1908 United States presidential election in Utah

The 1908 United States presidential election in Utah was held on November 3, 1908, throughout all forty-six contemporary states as part of the 1908 United States presidential election. State voters chose three representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president. This was the last election when Utah had the minimum three electoral votes as it would gain a second congressional district after the 1910 Census.

1908 United States presidential election in Utah

November 3, 1908

Nominee William Howard Taft William Jennings Bryan Party Republican Democratic Home state Ohio Nebraska Running mate James S. Sherman John Worth Kern Electoral vote 3 0 Popular vote 61,165 42,637 Percentage 56.23% 39.19%

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

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

Background

Although Democrat/Populist Bryan had carried Utah in its debut presidential election by a five-to-one margin, the Republican Party – ditching ancestral hostility to the state's dominant Mormon religion[1] – was soon able to take control of the state, despite a threat from the anti-Mormon "American Party" in urban areas with sizeable non-Mormon ("Gentile") populations.[2] In its third election of 1904, the Beehive State had given a virtual two-to-one majority for Theodore Roosevelt against New York Democrat Alton B. Parker, who carried only Dixie's Washington County.

Believing that the election could only be won in the West and Midwest,[3] Bryan – who had had no trouble winning a third Democratic nomination – chose Indiana's John Worth Kern as his running mate. However, although many in the media supported the election of Bryan and praised his policies, the rapid recovery from the "Panic of 1907" meant that Bryan struggled severely in the Progressive-minded Western States once campaigning began.[4]

The antagonism towards Bryan of business meant that Taft had little trouble repeating Theodore Roosevelt's triumph of 1904, although Bryan was able to cut Alton Parker's losing margin from 29 to 17 percentage points. A powerful socialist movement in mining districts[5] failed to equal Debs' support from the 1904 election as his policies were not considered feasible or were co-opted by the two major parties.[4] Taft was further helped by the unseating of delegates for Bryan as a result of conflict between pro- and anti-Mormon factions.[6]

Results

1908 United States presidential election in Utah[7][lower-alpha 1]
Party		Candidate	Running mate	Popular vote		Electoral vote
				Count	%	Count	%
	Republican	William Howard Taft of Ohio	James Schoolcraft Sherman of New York	61,165	56.23%	3	100.00%
	Democratic	William Jennings Bryan of Nebraska	John Worth Kern of Indiana	42,637	39.19%	0	0.00%
	Socialist	Eugene Victor Debs of Indiana	Ben Hanford of New York	4,890	4.50%	0	0.00%
	Independence	Thomas Louis Hisgen of Massachusetts	John Temple Graves of Georgia	92	0.08%	0	0.00%
Total				108,784	100.00%	3	100.00%

Results by county

County	William Howard Taft Republican		William Jennings Bryan Democratic		Eugene Victor Debs[8] Socialist		Thomas Hisgen[8] Independence		Margin		Total votes cast[7]
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Beaver	945	55.13%	741	43.23%	27	1.58%	1	0.06%	204	11.90%	1,714
Box Elder	2,401	62.20%	1,417	36.71%	40	1.04%	2	0.05%	984	25.49%	3,860
Cache	3,795	52.86%	3,317	46.20%	64	0.89%	3	0.04%	478	6.66%	7,179
Carbon	1,027	59.92%	581	33.90%	106	6.18%	0	0.00%	446	26.02%	1,714
Davis	1,740	55.95%	1,331	42.80%	34	1.09%	5	0.16%	409	13.15%	3,110
Emery	1,098	54.76%	749	37.36%	158	7.88%	0	0.00%	349	17.41%	2,005
Garfield	878	72.03%	299	24.53%	42	3.45%	0	0.00%	579	47.50%	1,219
Grand	233	48.85%	215	45.07%	24	5.03%	5	1.05%	18	3.77%	477
Iron	718	56.01%	488	38.07%	76	5.93%	0	0.00%	230	17.94%	1,282
Juab	1,619	48.46%	1,421	42.53%	300	8.98%	1	0.03%	198	5.93%	3,341
Kane	414	79.77%	102	19.65%	3	0.58%	0	0.00%	312	60.12%	519
Millard	1,004	55.56%	765	42.34%	38	2.10%	0	0.00%	239	13.23%	1,807
Morgan	490	57.99%	306	36.21%	49	5.80%	0	0.00%	184	21.78%	845
Piute	332	56.46%	157	26.70%	98	16.67%	1	0.17%	175	29.76%	588
Rich	427	59.55%	285	39.75%	0	0.00%	5	0.70%	142	19.80%	717
Salt Lake	20,755	57.96%	12,954	36.18%	2,059	5.75%	41	0.11%	7,801	21.79%	35,809
San Juan	131	53.25%	109	44.31%	3	1.22%	3	1.22%	22	8.94%	246
Sanpete	3,333	57.77%	2,307	39.99%	128	2.22%	1	0.02%	1,026	17.78%	5,769
Sevier	1,777	54.90%	1,272	39.30%	187	5.78%	1	0.03%	505	15.60%	3,237
Summit	1,612	50.84%	1,402	44.21%	148	4.67%	9	0.28%	210	6.62%	3,171
Tooele	1,106	56.03%	808	40.93%	59	2.99%	1	0.05%	298	15.10%	1,974
Uintah	782	48.57%	683	42.42%	145	9.01%	0	0.00%	99	6.15%	1,610
Utah	6,390	54.88%	4,984	42.81%	267	2.29%	2	0.02%	1,406	12.08%	11,643
Wasatch	1,265	53.83%	985	41.91%	98	4.17%	2	0.09%	280	11.91%	2,350
Washington	738	47.49%	810	52.12%	5	0.32%	1	0.06%	-72	-4.63%	1,554
Wayne	276	49.64%	184	33.09%	96	17.27%	0	0.00%	92	16.55%	556
Weber	5,879	56.05%	3,965	37.81%	636	6.06%	8	0.08%	1,914	18.25%	10,488
Total	61,165	56.23%	42,637	39.19%	4,890	4.50%	92	0.08%	18,528	17.03%	108,784

Notes

1. These results differ slightly from those in Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections

References

1. Peterson, Charles S.; Utah: A History; pp. 163-164 ISBN 0393302210
2. Wahlquist, C. Austin; 'The 1912 Presidential Election in Utah' (A Thesis Presented to the Department of History, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah)
3. Deskins, Donald Richard; Walton, Hanes and Puckett, Sherman C.; Presidential Elections, 1789-2008: County, State, and National Mapping of Election Data, p. 286 ISBN 0472116975
4. Hornig, Edgar A.; 'Campaign Issues in the Presidential Election of 1908'; Indiana Magazine of History, vol. 54, no. 3 (September 1958), pp. 237-264
5. Salvatore, Nick; Eugene V. Debs: Citizen and Socialist, p. 220 ISBN 0252011481
6. 'Both Parties Claim Northwest States: Republicans Seem to Have Best Chance in Wyoming and Colorado'; The New York Times, August 26, 1908, p. 4
7. Robinson, Edgar Eugene; The Presidential Vote; 1896-1932 (second edition); pp. 223-224 Published 1947 by Stanford University Press
8. Géoelections; Popular Vote at the Presidential Election for 1908 (.xlsx file for €30 including full minor party figures)