"Composite of Woodrow Wilson, Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft by Harris & Ewing, Pach Bros, Moffett Studio
Exhibits
Electoral Map and Data for 1912
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To help you understand the challenges candidates and parties faced during the campaign season of 1912, and to grasp how different America was then as compared to now, we have compiled the following resources and data relevant to the country and its demographics at the time, and their impact on Electoral College.
Key Statistics
- 1912 United States population estimate, based on 1910 Census data: slightly over 95,000,000
- States in the Union: 48 (Arizona was the most recent addition, while Hawaii and Alaska were still not states)
- Total votes cast: just over 15 million
- Turnout of voting-eligible citizens: 59%
- Voting age (21) men in 1912: roughly 27 million (this counts non-citizens and other men not eligible to vote)
Vote Breakdown
| Candidate | Popular Votes | % of Popular Vote | States Carried | Electoral Votes | Color |
| Wilson (D) | 6.29 million | 41.83 | 40* | 435 | Blue |
| Roosevelt (P) | 4.12 million | 27.39 | 6* | 88 | Green |
| Taft (R) | 3.48 million | 23.18 | 2 | 8 | Red |
| Debs (S) | 900,743 | 5.99 | 0 | 0 |
Key: Wilson – Blue; Roosevelt – Green; Taft – Red
Included in each of the candidate columns is the percentage of the popular vote won in each state. Note that these numbers do not add up to 100%, given votes cast for the Socialist Party, Prohibition, and Socialist Labor party candidates, as well as for write-ins. The focus of this chart is on those candidates who won electoral votes. For simplicity, most of these statistics have been rounded to the nearest whole number.
| State | Electoral Votes | Wilson | Roosevelt | Taft |
| Alabama | 12 | 12 (70%) | (19%) | (8%) |
| Arizona | 3 | 3 (44%) | (29%) | (13%) |
| Arkansas | 9 | 9 (55%) | (17%) | (20%) |
| California | 13 | 2 (41.81%) | 11 (41.83%) | (1%) |
| Colorado | 6 | 6 (43%) | (28%) | (22%) |
| Connecticut | 7 | 7 (39%) | (18%) | (36%) |
| Delaware | 3 | 3 (46%) | (18%) | (33%) |
| Florida | 6 | 6 (70%) | (9%) | (8%) |
| Georgia | 14 | 14 (77%) | (18%) | (4%) |
| Idaho | 4 | 4 (32%) | (24%) | (31%) |
| Illinois | 29 | 29 (35%) | (34%) | (22%) |
| Indiana | 15 | 15 (43%) | (25%) | (23%) |
| Iowa | 13 | 13 (38%) | (33%) | (24%) |
| Kansas | 10 | 10 (39%) | (33%) | (20%) |
| Kentucky | 13 | 13 (48%) | (22%) | (26%) |
| Louisiana | 10 | 10 (77%) | (12%) | (5%) |
| Maine | 6 | 6 (39%) | (37%) | (20%) |
| Maryland | 8 | 8 (49%) | (25%) | (24%) |
| Massachusetts | 18 | 18 (36%) | (29%) | (32%) |
| Michigan | 15 | (27%) | 15 (39%) | (28%) |
| Minnesota | 12 | (32%) | 12 (38%) | (19%) |
| Mississippi | 10 | 10 (89%) | (6%) | (2%) |
| Missouri | 18 | 18 (47%) | (18%) | (30%) |
| Montana | 4 | 4 (35%) | (28%) | (23%) |
| Nebraska | 8 | 8 (44%) | (29%) | (22%) |
| Nevada | 3 | 3 (40%) | (28%) | (16%) |
| New Hampshire | 4 | 4 (39%) | (20%) | (37%) |
| New Jersey | 14 | 14 (41%) | (34%) | (21%) |
| New Mexico | 3 | 3 (41%) | (17%) | (36%) |
| New York | 45 | 45 (41%) | (25%) | (29%) |
| North Carolina | 12 | 12 (59%) | (28%) | (12%) |
| North Dakota | 5 | 5 (34%) | (30%) | (27%) |
| Ohio | 24 | 24 (41%) | (22%) | (27%) |
| Oklahoma | 10 | 10 (47%) | (0%) | (36%) |
| Oregon | 5 | 5 (34%) | (27%) | (25%) |
| Pennsylvania | 38 | (32%) | 38 (37%) | (22%) |
| Rhode Island | 5 | 5 (39%) | (22%) | (36%) |
| South Carolina | 9 | 9 (96%) | (3%) | (1%) |
| South Dakota | 5 | (42%) | 5 (51%) | (0%) |
| Tennessee | 12 | 12 (53%) | (21%) | (24%) |
| Texas | 20 | 20 (73%) | (9%) | (9%) |
| Utah | 4 | (33%) | (22%) | 4 (37%) |
| Vermont | 4 | (24%) | (35%) | 4 (37%) |
| Virginia | 12 | 12 (66%) | (16%) | (17%) |
| Washington | 7 | (27%) | 7 (35%) | (22%) |
| West Virginia | 8 | 8 (42%) | (29%) | (21%) |
| Wisconsin | 13 | 13 (41%) | (16%) | (33%) |
| Wyoming | 3 | 3 (36%) | (22%) | (34%) |
| Totals | 531 | 435 | 88 | 8 |
Noteworthy Takeaways
- Wilson won a commanding electoral victory, winning states in all regions of the country.
- Of the 40 states he carried, Wilson only won a majority (at least 50% +1 of the popular vote) in 11 of them, carrying the rest with pluralities. His lowest was in Idaho, which he carried by winning only 32.08% of the popular vote.
- The outcomes in 13 states, excluding California, accounting for a total of 140 electoral votes, were won by a margin of 5% or less of the popular vote. California, with its then split-award of votes, was decided by 174 votes (.03% of the total there).
- Breakdown of those 13 states:
- CT, ID, IA, IL, MA, ME, NH, ND, RI, WY (10) went to Wilson
- UT, VT (2) went to Taft
- PA went to Roosevelt
- If added, the vote totals for Roosevelt and Taft would have resulted in Wilson losing 25 of the 40 states he won, accounting for a total of 273 additional electoral votes, reducing his total to 162, well below the 266 then needed to win the presidency.