1912 United States presidential election in Vermont

The 1912 United States presidential election in Vermont took place on November 5, 1912, as part of the 1912 United States presidential election which was held throughout all contemporary 48 states. Voters chose four representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Main article: 1912 United States presidential election

1912 United States presidential election in Vermont

November 5, 1912

Nominee William H. Taft Theodore Roosevelt Woodrow Wilson Party Republican Progressive Democratic Home state Ohio New York New Jersey Running mate Nicholas M. Butler (replacing James S. Sherman) Hiram Johnson Thomas R. Marshall Electoral vote 4 0 0 Popular vote 23,332 22,132 15,354 Percentage 37.13% 35.22% 24.43%

County Results Taft   30-40%   40-50% Roosevelt   30-40%   40-50% Wilson   30-40%

President before election William Howard Taft Republican Elected President Woodrow Wilson Democratic

Vermont was won by the Republican nominees, incumbent President William Howard Taft, and his running mate Vice President James S. Sherman. Taft and Sherman defeated the Progressive Party candidates, former President Theodore Roosevelt and his running mate California Governor Hiram Johnson, and the Democratic nominees, New Jersey Governor Woodrow Wilson and Indiana Governor Thomas R. Marshall.

Taft won the state with a plurality of 37.13%, to Roosevelt’s 35.22%, with Wilson in third place at 24.43%. Taft’s victory margin over Roosevelt was 1.91%.

Vermont historically was a bastion of liberal Northeastern Republicanism, and by 1912 the Green Mountain State had gone Republican in every presidential election since the founding of the Republican Party. From 1856 to 1908, Vermont had had the longest streak of voting Republican of any state, having never voted Democratic before, and this tradition continued in 1912.

Vermont was one of only two states (along with Utah) to vote for incumbent Republican President William Howard Taft, who was pushed into third place nationally by the strong third party candidacy of Theodore Roosevelt, a former Republican president who ran in 1912 with his own Bull Moose Party. Taft and Roosevelt split the Republican vote nationally in 1912, with Roosevelt coming in second place behind Wilson nationwide and carrying six states. However Vermont Republicans proved to be mostly loyal to President Taft as the official Republican nominee, allowing Taft to narrowly edge out Roosevelt to carry the state, leaving Wilson a distant third. Were Taft and Roosevelt voters united behind a single Republican candidate, they would have combined to over 72% of the vote in Vermont.

Vermont was the third most Republican state in nation in 1912, only beaten by Utah and neighboring New Hampshire.[1] However Taft’s margin over Wilson was much greater in Vermont than in Utah or any other state.

With Taft only winning 37.13% of the vote, he became the first Republican presidential candidate to win Vermont's popular vote with only a plurality. This was also the only time of that occurring until Ronald Reagan won Vermont in 1980 with only a plurality of 44.37% of the popular vote.

Taft carried seven counties in Vermont to Roosevelt’s six, while Wilson won only tiny Grand Isle County in the far northwest of the state, with a plurality of less than 40% of the vote. This was the first time since Lewis Cass carried Washington County in 1848 that a Democrat had carried any of Vermont’s counties as well as the first time since Free Soil Party candidate John P. Hale won Lamoille County in 1852 that a third party candidate was able to carry any of Vermont’s counties and the most recent time such has occurred to date.

Vermont was one of only two states where Wilson finished third, the other being Michigan where he finished a much closer third behind Taft. Since 1912 there has been only one occasion (Bill Clinton in Utah in 1992) where a winning presidential candidate finished third place in any non-Confederate state.

Results

1912 United States presidential election in Vermont[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Republican	William Howard Taft	23,332	37.13%	4
	Progressive	Theodore Roosevelt	22,132	35.22%	0
	Democratic	Woodrow Wilson	15,354	24.43%	0
	Prohibition	Eugene W. Chafin	1,095	1.74%	0
	Socialist	Eugene V. Debs	928	1.48%	0
Totals			62,841	100.00%	4

Results by county

	William Howard Taft[3] Republican		Woodrow Wilson[3] Democratic		Theodore Roosevelt[4] Progressive		Eugene Chafin[5] Prohibition		Eugene Debs[5] Socialist		Margin[lower-alpha 1]		Total votes cast
County	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#
Addison	1,835	45.34%	621	15.34%	1,487	36.74%	85	2.10%	19	0.47%	348	8.60%	4,047
Bennington	1,464	36.10%	1,057	26.07%	1,380	34.03%	49	1.21%	105	2.59%	84	2.07%	4,055
Caledonia	1,583	32.86%	1,065	22.11%	2,049	42.54%	88	1.83%	32	0.66%	-466	-9.67%	4,817
Chittenden	2,368	36.80%	2,266	35.21%	1,663	25.84%	96	1.49%	42	0.65%	102[lower-alpha 2]	1.59%	6,435
Essex	463	39.01%	348	29.32%	353	29.74%	13	1.10%	10	0.84%	110	9.27%	1,187
Franklin	1,433	33.16%	1,317	30.48%	1,457	33.72%	89	2.06%	25	0.58%	-24	-0.56%	4,321
Grand Isle	193	31.03%	210	33.76%	204	32.80%	9	1.45%	6	0.96%	6[lower-alpha 3]	0.96%	622
Lamoille	852	36.04%	431	18.23%	996	42.13%	55	2.33%	30	1.27%	-144	-6.09%	2,364
Orange	1,289	34.19%	956	25.36%	1,426	37.82%	67	1.78%	32	0.85%	-137	-3.63%	3,770
Orleans	1,475	36.37%	628	15.49%	1,891	46.63%	44	1.09%	17	0.42%	-416	-10.26%	4,055
Rutland	2,999	36.03%	2,079	24.98%	2,927	35.16%	240	2.88%	79	0.95%	72	0.86%	8,324
Washington	2,797	41.26%	1,743	25.71%	1,730	25.52%	136	2.01%	373	5.50%	1,054[lower-alpha 2]	15.55%	6,779
Windham	2,143	38.25%	1,327	23.69%	2,020	36.06%	45	0.80%	67	1.20%	123	2.20%	5,602
Windsor	2,409	37.48%	1,302	20.26%	2,546	39.61%	79	1.23%	91	1.42%	-137	-2.13%	6,427
Totals	23,303	37.10%	15,350	24.44%	22,129	35.23%	1,095	1.74%	928	1.48%	1,174	!1.87%	62,805

See also

• United States presidential elections in Vermont
• 1912 United States presidential election in Utah - President William Howard Taft's other sole win in 1912

Notes

1. Because Roosevelt finished ahead of Wilson in Vermont as a whole, all margins give are Taft minus Roosevelt unless stated in the total for the county in question.
2. In this county where Wilson did finish ahead of Roosevelt, margin given is Taft vote minus Wilson vote and percentage margin Taft percentage minus Wilson percentage
3. In this county where Taft ran third behind both Wilson and Roosevelt, margin given is Wilson vote minus Roosevelt vote and percentage margin Wilson percentage minus Roosevelt percentage

References

1. "1912 Presidential Election Statistics". Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
2. "1912 Presidential General Election Results - Vermont". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved 2013-08-02.
3. Robinson, Edgar Eugene; The Presidential Vote; 1896-1932 (second edition); pp. 352-354 Published 1947 by Stanford University Press
4. Géoelections; 1912 Presidential Election Popular Vote Archived 2018-06-13 at the Wayback Machine (.xlsx file for €15)
5. Géoelections; 1912 Presidential Election Popular Vote for Eugene Debs (.xlsx file for €15)