After being overwhelmingly carried by William Jennings Bryan in its first presidential election from its statehood year of 1896, Utah was to vote Republican by increasing margins in the followingthreeelections, with only Washington County in the Dixie region voting Democratic in 1904 and 1908. By 1909, there were just two Democrats in the state legislature – a number fewer than any other state except Michigan during the middle 1900s and 1920s.
However, during William Howard Taft's presidency, his predecessor Theodore Roosevelt became bitterly opposed to his policies on foreign affairs and the opening of public lands to private concerns.[1] and thus decided to run in Republican primaries. Roosevelt's personal popularity and a powerful speaking tour was sufficient for him to "steamroll" through primaries, but Taft was able to prevail as the Republican nominee through traditional machine and party tactics.[2] Reformers bolted the Republicans and formed the "Progressive" or "Bull Moose" Party with Roosevelt as standard-bearer. Taft – already unpopular with the public and not enjoying being President[3] – decided to run, not in expectation of being re-elected but rather to preserve the GOP apparatus for future conservative action.[4]
Because Taft made no efforts to campaign, he lost easily in most states; however, in Utah, a powerful political machine under long-serving senator and Mormon ApostleReed Smoot had been developed to counter the anti-Mormon "American Party", which had become the effective opposition to the Republicans in local elections and had elected mayors in Salt Lake City.[1] Combined with a very prosperous rural economy in both the farming and mining sectors, this produced strong loyalty among local Mormon communities to Taft,[5] who was also supported by the local Mormon and non-Mormon press. Those supporting Roosevelt were viewed as "insincere" and as "office-seekers", although latterly such press criticism was toned down.[1]
Taft was thus able to hold the state, with the maintenance of tariffs being critical for the 52 percent of Utahans who were farmers in 1912. Wilson and Roosevelt were most successful in the remote, less Mormon areas east of the Wasatch Mountains, and in some urban areas with more progressive tendencies. Socialist Eugene Debs, in the most successful of his five presidential campaigns, obtained eight percent of the vote but did much better than this in some mining areas.
Utah became one of the only two states to vote for Taft in 1912, the other being Vermont, and with 37.46% of the popular vote made the state his strongest victory in the election.[6] This was the last presidential election until 1960 in which Utah did not back the national winner, and remains the last time the state voted differently than neighboring Idaho.
Results
1912 United States presidential election in Utah[7][a]
^ abcdIn the county where Roosevelt ran second ahead of Wilson, margin given is Taft vote minus Roosevelt vote and percentage margin Taft percentage minus Roosevelt percentage.
^In this county where Taft ran third behind both Wilson and Roosevelt, margin given is Wilson vote minus Roosevelt vote and eprcentage margin Wilson percentage minus Roosevelt percentage.
References
^ abcWahlquist, C. Austin; ‘The 1912 Presidential Election in Utah’ (A Thesis Presented to the Department of History, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah)
^Kraig, Robert Alexander; 'The 1912 Election and the Rhetorical Foundations of the Liberal State', Rhetoric and Public Affairs, Vol. 3, No. 3 (Fall 2000), pp.. 365-366
^Conlin, Joseph R.; The American Past: A Survey of American History, Volume II: Since 1865, Volume 2, p. 607 ISBN113394664X
^Craig; 'The 1912 Election and the Rhetorical Foundation of the Liberal State', p. 368
^See Sarasohn, David; 'The Election of 1916: Realigning the Rockies', Western Historical Quarterly, Vol. 11, No. 3 (July 1980), pp. 285-305
^"1912 Presidential Election Statistics". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
^. Géoelections. Archived from the original on 2018-06-13. Retrieved 2017-06-06.
February 15, 2023
1912, united, states, presidential, election, utah, main, article, 1912, united, states, presidential, election, held, november, 1912, part, 1912, united, states, presidential, election, state, voters, chose, four, representatives, electors, electoral, college. Main article 1912 United States presidential election The 1912 United States presidential election in Utah was held on November 5 1912 as part of the 1912 United States presidential election State voters chose four representatives or electors to the Electoral College who voted for president and vice president 1912 United States presidential election in Utah 1908 November 5 1912 1916 Nominee William Howard Taft Woodrow WilsonParty Republican DemocraticHome state Ohio New JerseyRunning mate Nicholas M Butler Thomas R MarshallElectoral vote 4 0Popular vote 42 013 36 579Percentage 37 42 32 58 Nominee Theodore Roosevelt Eugene V DebsParty Progressive SocialistHome state New York IndianaRunning mate Hiram Johnson Emil SeidelElectoral vote 0 0Popular vote 24 174 8 999Percentage 21 53 8 02 County Results Taft 30 40 40 50 50 60 60 70 70 80 Wilson 30 40 40 50 50 60 Roosevelt 30 40 President before electionWilliam Howard TaftRepublican Elected President Woodrow WilsonDemocratic Contents 1 Background 2 Results 2 1 Results by county 3 See also 4 Notes 5 ReferencesBackground EditAfter being overwhelmingly carried by William Jennings Bryan in its first presidential election from its statehood year of 1896 Utah was to vote Republican by increasing margins in the following three elections with only Washington County in the Dixie region voting Democratic in 1904 and 1908 By 1909 there were just two Democrats in the state legislature a number fewer than any other state except Michigan during the middle 1900s and 1920s However during William Howard Taft s presidency his predecessor Theodore Roosevelt became bitterly opposed to his policies on foreign affairs and the opening of public lands to private concerns 1 and thus decided to run in Republican primaries Roosevelt s personal popularity and a powerful speaking tour was sufficient for him to steamroll through primaries but Taft was able to prevail as the Republican nominee through traditional machine and party tactics 2 Reformers bolted the Republicans and formed the Progressive or Bull Moose Party with Roosevelt as standard bearer Taft already unpopular with the public and not enjoying being President 3 decided to run not in expectation of being re elected but rather to preserve the GOP apparatus for future conservative action 4 Because Taft made no efforts to campaign he lost easily in most states however in Utah a powerful political machine under long serving senator and Mormon Apostle Reed Smoot had been developed to counter the anti Mormon American Party which had become the effective opposition to the Republicans in local elections and had elected mayors in Salt Lake City 1 Combined with a very prosperous rural economy in both the farming and mining sectors this produced strong loyalty among local Mormon communities to Taft 5 who was also supported by the local Mormon and non Mormon press Those supporting Roosevelt were viewed as insincere and as office seekers although latterly such press criticism was toned down 1 Taft was thus able to hold the state with the maintenance of tariffs being critical for the 52 percent of Utahans who were farmers in 1912 Wilson and Roosevelt were most successful in the remote less Mormon areas east of the Wasatch Mountains and in some urban areas with more progressive tendencies Socialist Eugene Debs in the most successful of his five presidential campaigns obtained eight percent of the vote but did much better than this in some mining areas Utah became one of the only two states to vote for Taft in 1912 the other being Vermont and with 37 46 of the popular vote made the state his strongest victory in the election 6 This was the last presidential election until 1960 in which Utah did not back the national winner and remains the last time the state voted differently than neighboring Idaho Results Edit1912 United States presidential election in Utah 7 a Party Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votesRepublican William Howard Taft incumbent 42 013 37 42 4Democratic Woodrow Wilson 36 579 32 58 0Progressive Theodore Roosevelt 24 174 21 53 0Socialist Eugene V Debs 8 999 8 02 0Socialist Labor Arthur E Reimer 510 0 45 0Totals 112 275 100 00 4Results by county Edit County William Howard TaftRepublican Thomas Woodrow WilsonDemocratic Theodore RooseveltProgressive Eugene Victor DebsSocialist Arthur Elmer ReimerSocialist Labor Margin Total votes cast Beaver 672 39 79 602 35 64 307 18 18 106 6 28 2 0 12 70 4 15 1 689Box Elder 1 648 40 58 1 402 34 52 936 23 05 75 1 85 0 0 00 246 6 06 4 061Cache 2 821 37 91 3 296 44 29 1 173 15 76 132 1 77 20 0 27 475 6 38 7 442Carbon 783 35 67 514 23 42 541 24 65 350 15 95 7 0 32 242 b 11 02 2 195Davis 1 283 44 15 1 142 39 30 460 15 83 20 0 69 1 0 03 141 4 85 2 906Emery 762 37 10 760 37 00 336 16 36 190 9 25 6 0 29 2 0 10 2 054Garfield 673 62 60 249 23 16 128 11 91 23 2 14 2 0 19 424 39 44 1 075Grand 190 33 63 212 37 52 118 20 88 45 7 96 0 0 00 22 3 89 565Iron 690 49 57 544 39 08 63 4 53 94 6 75 1 0 07 146 10 49 1 392Juab 1 167 35 27 985 29 77 344 10 40 803 24 27 10 0 30 182 5 50 3 309Kane 429 75 40 115 20 21 20 3 51 5 0 88 0 0 00 314 55 19 569Millard 970 41 08 865 36 64 397 16 81 124 5 25 5 0 21 105 4 44 2 361Morgan 318 36 64 233 26 84 273 31 45 44 5 07 0 0 00 45 b 5 19 868Piute 206 37 52 110 20 04 146 26 59 87 15 85 0 0 00 60 b 10 93 549Rich 328 48 88 238 35 47 100 14 90 5 0 75 0 0 00 90 13 41 671Salt Lake 12 691 35 10 10 468 28 95 8 899 24 61 3 792 10 49 308 0 85 2 223 6 15 36 158San Juan 145 37 08 146 37 34 96 24 55 4 1 02 0 0 00 1 0 26 391Sanpete 2 489 42 00 1 984 33 48 1 272 21 46 171 2 89 10 0 17 505 8 52 5 926Sevier 1 451 41 90 915 26 42 807 23 30 286 8 26 4 0 12 536 15 48 3 463Summit 1 294 44 13 983 33 53 425 14 50 226 7 71 4 0 14 311 10 60 2 932Tooele 950 44 25 646 30 09 261 12 16 282 13 13 8 0 37 304 14 16 2 147Uintah 544 28 36 566 29 51 641 33 42 165 8 60 2 0 10 75 c 3 91 1 918Utah 4 175 35 38 4 636 39 29 2 295 19 45 666 5 64 27 0 23 461 3 91 11 799Wasatch 1 191 41 41 957 33 28 432 15 02 288 10 01 8 0 28 234 8 13 2 876Washington 712 43 60 842 51 56 72 4 41 6 0 37 1 0 06 130 7 96 1 633Wayne 283 52 12 183 33 70 24 4 42 53 9 76 0 0 00 100 18 42 543Weber 3 148 29 19 2 986 27 69 3 608 33 46 957 8 88 84 0 78 460 b 4 27 10 783Totals 42 013 37 42 36 579 32 58 24 174 21 53 8 999 8 02 510 0 45 5 434 4 84 112 275See also EditUnited States presidential elections in Utah 1912 United States presidential election in Vermont President William Howard Taft s other sole win in 1912Notes Edit There are some differences between these figures and those given in Dave Leip s Atlas of U S Presidential Elections for both the state as a whole and counties Notably Leip s figures have both Emery County and San Juan County as tied a b c d In the county where Roosevelt ran second ahead of Wilson margin given is Taft vote minus Roosevelt vote and percentage margin Taft percentage minus Roosevelt percentage In this county where Taft ran third behind both Wilson and Roosevelt margin given is Wilson vote minus Roosevelt vote and eprcentage margin Wilson percentage minus Roosevelt percentage References Edit a b c Wahlquist C Austin The 1912 Presidential Election in Utah A Thesis Presented to the Department of History Brigham Young University Provo Utah Kraig Robert Alexander The 1912 Election and the Rhetorical Foundations of the Liberal State Rhetoric and Public Affairs Vol 3 No 3 Fall 2000 pp 365 366 Conlin Joseph R The American Past A Survey of American History Volume II Since 1865 Volume 2 p 607 ISBN 113394664X Craig The 1912 Election and the Rhetorical Foundation of the Liberal State p 368 See Sarasohn David The Election of 1916 Realigning the Rockies Western Historical Quarterly Vol 11 No 3 July 1980 pp 285 305 1912 Presidential Election Statistics Dave Leip s Atlas of U S Presidential Elections Retrieved 2018 03 05 Presidential Election of 1912 Map by Counties xlsx file for 15 Geoelections Archived from the original on 2018 06 13 Retrieved 2017 06 06 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 1912 United States presidential election in Utah amp oldid 1120807013, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
