1912 Election Results Taft vs Wilson vs Roosvelt

When Roosevelt had left the White House in 1908, he was confident that William H. Taft would be a worthy successor. Roosevelt felt assured that President Taft would continue his policies. Upon leaving the White House, Roosevelt sailed to Europe and Africa. Word soon reached him that Taft was abandoning his progressive policies. By the time 1912 arrived, Roosevelt was convinced he needed to return to the White House and replace Taft. Roosevelt promptly announced that he would seek to take back the Republican nomination from Taft.

Theodore Roosevelt competed with Taft for the nomination. Roosevelt won 9 out of the ten primaries by large margins. He even beat Taft in Taft’s home state. Roosevelt’s platform was new nationalism, which included social welfare, direct democracy, and federal regulation of business. Roosevelt and his supporters were confident he would win the nomination in Chicago. But the party was controlled by Taft loyalists who steamrolled the convention, ensuring that Taft was nominated on the first ballot.

Roosevelt then started a new Progressive party to continue his run for the Presidency. The Democrats were now facing a split Republican Party. They knew that if they picked right, they were almost assured the nomination. William Jennings Bryan declined to run. However, Bryan worked very hard behind the scenes to ensure that a progressive was nominated. In the end, Bryan supported Wilson, who was nominated on the 46th ballot.

Early in the campaign, Taft realized he had no chance of winning. As a result, he stopped making campaign appearances. Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson campaigned vigorously. Both were excellent campaigners.

The campaign was interrupted when Roosevelt was almost killed by an assassin, on the evening of October 15th. Although he was shot in the chest, Roosevelt insisted on finishing his speech. The bullet was lodged in his rib close to his lung. Out of respect, all of the presidential candidates took a break from campaigning while Roosevelt recovered.

In the end, Woodrow Wilson won the electoral vote by a landslide.

 

 

Participation of Eligible Voters61.6%

Democratic Convention
Republican Convention
Cartoon

 

State results in 1908

Electoral Results in 1912

Alabama Woodrow Willson 82,438 69.9 Theodore Roosevelt 22,680 19.2 William Taft 9,807 8.3 Eugene Debbs 3,029 2.6
Arizona Woodrow Willson 10,324 43.6 Theodore Roosevelt 6,949 29.3 William Taft 2,986 12.6 Eugene Debbs 3,163 13.4
Arkansas Woodrow Willson 68,814 55.0 Theodore Roosevelt 21,644 17.3 William Taft 25,585 20.5 Eugene Debbs 8,153 6.5
California Woodrow Willson 283,436 41.8 Theodore Roosevelt 283,610 41.8 William Taft 3,847 0.6 Eugene Debbs 79,201 11.7
Colorado Woodrow Willson 113,912 42.8 Theodore Roosevelt 71,752 27.0 William Taft 58,386 22.0 Eugene Debbs 16,366 6.2
Connecticut Woodrow Willson 74,561 39.2 Theodore Roosevelt 34,129 17.9 William Taft 68,324 35.9 Eugene Debbs 10,056 5.3
Delaware Woodrow Willson 22,631 46.5 Theodore Roosevelt 8,886 18.3 William Taft 15,997 32.9 Eugene Debbs 556 1.1
Florida Woodrow Willson 35,343 69.5 Theodore Roosevelt 4,555 9.0 William Taft 4,279 8.4 Eugene Debbs 4,806 9.5
Georgia Woodrow Willson 93,087 76.6 Theodore Roosevelt 21,985 18.1 William Taft 5,191 4.3 Eugene Debbs 1,058 0.9
Idaho Woodrow Willson 33,921 32.1 Theodore Roosevelt 25,527 24.1 William Taft 32,810 31.0 Eugene Debbs 11,960 11.3
Illinois Woodrow Willson 405,048 35.3 Theodore Roosevelt 386,478 33.7 William Taft 253,593 22.1 Eugene Debbs 81,278 7.1
Indiana Woodrow Willson 281,890 43.1 Theodore Roosevelt 162,007 24.8 William Taft 151,267 23.1 Eugene Debbs 36,931 5.6
Iowa Woodrow Willson 185,322 37.6 Theodore Roosevelt 161,819 32.9 William Taft 119,805 24.3 Eugene Debbs 16,967 3.4
Kansas Woodrow Willson 143,663 39.3 Theodore Roosevelt 120,210 32.9 William Taft 74,845 20.5 Eugene Debbs 26,779 7.3
Kentucky Woodrow Willson 219,484 48.5 Theodore Roosevelt 101,766 22.5 William Taft 115,510 25.5 Eugene Debbs 11,646 2.6
Louisiana Woodrow Willson 60,871 76.8 Theodore Roosevelt 9,283 11.7 William Taft 3,833 4.8 Eugene Debbs 5,261 6.6
Maine Woodrow Willson 51,113 39.4 Theodore Roosevelt 48,495 37.4 William Taft 26,545 20.5 Eugene Debbs 2,541 2.0
Maryland Woodrow Willson 112,674 48.6 Theodore Roosevelt 57,789 24.9 William Taft 54,956 23.7 Eugene Debbs 3,996 1.7
Massachusetts Woodrow Willson 173,408 35.5 Theodore Roosevelt 142,228 29.1 William Taft 155,948 32.0 Eugene Debbs 12,616 2.6
Michigan Woodrow Willson 150,201 27.4 Theodore Roosevelt 213,243 38.9 William Taft 151,434 27.6 Eugene Debbs 23,060 4.2
Minnesota Woodrow Willson 106,426 31.8 Theodore Roosevelt 125,856 37.7 William Taft 64,334 19.2 Eugene Debbs 27,505 8.2
Mississippi Woodrow Willson 57,324 88.9 Theodore Roosevelt 3,549 5.5 William Taft 1,560 2.4 Eugene Debbs 2,050 3.2
Missouri Woodrow Willson 330,746 47.3 Theodore Roosevelt 124,375 17.8 William Taft 207,821 29.7 Eugene Debbs 28,466 4.1
Montana Woodrow Willson 28,129 35.0 Theodore Roosevelt 22,709 28.3 William Taft 18,575 23.1 Eugene Debbs 10,811 13.5
Nebraska Woodrow Willson 109,008 43.7 Theodore Roosevelt 72,681 29.1 William Taft 54,226 21.7 Eugene Debbs 10,185 4.1
Nevada Woodrow Willson 7,986 39.7 Theodore Roosevelt 5,620 27.9 William Taft 3,196 15.9 Eugene Debbs 3,313 16.5
New Hampshire Woodrow Willson 34,724 39.5 Theodore Roosevelt 17,794 20.2 William Taft 32,927 37.4 Eugene Debbs 1,981 2.3
Now Jersey Woodrow Willson 178,638 41.2 Theodore Roosevelt 145,679 33.6 William Taft 89,066 20.5 Eugene Debbs 15,948 3.7
Now Mexico Woodrow Willson 20,437 41.9 Theodore Roosevelt 8,347 17.1 William Taft 17,164 35.2 Eugene Debbs 2,859 5.9
Now York Woodrow Willson 655,573 41.3 Theodore Roosevelt 390,093 24.6 William Taft 455,487 28.7 Eugene Debbs 63,434 4.0
North Carolina Woodrow Willson 144,407 59.2 Theodore Roosevelt 69,135 28.4 William Taft 29,129 11.9 Eugene Debbs 987 0.4
North Dakota Woodrow Willson 29,549 34.2 Theodore Roosevelt 25,726 29.7 William Taft 22,990 26.6 Eugene Debbs 6,966 8.1
Ohio Woodrow Willson 424,834 41.0 Theodore Roosevelt 229,807 22.2 William Taft 278,168 26.8 Eugene Debbs 90,164 8.7
Oklahoma Woodrow Willson 119,143 47.0 Theodore Roosevelt - William Taft 90,726 35.8 Eugene Debbs 41,630 16.4
Oregon Woodrow Willson 47,064 34.3 Theodore Roosevelt 37,600 27.4 William Taft 34,673 25.3 Eugene Debbs 13,343 9.7
Pennsylvania Woodrow Willson 395,637 32.5 Theodore Roosevelt 444,894 36.5 William Taft 273,360 22.4 Eugene Debbs 83,614 6.9
Rhode Island Woodrow Willson 30,412 39.0 Theodore Roosevelt 16,878 21.7 William Taft 27,703 35.6 Eugene Debbs 2,049 2.6
South Carolina Woodrow Willson 48,355 95.9 Theodore Roosevelt 1,293 2.6 William Taft 536 1.1 Eugene Debbs 164 0.3
South Dakota Woodrow Willson 48,942 42.1 Theodore Roosevelt 58,811 50.6 William Taft - Eugene Debbs 4,664 4.0
Tennessee Woodrow Willson 133,021 52.8 Theodore Roosevelt 54,041 21.5 William Taft 60,475 24.0 Eugene Debbs 3,564 1.4
Texas Woodrow Willson 218,921 72.7 Theodore Roosevelt 26,715 8.9 William Taft 28,310 9.4 Eugene Debbs 24,884 8.3
Utah Woodrow Willson 36,576 32.6 Theodore Roosevelt 24,174 21.5 William Taft 42,013 37.4 Eugene Debbs 8,999 8.0
Vermont Woodrow Willson 15,350 24.4 Theodore Roosevelt 22,129 35.2 William Taft 23,303 37.1 Eugene Debbs 928 1.5
Virginia Woodrow Willson 90,332 65.9 Theodore Roosevelt 21,776 15.9 William Taft 23,288 17.0 Eugene Debbs 820 0.6
Washington Woodrow Willson 86,840 26.9 Theodore Roosevelt 113,698 35.2 William Taft 70,445 21.8 Eugene Debbs 40,134 12.4
West Virginia Woodrow Willson 113,097 42.1 Theodore Roosevelt 79,112 29.4 William Taft 56,754 21.1 Eugene Debbs 15,248 5.7
Wisconsin Woodrow Willson 164,230 41.1 Theodore Roosevelt 62,448 15.6 William Taft 130,596 32.7 Eugene Debbs 33,476 8.4
Wyoming Woodrow Willson 15,310 36.2 Theodore Roosevelt 9,232 21.8 William Taft 14,560 ~34.4 Eugene Debbs 2,760 6.5