. Palmer George Krouskop 4,552
National Democratic Party John M. Palmer John C. Ludwig 4,552
National Democratic Party John M. Palmer Casper H. M. Petersen 4,550
National Democratic Party John M. Palmer William Dichmann 4,549
National Democratic Party John M. Palmer C. Hugo Jacobi 4,549
National Democratic Party John M. Palmer Bedford B. Hopkins 4,547
National Democratic Party John M. Palmer August Ledyard Smith 4,545
National Democratic Party John M. Palmer Samuel N. Dickinson 4,544
National Democratic Party John M. Palmer Lyman Nash 4,544
National Democratic Party John M. Palmer William F. Shea 4,543
Socialist Labor Party Charles H. Matchett Ruchus Babnik 1,311
Socialist Labor Party Charles H. Matchett Fred Farchmin 1,311
Socialist Labor Party Charles H. Matchett Fred Bugelman 1,310
Socialist Labor Party Charles H. Matchett Carl Groeschel 1,310
Socialist Labor Party Charles H. Matchett Gustav Lauenstein 1,310
Socialist Labor Party Charles H. Matchett Charles Weiss 1,310
Socialist Labor Party Charles H. Matchett Albert Pippenburg 1,309
Socialist Labor Party Charles H. Matchett John Kettemann 1,308
Socialist Labor Party Charles H. Matchett Charles Lachmund 1,308
Socialist Labor Party Charles H. Matchett Emil Reesch 1,308
Socialist Labor Party Charles H. Matchett Paul Reuther 1,308
Socialist Labor Party Charles H. Matchett Otto Schultz 1,306
National Party Charles E. Bentley Annette J. Shaw 366[d]
National Party Charles E. Bentley Martha W. Law 326
National Party Charles E. Bentley Orvie E. Thompson 326
National Party Charles E. Bentley Oliver H. Crowl 324
National Party Charles E. Bentley Newell Demeritt 324
National Party Charles E. Bentley Lily Runals 324
National Party Charles E. Bentley John E. Bartlett 322
National Party Charles E. Bentley Henry E. Ward 322
National Party Charles E. Bentley George W. Sherwood 321
National Party Charles E. Bentley Luther W. Wood 321
National Party Charles E. Bentley Gideon Young 321
National Party Charles E. Bentley Washington I. Carpenter 320
Votes cast[e] 447,093

Results by county

[edit]
County[10] William McKinley
Republican 		William Jennings Bryan
Democratic 		Joshua Levering
Prohibition 		John M. Palmer
National Democratic 		Charles Matchett
Socialist Labor 		Charles Bentley
National 		Margin Total votes cast[f]
# % # % # % # % # % # % # %
Adams 1,431 76.73% 391 20.97% 27 1.45% 16 0.86% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 1,040 55.76% 1,865
Ashland 2,738 59.72% 1,743 38.02% 59 1.29% 26 0.57% 16 0.35% 3 0.07% 995 21.70% 4,585
Barron 2,772 64.77% 1,323 30.91% 155 3.62% 26 0.61% 0 0.00% 4 0.09% 1,449 33.86% 4,280
Bayfield 2,230 71.82% 797 25.67% 59 1.90% 13 0.42% 5 0.16% 1 0.03% 1,433 46.15% 3,105
Brown 5,436 57.53% 3,841 40.65% 87 0.92% 67 0.71% 5 0.05% 13 0.14% 1,595 16.88% 9,449
Buffalo 2,298 61.89% 1,300 35.01% 61 1.64% 51 1.37% 1 0.03% 2 0.05% 998 26.88% 3,713
Burnett 799 67.48% 349 29.48% 28 2.36% 4 0.34% 3 0.25% 1 0.08% 450 38.01% 1,184
Calumet 1,546 44.51% 1,869 53.82% 28 0.81% 27 0.78% 2 0.06% 1 0.03% -323 -9.30% 3,473
Chippewa 3,599 54.10% 2,927 44.00% 83 1.25% 35 0.53% 6 0.09% 2 0.03% 672 10.10% 6,652
Clark 3,327 69.44% 1,316 27.47% 96 2.00% 39 0.81% 12 0.25% 1 0.02% 2,011 41.97% 4,791
Columbia 4,845 63.59% 2,379 31.22% 278 3.65% 108 1.42% 7 0.09% 2 0.03% 2,466 32.37% 7,619
Crawford 2,322 59.61% 1,508 38.72% 38 0.98% 24 0.62% 2 0.05% 1 0.03% 814 20.90% 3,895
Dane 9,074 56.10% 6,521 40.32% 405 2.50% 158 0.98% 4 0.02% 12 0.07% 2,553 15.78% 16,174
Dodge 5,610 51.61% 4,893 45.01% 119 1.09% 235 2.16% 6 0.06% 8 0.07% 717 6.60% 10,871
Door 2,399 71.29% 894 26.57% 49 1.46% 21 0.62% 1 0.03% 1 0.03% 1,505 44.73% 3,365
Douglas 4,272 61.87% 2,487 36.02% 90 1.30% 46 0.67% 8 0.12% 2 0.03% 1,785 25.85% 6,905
Dunn 3,368 37.97% 1,415 28.56% 131 2.64% 33 0.67% 5 0.10% 3 0.06% 1,953 39.41% 4,955
Eau Claire 4,520 63.41% 2,364 33.16% 186 2.61% 52 0.73% 0 0.00% 6 0.08% 2,156 30.25% 7,128
Florence 488 78.33% 128 20.55% 5 0.80% 2 0.32% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 360 57.78% 623
Fond du Lac 6,174 54.17% 4,929 43.25% 157 1.38% 128 1.12% 5 0.04% 4 0.04% 1,245 10.92% 11,397
Forest 406 68.01% 172 28.81% 15 2.51% 2 0.34% 0 0.00% 2 0.34% 234 39.20% 597
Grant 5,315 57.42% 3,681 39.76% 187 2.02% 67 0.72% 3 0.03% 4 0.04% 1,634 17.65% 9,257
Green 3,093 54.76% 2,337 41.38% 157 2.78% 53 0.94% 7 0.12% 1 0.02% 756 13.39% 5,648
Green Lake 2,102 55.70% 1,567 41.52% 61 1.62% 32 0.85% 7 0.19% 5 0.13% 535 14.18% 3,774
Iowa 3,115 57.46% 2,059 37.98% 173 3.19% 61 1.13% 3 0.06% 10 0.18% 1,056 19.48% 5,421
Iron 1,288 72.04% 472 26.40% 26 1.45% 0 0.00% 1 0.06% 1 0.06% 816 45.64% 1,788
Jackson 2,708 74.68% 776 21.40% 97 2.68% 36 0.99% 2 0.06% 7 0.19% 1,932 53.28% 3,626
Jefferson 4,341 52.60% 3,504 42.46% 137 1.66% 263 3.19% 4 0.05% 4 0.05% 837 10.14% 8,253
Juneau 2,832 61.49% 1,671 36.28% 59 1.28% 35 0.76% 4 0.09% 5 0.11% 1,161 25.21% 4,606
Kenosha 2,827 60.54% 1,732 37.09% 40 0.86% 62 1.33% 8 0.17% 1 0.02% 1,095 23.45% 4,670
Kewaunee 1,834 51.13% 1,647 45.92% 14 0.39% 91 2.54% 0 0.00% 1 0.03% 187 5.21% 3,587
La Crosse 6,297 64.59% 3,057 31.36% 161 1.65% 224 2.30% 8 0.08% 2 0.02% 3,240 33.23% 9,749
Lafayette 2,918 54.74% 2,236 41.94% 114 2.14% 59 1.11% 1 0.02% 3 0.06% 682 12.79% 5,331
Langlade 1,457 58.80% 956 38.58% 23 0.93% 38 1.53% 4 0.16% 0 0.00% 501 20.22% 2,478
Lincoln 1,706 47.69% 1,802 50.38% 44 1.23% 21 0.59% 2 0.06% 2 0.06% -96 -2.68% 3,577
Manitowoc 4,430 51.60% 3,917 45.63% 60 0.70% 162 1.89% 11 0.13% 5 0.06% 513 5.98% 8,585
Marathon 3,956 49.61% 3,829 48.01% 70 0.88% 87 1.09% 29 0.36% 4 0.05% 127 1.59% 7,975
Marinette 4,277 68.27% 1,866 29.78% 81 1.29% 29 0.46% 9 0.14% 3 0.05% 2,411 38.48% 6,265
Marquette 1,476 62.84% 827 35.21% 25 1.06% 20 0.85% 0 0.00% 1 0.04% 649 27.63% 2,349
Milwaukee 35,939 55.89% 26,505 41.22% 638 0.99% 510 0.79% 679 1.06% 30 0.05% 9,434 14.67% 64,301
Monroe 3,683 59.48% 2,360 38.11% 102 1.65% 35 0.57% 1 0.02% 11 0.18% 1,323 21.37% 6,192
Oconto 2,836 67.09% 1,289 30.49% 59 1.40% 35 0.83% 5 0.12% 3 0.07% 1,547 36.60% 4,227
Oneida 1,452 70.66% 562 27.35% 27 1.31% 14 0.68% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 890 43.31% 2,055
Outagamie 5,431 55.44% 4,092 41.77% 138 1.41% 105 1.07% 5 0.05% 25 0.26% 1,339 13.67% 9,796
Ozaukee 1,534 42.80% 1,946 54.30% 30 0.84% 62 1.73% 11 0.31% 1 0.03% -412 -11.50% 3,584
Pepin 1,301 72.52% 435 24.25% 37 2.06% 19 1.06% 1 0.06% 1 0.06% 866 48.27% 1,794
Pierce 3,724 69.79% 1,412 26.46% 156 2.92% 38 0.71% 3 0.06% 3 0.06% 2,312 43.33% 5,336
Polk 2,860 74.56% 891 23.23% 61 1.59% 23 0.60% 0 0.00% 1 0.03% 1,969 51.33% 3,836
Portage 3,529 53.78% 2,890 44.04% 80 1.22% 54 0.82% 3 0.05% 6 0.09% 639 9.74% 6,562
Price 1,448 70.22% 550 26.67% 37 1.79% 19 0.92% 7 0.34% 1 0.05% 898 43.55% 2,062
Racine 5,848 57.65% 3,970 39.14% 211 2.08% 103 1.02% 8 0.08% 4 0.04% 1,878 18.51% 10,144
Richland 2,636 54.05% 2,098 43.02% 127 2.60% 16 0.33% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 538 11.03% 4,877
Rock 8,281 67.58% 3,634 29.66% 235 1.92% 86 0.70% 12 0.10% 5 0.04% 4,647 37.93% 12,253
Sauk 4,623 60.98% 2,608 34.40% 242 3.19% 96 1.27% 9 0.12% 3 0.04% 2,015 26.58% 7,581
Sawyer 514 56.30% 369 40.42% 28 3.07% 2 0.22% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 145 15.88% 913
Shawano 3,033 64.22% 1,589 33.64% 54 1.14% 32 0.68% 12 0.25% 3 0.06% 1,444 30.57% 4,723
Sheboygan 6,642 62.51% 3,327 31.31% 90 0.85% 245 2.31% 307 2.89% 15 0.14% 3,315 31.20% 10,626
St. Croix 3,462 56.39% 2,475 40.32% 158 2.57% 38 0.62% 4 0.07% 2 0.03% 987 16.08% 6,139
Taylor 1,387 64.60% 709 33.02% 20 0.93% 26 1.21% 2 0.09% 3 0.14% 678 31.58% 2,147
Trempealeau 3,305 67.70% 1,393 28.53% 151 3.09% 23 0.47% 4 0.08% 6 0.12% 1,912 39.16% 4,882
Vernon 4,392 71.36% 1,626 26.42% 102 1.66% 28 0.45% 3 0.05% 4 0.06% 2,766 44.94% 6,155
Vilas 753 61.98% 443 36.46% 8 0.66% 9 0.74% 2 0.16% 0 0.00% 310 25.51% 1,215
Walworth 5,345 70.42% 1,892 24.93% 282 3.72% 57 0.75% 2 0.03% 12 0.16% 3,453 45.49% 7,590
Washburn 771 73.29% 250 23.76% 21 2.00% 8 0.76% 2 0.19% 0 0.00% 521 49.52% 1,052
Washington 2,874 53.16% 2,404 44.47% 31 0.57% 86 1.59% 6 0.11% 5 0.09% 470 8.69% 5,406
Waukesha 5,411 60.96% 3,190 35.94% 161 1.81% 108 1.22% 5 0.06% 2 0.02% 2,221 25.02% 8,877
Waupaca 5,466 75.19% 1,577 21.69% 128 1.76% 65 0.89% 3 0.04% 31 0.43% 3,889 53.49% 7,270
Waushara 3,210 84.36% 456 11.98% 102 2.68% 27 0.71% 0 0.00% 10 0.26% 2,754 72.38% 3,805
Winnebago 7,898 59.25% 5,088 38.17% 210 1.58% 100 0.75% 18 0.14% 15 0.11% 2,810 21.08% 13,329
Wood 2,837 58.98% 1,877 39.02% 53 1.10% 31 0.64% 6 0.12% 6 0.12% 960 19.96% 4,810
Total 268,051 59.95% 165,349[g] 36.98% 7,463[h] 1.67% 4,553 1.02% 1,311 0.29% 366[i] 0.08% 102,702 22.97% 447,093

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

[edit]

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ The 1897 Blue Book gives the totals as McKinley 268,135; Bryan 165,523; Levering 7,507; Palmer 4,584; Matchett 1,314; and Bentley 346. Based on the Board of Canvassers report, these totals are simply incorrect; no elector on any ticket received those numbers of votes. Indeed, the Blue Book is an unreliable source for Wisconsin election data from about 1890 to 1920 and its figures frequently differ from the figures listed in the Board of Canvassers reports.
  2. ^ This stated total seems likely to be a mistake; the county figures add up to 165,389. There are a number of counties where Cate's figure differ from those of Winans, but it would require a combination of multiple mistakes in the county figures to bring Cate's county total down to 165,349, so a mistake in the addition is more likely to be the error. The Wisconsin Board of Canvassers reports for presidential electors often have mistakes (oddly, however, the reports for congressmen and state officers rarely have mistakes), though the 1896 election is unusual in that the report has mistakes for the highest electors on some tickets.
  3. ^ The county figures for Alexander add up to 7,464.
  4. ^ This stated total seems likely to be a mistake; the county totals add up to 336 and there's no obvious county where Shaw is short by 30 votes.
  5. ^ Based on totals for highest elector on each ticket
  6. ^ Based on highest elector on each ticket
  7. ^ The county figures add up to 165,389
  8. ^ The county figures add up to 7,464
  9. ^ The county figures add up to 336

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Phillips, Kevin P.; The Emerging Republican Majority, pp. 381-382, 414 ISBN 978-0-691-16324-6
  2. ^ Kleppner, Paul; The Third Electoral System, 1853-1892: Parties, Votes and Political Cultures, pp. 198-207 ISBN 0807813281
  3. ^ Hill, Perry C.; ‘Wisconsin Votes for President’, The Wisconsin Magazine of History, Vol. 36, No. 1 (Autumn, 1952), pp. 11-16
  4. ^ Phillips; The Emerging Republican Majority, p. 384
  5. ^ Harpine, William D.; From the Front Porch to the Front Page: McKinley and Bryan in the 1896 Presidential Campaign, pp. 166-167 ISBN 9781585444502
  6. ^ ‘ Good News for McKinley Leaders: Strong in the Great West – Wisconsin Solid for the Ohio Man’; San Francisco Chronicle, August 13, 1896, p. 5
  7. ^ ‘Bryan in Wisconsin: Fifteen Short Speeches to the Badger State Voters’; The Washington Post, October 31, 1896, p. 3
  8. ^ ‘Men Almost Mobbed: Bryan in Wisconsin, Palmer and Buckner in Missouri’; Boston Daily Globe, October 31, 1896, p. 3
  9. ^ "1896 Presidential General Election Data – National by State". Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved March 5, 2018.
  10. ^ a b Wisconsin Historical Society, Tabular Statement of the votes given for President and Vice President of the United States at the general election held in the several towns, wards, villages, and election districts in the several counties of the State of Wisconsin on the Tuesday next succeeding the first Monday being the Third day of November A.D. 1896
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