1908 United States presidential election in Ohio

The 1908 United States presidential election in Ohio was held on November 3, 1908 as part of the 1908 United States presidential election. State voters chose 23 electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

1908 United States presidential election in Ohio

November 3, 1908

Nominee William Howard Taft William Jennings Bryan Party Republican Democratic Home state Ohio Nebraska Running mate James S. Sherman John W. Kern Electoral vote 23 0 Popular vote 572,312 502,721 Percentage 51.03% 44.82%

County Results Taft   40-50%   50-60%   60-70%   70-80% Bryan   40-50%   50-60%   60-70%

President before election Theodore Roosevelt Republican Elected President William Howard Taft Republican

Since the Civil War, Ohio politics had been controlled by a conflict between the anti-Civil War Appalachian southeast and German-American counties of the northwest, opposed both to the heavily Yankee and New Englander northeast and to the Ohio Company counties of the southeast.[1] There was also an area of the Virginia Military District in the southwest that was historically the state's Whig stronghold and later voted Republican.[2] The GOP had consistently controlled the state during this era, if largely due to the prevalence of Ohio natives on the ticket,[3] losing only one electoral vote to Democrat Grover Cleveland in 1892. Following the nomination of William Jennings Bryan for the first time in 1896, another Ohio native and former governor in William McKinley strengthened the party's hold on the state by his appeal to white ethnic migrants in Ohio's cities.[4]

In his third campaign against an Ohio native, Bryan extensively toured Ohio, associating Taft with John D. Rockefeller and Standard Oil – whom Bryan criticized as "vicious lawbreakers".[5] In September 1908 there had been reports of a major swing that would give Bryan a chance to be the first Democrat to carry the state since Franklin Pierce in 1852,[6] but a week before Bryan's tour it was reported that Gold Democrats and labor were turning away from Bryan.[7]

Ultimately, Taft won the state by a margin of 6.20%, a margin less than a third that which Theodore Roosevelt defeated Alton B. Parker four years earlier.

Results

1908 United States presidential election in Ohio[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Republican	William Howard Taft	572,312	51.03%	23
	Democratic	William Jennings Bryan	502,721	44.82%	0
	Socialist	Eugene Debs	33,795	3.01%	0
	Prohibition	Eugene Chafin	11,402	1.02%	0
	Socialist Labor	August Gillhaus	721	0.06%	0
	Independence	Thomas Hisgen	439	0.04%	0
	People's	Thomas E. Watson	162	0.01%	0
Totals			1,121,552	100.0%	23

Results by county

County	William Howard Taft Republican		William Jennings Bryan Democratic		Eugene Victor Debs[9] Socialist		Eugene Wilder Chafin[9] Prohibition		Various candidates Other parties		Margin		Total votes cast[10]
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Adams	3,432	52.11%	3,048	46.28%	17	0.26%	88	1.34%	1	0.02%	384	5.83%	6,586
Allen	5,841	43.08%	7,195	53.07%	373	2.75%	127	0.94%	21	0.15%	-1,354	-9.99%	13,557
Ashland	2,804	42.66%	3,627	55.18%	56	0.85%	84	1.28%	2	0.03%	-823	-12.52%	6,573
Ashtabula	8,213	63.32%	3,572	27.54%	938	7.23%	231	1.78%	16	0.12%	4,641	35.78%	12,970
Athens	6,449	61.57%	3,654	34.88%	164	1.57%	189	1.80%	19	0.18%	2,795	26.68%	10,475
Auglaize	3,001	38.55%	4,622	59.38%	102	1.31%	57	0.73%	2	0.03%	-1,621	-20.82%	7,784
Belmont	8,193	48.02%	7,750	45.42%	730	4.28%	378	2.22%	12	0.07%	443	2.60%	17,063
Brown	2,638	38.02%	4,242	61.14%	23	0.33%	35	0.50%	0	0.00%	-1,604	-23.12%	6,938
Butler	7,320	40.61%	9,678	53.70%	885	4.91%	85	0.47%	56	0.31%	-2,358	-13.08%	18,024
Carroll	2,517	59.42%	1,590	37.54%	44	1.04%	83	1.96%	2	0.05%	927	21.88%	4,236
Champaign	4,153	55.69%	3,160	42.38%	46	0.62%	93	1.25%	5	0.07%	993	13.32%	7,457
Clark	8,917	52.97%	6,529	38.78%	1,040	6.18%	326	1.94%	22	0.13%	2,388	14.19%	16,834
Clermont	4,137	48.91%	4,150	49.07%	107	1.27%	61	0.72%	3	0.04%	-13	-0.15%	8,458
Clinton	4,107	61.45%	2,464	36.87%	28	0.42%	76	1.14%	8	0.12%	1,643	24.58%	6,683
Columbiana	9,626	53.26%	6,736	37.27%	948	5.25%	742	4.11%	20	0.11%	2,890	15.99%	18,072
Coshocton	3,606	44.46%	4,106	50.62%	311	3.83%	83	1.02%	5	0.06%	-500	-6.16%	8,111
Crawford	3,061	32.84%	6,006	64.44%	166	1.78%	78	0.84%	9	0.10%	-2,945	-31.60%	9,320
Cuyahoga	56,344	55.39%	39,954	39.27%	4,818	4.74%	351	0.35%	262	0.26%	16,390	16.11%	101,729
Darke	4,951	42.60%	6,391	54.99%	70	0.60%	210	1.81%	1	0.01%	-1,440	-12.39%	11,623
Defiance	2,531	39.05%	3,754	57.91%	112	1.73%	72	1.11%	13	0.20%	-1,223	-18.87%	6,482
Delaware	4,007	52.77%	3,330	43.86%	64	0.84%	186	2.45%	6	0.08%	677	8.92%	7,593
Erie	5,366	50.14%	4,983	46.56%	293	2.74%	41	0.38%	19	0.18%	383	3.58%	10,702
Fairfield	4,023	40.24%	5,821	58.22%	25	0.25%	125	1.25%	4	0.04%	-1,798	-17.98%	9,998
Fayette	3,343	56.84%	2,451	41.68%	33	0.56%	49	0.83%	5	0.09%	892	15.17%	5,881
Franklin	28,914	53.45%	23,314	43.10%	1,211	2.24%	606	1.12%	52	0.10%	5,600	10.35%	54,097
Fulton	3,608	61.24%	2,131	36.17%	69	1.17%	82	1.39%	2	0.03%	1,477	25.07%	5,892
Gallia	3,914	63.48%	2,171	35.21%	25	0.41%	50	0.81%	6	0.10%	1,743	28.27%	6,166
Geauga	2,596	71.20%	982	26.93%	32	0.88%	32	0.88%	4	0.11%	1,614	44.27%	3,646
Greene	4,902	60.14%	2,882	35.36%	232	2.85%	125	1.53%	10	0.12%	2,020	24.78%	8,151
Guernsey	5,210	53.92%	3,449	35.69%	798	8.26%	196	2.03%	10	0.10%	1,761	18.22%	9,663
Hamilton	63,803	56.49%	45,429	40.22%	3,306	2.93%	317	0.28%	91	0.08%	18,374	16.27%	112,946
Hancock	4,899	45.44%	5,420	50.27%	356	3.30%	93	0.86%	13	0.12%	-521	-4.83%	10,781
Hardin	4,444	50.35%	4,164	47.17%	99	1.12%	117	1.33%	3	0.03%	280	3.17%	8,827
Harrison	3,069	59.36%	1,961	37.93%	51	0.99%	87	1.68%	2	0.04%	1,108	21.43%	5,170
Henry	2,425	37.81%	3,817	59.52%	121	1.89%	49	0.76%	1	0.02%	-1,392	-21.71%	6,413
Highland	4,149	51.23%	3,823	47.21%	23	0.28%	93	1.15%	10	0.12%	326	4.03%	8,098
Hocking	2,749	47.72%	2,864	49.71%	95	1.65%	47	0.82%	6	0.10%	-115	-2.00%	5,761
Holmes	1,252	28.74%	3,043	69.84%	29	0.67%	31	0.71%	2	0.05%	-1,791	-41.11%	4,357
Huron	4,930	52.73%	4,262	45.58%	90	0.96%	61	0.65%	7	0.07%	668	7.14%	9,350
Jackson	4,489	55.84%	3,235	40.24%	209	2.60%	90	1.12%	16	0.20%	1,254	15.60%	8,039
Jefferson	7,310	57.21%	4,882	38.21%	355	2.78%	225	1.76%	5	0.04%	2,428	19.00%	12,777
Knox	4,318	49.09%	4,233	48.12%	139	1.58%	99	1.13%	7	0.08%	85	0.97%	8,796
Lake	3,635	66.97%	1,605	29.57%	121	2.23%	63	1.16%	4	0.07%	2,030	37.40%	5,428
Lawrence	5,708	66.67%	2,654	31.00%	134	1.57%	65	0.76%	1	0.01%	3,054	35.67%	8,562
Licking	6,756	44.55%	7,685	50.67%	598	3.94%	119	0.78%	8	0.05%	-929	-6.13%	15,166
Logan	4,756	58.44%	3,186	39.15%	76	0.93%	116	1.43%	4	0.05%	1,570	19.29%	8,138
Lorain	8,699	57.10%	5,460	35.84%	944	6.20%	108	0.71%	24	0.16%	3,239	21.26%	15,235
Lucas	18,715	48.46%	16,208	41.97%	3,394	8.79%	169	0.44%	134	0.35%	2,507	6.49%	38,620
Madison	3,051	54.93%	2,430	43.75%	17	0.31%	55	0.99%	1	0.02%	621	11.18%	5,554
Mahoning	10,760	51.18%	9,312	44.29%	631	3.00%	298	1.42%	22	0.10%	1,448	6.89%	21,023
Marion	4,175	46.12%	4,657	51.44%	99	1.09%	116	1.28%	6	0.07%	-482	-5.32%	9,053
Medina	3,427	57.32%	2,378	39.77%	118	1.97%	52	0.87%	4	0.07%	1,049	17.54%	5,979
Meigs	4,108	62.05%	2,225	33.61%	222	3.35%	59	0.89%	7	0.11%	1,883	28.44%	6,621
Mercer	2,148	31.92%	4,456	66.22%	46	0.68%	73	1.08%	6	0.09%	-2,308	-34.30%	6,729
Miami	6,558	53.69%	5,369	43.95%	182	1.49%	100	0.82%	6	0.05%	1,189	9.73%	12,215
Monroe	1,974	32.74%	3,961	65.69%	38	0.63%	57	0.95%	0	0.00%	-1,987	-32.95%	6,030
Montgomery	20,069	47.09%	20,566	48.26%	1,780	4.18%	177	0.42%	23	0.05%	-497	-1.17%	42,615
Morgan	2,445	53.99%	1,932	42.66%	56	1.24%	92	2.03%	4	0.09%	513	11.33%	4,529
Morrow	2,500	51.06%	2,239	45.73%	30	0.61%	121	2.47%	6	0.12%	261	5.33%	4,896
Muskingum	8,080	52.36%	6,576	42.62%	420	2.72%	340	2.20%	15	0.10%	1,504	9.75%	15,431
Noble	2,707	54.27%	2,154	43.18%	28	0.56%	93	1.86%	6	0.12%	553	11.09%	4,988
Ottawa	2,202	39.48%	3,329	59.69%	25	0.45%	17	0.30%	4	0.07%	-1,127	-20.21%	5,577
Paulding	3,049	51.62%	2,767	46.84%	19	0.32%	63	1.07%	9	0.15%	282	4.77%	5,907
Perry	4,304	49.48%	3,885	44.67%	398	4.58%	102	1.17%	9	0.10%	419	4.82%	8,698
Pickaway	3,119	43.15%	4,007	55.43%	22	0.30%	76	1.05%	5	0.07%	-888	-12.28%	7,229
Pike	1,798	45.54%	2,085	52.81%	24	0.61%	34	0.86%	7	0.18%	-287	-7.27%	3,948
Portage	4,129	51.16%	3,625	44.91%	183	2.27%	127	1.57%	7	0.09%	504	6.24%	8,071
Preble	3,519	50.99%	3,247	47.05%	42	0.61%	90	1.30%	3	0.04%	272	3.94%	6,901
Putnam	2,483	33.17%	4,836	64.61%	95	1.27%	65	0.87%	6	0.08%	-2,353	-31.44%	7,485
Richland	5,301	43.01%	6,702	54.37%	213	1.73%	102	0.83%	8	0.06%	-1,401	-11.37%	12,326
Ross	5,432	49.69%	5,325	48.71%	89	0.81%	75	0.69%	10	0.09%	107	0.98%	10,931
Sandusky	4,079	42.74%	5,242	54.93%	172	1.80%	47	0.49%	3	0.03%	-1,163	-12.19%	9,543
Scioto	5,790	53.52%	4,310	39.84%	589	5.44%	119	1.10%	10	0.09%	1,480	13.68%	10,818
Seneca	4,959	43.08%	6,138	53.32%	307	2.67%	88	0.76%	20	0.17%	-1,179	-10.24%	11,512
Shelby	2,646	40.06%	3,879	58.73%	38	0.58%	38	0.58%	4	0.06%	-1,233	-18.67%	6,605
Stark	14,112	50.48%	12,286	43.95%	1,110	3.97%	405	1.45%	44	0.16%	1,826	6.53%	27,957
Summit	10,365	47.31%	9,930	45.32%	1,255	5.73%	328	1.50%	31	0.14%	435	1.99%	21,909
Trumbull	6,978	58.00%	4,476	37.20%	397	3.30%	165	1.37%	15	0.12%	2,502	20.80%	12,031
Tuscarawas	6,717	47.29%	6,775	47.69%	559	3.94%	120	0.84%	34	0.24%	-58	-0.41%	14,205
Union	3,567	57.04%	2,568	41.07%	31	0.50%	83	1.33%	4	0.06%	999	15.98%	6,253
Van Wert	3,809	49.28%	3,783	48.95%	77	1.00%	55	0.71%	5	0.06%	26	0.34%	7,729
Vinton	1,916	55.10%	1,496	43.03%	25	0.72%	32	0.92%	8	0.23%	420	12.08%	3,477
Warren	4,233	60.51%	2,656	37.96%	50	0.71%	53	0.76%	4	0.06%	1,577	22.54%	6,996
Washington	5,648	48.66%	5,771	49.72%	58	0.50%	126	1.09%	4	0.03%	-123	-1.06%	11,607
Wayne	4,388	43.51%	5,368	53.23%	149	1.48%	174	1.73%	5	0.05%	-980	-9.72%	10,084
Williams	3,625	50.84%	3,329	46.69%	60	0.84%	109	1.53%	7	0.10%	296	4.15%	7,130
Wood	5,904	49.57%	5,625	47.23%	209	1.75%	163	1.37%	9	0.08%	279	2.34%	11,910
Wyandot	2,408	41.36%	3,353	57.59%	32	0.55%	23	0.40%	6	0.10%	-945	-16.23%	5,822
Totals	572,312	51.03%	502,721	44.82%	33,795	3.01%	11,402	1.02%	1,322	0.12%	69,591	6.20%	1,121,552

See also

• United States presidential elections in Ohio

References

1. Phillips, Kevin P.; The Emerging Republican Majority, p. 343 ISBN 9780691163246
2. Flinn, Thomas A.; 'Continuity and Change in Ohio Politics'; The Journal of Politics, vol. 24, no. 3 (August 1962), pp. 521-544
3. Phillips; The Emerging Republican Majority, p. 352
4. Sullivan, James Casey; 'Against the Tendencies of the Times: The Republican Party and the Roots of Modern Conservatism, 1900-1930' (thesis), p. 93
5. 'Bryan Links Taft with Rockefeller: In Tour of Ohio He Makes Standard Oil Head and Carnegie His Chief Theme'; The New York Times, October 31, 1908, p. 3
6. 'Ohio Republicans Need Stirring Up: In Taft's Own State the Trend Is Now All Toward Bryan'; The New York Times, September 22, 1908, p. 2
7. 'Republicans Turn the Tide in Ohio: Bryan Wave, Which Threatened to Swamp Them, Is Now on the Ebb'; The New York Times, October 22, 1908, p. 4
8. Dave Leip's U.S. Election Atlas; 1908 Presidential General Election Results – Ohio
9. Géoelections; Popular Vote at the Presidential Election for 1908 (.xlsx file for €30 including full minor party figures)
10. Robinson, Edgar Eugene; The Presidential Vote 1896-1932, pp. 292-299 ISBN 9780804716963