1916 United States presidential election in Michigan

Main article: 1916 United States presidential election

The 1916 United States presidential election in Michigan took place on November 7, 1916, as part of the 1916 United States presidential election. Voters chose 15^[1] representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

1916 United States presidential election in Michigan

← 1912 November 7, 1916 1920 →
All 15 Michigan votes to the Electoral College
Nominee Charles Evans Hughes Woodrow Wilson Party Republican Democratic Home state New York New Jersey Running mate Charles W. Fairbanks Thomas R. Marshall Electoral vote 15 0 Popular vote 339,097 286,775 Percentage 52.09% 44.05%
County Results Hughes   40-50%   50-60%   60-70%   70-80% Wilson   40-50%   50-60%
President before election Woodrow Wilson Democratic Elected President Woodrow Wilson Democratic

Following the Panic of 1893 and the Populist movement, Michigan would turn from a competitive Republican-leaning state into a rigidly one-party polity dominated by the Republican Party.^[2] The dominance of the culture of the Lower Peninsula by anti-slavery Yankees^[3] would be augmented by the turn of formerly Democratic-leaning German Catholics away from that party as a result of the remodelled party's agrarian and free silver sympathies, which became rigidly opposed by both the upper class and workers who followed them.^[4] The state Democratic Party was further crippled via the Populist movement severing its critical financial ties with business and commerce in Michigan as in other Northern states.^[5] A brief turn of the strongly evangelical Cabinet Counties toward the Populist movement in the 1896 presidential election would reverse itself following the return to prosperity under President William McKinley, so that these joined in Republican hegemony until the Great Depression.

In the 1894 elections, the Democratic Party lost all but one seat in the Michigan legislature,^[6] and over the four ensuing decades the party would never make major gains there.^[2] Unlike the other states of the Upper Midwest, the Yankee influence on the culture of the Lower Peninsula was so strong that left-wing third parties did not provide significant opposition to the Republicans, nor was there more than a moderate degree of coordinated factionalism within the hegemonic Michigan Republican Party.^[7]

Aided by the support of incumbent Governor Chase Osborn^[8] and state party leader Frank Knox,^[9] “Bull Moose” nominee Theodore Roosevelt would carry Michigan by a double-digit margin over conservative incumbent Taft in 1912. However, Roosevelt's personal interests took over from developing his party after the election,^[10] and after voting on the first ballot for favorite son Henry Ford due to his strong desire to keep America out of World War I,^[11] Michigan's Republicans would soon shift their support in the national convention to eventual nominee Charles Evans Hughes.^[12]

At the beginning of the campaign, Michigan, where Republicans had regained their customary near-monopoly of House and state legislative seats in 1914, was seen by the Hughes campaign as a safe state.^[13] However, early polls, taken only from rural areas of Central Michigan, indicated Wilson was receiving a substantial proportion of the 1912 “Bull Moose” vote.^[14] No further polls would be taken in the state, and in the end Hughes won slightly more than 52 percent of the popular vote.^[15]

Results

1916 United States presidential election in Michigan

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Charles E. Hughes	339,097	52.09%
	Democratic	Woodrow Wilson (inc.)	286,775	44.05%
	Socialist	Allan L. Benson	16,120	2.48%
	Prohibition	Frank Hanly	8,139	1.25%
	Socialist Labor	Arthur E. Reimer	842	0.13%
Total votes			650,973	100%

Results by county

1916 United States presidential election in Michigan by county

County	Charles Evans Hughes Republican		Thomas Woodrow Wilson Democratic		Allan Louis Benson Socialist		James Franklin Hanly Prohibition		Arthur Elmer Reimer Socialist Labor		Margin		Total votes cast[16]
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Alcona	573	53.20%	453	42.06%	38	3.53%	10	0.93%	3	0.28%	120	11.14%	1,077
Alger	687	48.31%	650	45.71%	55	3.87%	24	1.69%	6	0.42%	37	2.60%	1,422
Allegan	4,803	54.81%	3,591	40.98%	223	2.54%	136	1.55%	10	0.11%	1,212	13.83%	8,763
Alpena	2,020	57.93%	1,392	39.92%	61	1.75%	12	0.34%	2	0.06%	628	18.01%	3,487
Antrim	1,336	53.91%	932	37.61%	150	6.05%	52	2.10%	8	0.32%	404	16.30%	2,478
Arenac	911	46.86%	938	48.25%	59	3.03%	32	1.65%	4	0.21%	-27	-1.39%	1,944
Baraga	748	57.19%	462	35.32%	88	6.73%	8	0.61%	2	0.15%	286	21.87%	1,308
Barry	3,157	53.82%	2,491	42.47%	112	1.91%	99	1.69%	7	0.12%	666	11.35%	5,866
Bay	6,708	51.09%	5,996	45.67%	317	2.41%	66	0.50%	43	0.33%	712	5.42%	13,130
Benzie	900	47.19%	770	40.38%	159	8.34%	64	3.36%	14	0.73%	130	6.82%	1,907
Berrien	7,511	53.68%	6,054	43.27%	231	1.65%	132	0.94%	63	0.45%	1,457	10.41%	13,991
Branch	3,100	48.77%	3,062	48.17%	93	1.46%	98	1.54%	3	0.05%	38	0.60%	6,356
Calhoun	6,484	42.07%	8,037	52.15%	648	4.20%	194	1.26%	49	0.32%	-1,553	-10.08%	15,412
Cass	2,518	46.67%	2,666	49.42%	142	2.63%	60	1.11%	9	0.17%	-148	-2.74%	5,395
Charlevoix	1,877	54.72%	1,152	33.59%	307	8.95%	70	2.04%	24	0.70%	725	21.14%	3,430
Cheboygan	1,576	51.17%	1,389	45.10%	89	2.89%	21	0.68%	5	0.16%	187	6.07%	3,080
Chippewa	2,365	54.64%	1,768	40.85%	140	3.23%	47	1.09%	8	0.18%	597	13.79%	4,328
Clare	1,049	54.38%	769	39.87%	76	3.94%	33	1.71%	2	0.10%	280	14.52%	1,929
Clinton	3,381	60.60%	2,094	37.53%	39	0.70%	64	1.15%	1	0.02%	1,287	23.07%	5,579
Crawford	409	46.21%	450	50.85%	19	2.15%	6	0.68%	1	0.11%	-41	-4.63%	885
Delta	3,088	59.74%	1,781	34.46%	244	4.72%	40	0.77%	16	0.31%	1,307	25.29%	5,169
Dickinson	2,393	60.63%	1,291	32.71%	213	5.40%	43	1.09%	7	0.18%	1,102	27.92%	3,947
Eaton	3,802	50.82%	3,461	46.26%	107	1.43%	97	1.30%	14	0.19%	341	4.56%	7,481
Emmet	1,724	50.28%	1,363	39.75%	290	8.46%	45	1.31%	7	0.20%	361	10.53%	3,429
Genesee	9,353	48.42%	9,311	48.21%	416	2.15%	197	1.02%	38	0.20%	42	0.22%	19,315
Gladwin	935	52.88%	729	41.23%	62	3.51%	36	2.04%	6	0.34%	206	11.65%	1,768
Gogebic	2,204	55.04%	1,540	38.46%	123	3.07%	128	3.20%	9	0.22%	664	16.58%	4,004
Grand Traverse	1,917	45.81%	1,848	44.16%	331	7.91%	63	1.51%	26	0.62%	69	1.65%	4,185
Gratiot	3,434	52.16%	2,960	44.96%	60	0.91%	121	1.84%	9	0.14%	474	7.20%	6,584
Hillsdale	3,463	48.69%	3,424	48.14%	43	0.60%	178	2.50%	5	0.07%	39	0.55%	7,113
Houghton	8,013	60.18%	4,615	34.66%	273	2.05%	401	3.01%	14	0.11%	3,398	25.52%	13,316
Huron	4,743	70.85%	1,816	27.13%	74	1.11%	59	0.88%	2	0.03%	2,927	43.73%	6,694
Ingham	7,846	47.76%	7,664	46.65%	623	3.79%	235	1.43%	59	0.36%	182	1.11%	16,427
Ionia	3,950	48.36%	3,911	47.88%	139	1.70%	159	1.95%	9	0.11%	39	0.48%	8,168
Iosco	984	56.00%	729	41.49%	24	1.37%	19	1.08%	1	0.06%	255	14.51%	1,757
Iron	2,139	67.54%	877	27.69%	125	3.95%	21	0.66%	5	0.16%	1,262	39.85%	3,167
Isabella	2,700	53.91%	2,143	42.79%	73	1.46%	87	1.74%	5	0.10%	557	11.12%	5,008
Jackson	6,938	44.96%	8,058	52.22%	203	1.32%	219	1.42%	14	0.09%	-1,120	-7.26%	15,432
Kalamazoo	5,951	41.99%	7,164	50.55%	794	5.60%	243	1.71%	21	0.15%	-1,213	-8.56%	14,173
Kalkaska	724	57.46%	430	34.13%	80	6.35%	20	1.59%	6	0.48%	294	23.33%	1,260
Kent	16,095	42.46%	20,364	53.73%	939	2.48%	502	1.32%	3	0.01%	-4,269	-11.26%	37,903
Keweenaw	860	77.97%	194	17.59%	21	1.90%	26	2.36%	2	0.18%	666	60.38%	1,103
Lake	588	60.68%	347	35.81%	29	2.99%	5	0.52%	0	0.00%	241	24.87%	969
Lapeer	3,345	61.77%	1,937	35.77%	23	0.42%	101	1.87%	9	0.17%	1,408	26.00%	5,415
Leelanau	984	53.89%	763	41.79%	56	3.07%	21	1.15%	2	0.11%	221	12.10%	1,826
Lenawee	6,247	52.01%	5,519	45.95%	78	0.65%	159	1.32%	9	0.07%	728	6.06%	12,012
Livingston	2,460	50.88%	2,297	47.51%	9	0.19%	65	1.34%	4	0.08%	163	3.37%	4,835
Luce	527	65.30%	257	31.85%	6	0.74%	17	2.11%	0	0.00%	270	33.46%	807
Mackinac	1,082	53.38%	908	44.80%	31	1.53%	6	0.30%	0	0.00%	174	8.58%	2,027
Macomb	4,552	58.33%	3,108	39.83%	42	0.54%	93	1.19%	9	0.12%	1,444	18.50%	7,804
Manistee	2,360	50.17%	2,177	46.28%	106	2.25%	52	1.11%	9	0.19%	183	3.89%	4,704
Marquette	5,263	63.18%	2,625	31.51%	331	3.97%	98	1.18%	13	0.16%	2,638	31.67%	8,330
Mason	2,198	53.17%	1,689	40.86%	175	4.23%	72	1.74%	0	0.00%	509	12.31%	4,134
Mecosta	2,455	57.37%	1,478	34.54%	255	5.96%	84	1.96%	7	0.16%	977	22.83%	4,279
Menominee	2,671	56.93%	1,854	39.51%	117	2.49%	48	1.02%	2	0.04%	817	17.41%	4,692
Midland	2,104	57.82%	1,454	39.96%	60	1.65%	15	0.41%	6	0.16%	650	17.86%	3,639
Missaukee	1,160	54.46%	917	43.05%	26	1.22%	25	1.17%	2	0.09%	243	11.41%	2,130
Monroe	3,787	46.64%	4,202	51.76%	47	0.58%	82	1.01%	1	0.01%	-415	-5.11%	8,119
Montcalm	3,894	56.00%	2,801	40.28%	108	1.55%	140	2.01%	10	0.14%	1,093	15.72%	6,953
Montmorency	396	54.25%	272	37.26%	54	7.40%	7	0.96%	1	0.14%	124	16.99%	730
Muskegon	5,692	52.16%	4,465	40.91%	601	5.51%	128	1.17%	27	0.25%	1,227	11.24%	10,913
Newaygo	2,417	58.27%	1,625	39.18%	0	0.00%	90	2.17%	16	0.39%	792	19.09%	4,148
Oakland	7,730	51.86%	6,659	44.67%	292	1.96%	200	1.34%	25	0.17%	1,071	7.19%	14,906
Oceana	1,957	54.27%	1,387	38.46%	170	4.71%	82	2.27%	10	0.28%	570	15.81%	3,606
Ogemaw	878	51.20%	743	43.32%	42	2.45%	51	2.97%	1	0.06%	135	7.87%	1,715
Ontonagon	1,235	54.29%	888	39.03%	122	5.36%	25	1.10%	5	0.22%	347	15.25%	2,275
Osceola	2,193	61.90%	1,285	36.27%	18	0.51%	47	1.33%	0	0.00%	908	25.63%	3,543
Oscoda	245	56.98%	175	40.70%	5	1.16%	5	1.16%	0	0.00%	70	16.28%	430
Otsego	531	49.17%	519	48.06%	9	0.83%	16	1.48%	5	0.46%	12	1.11%	1,080
Ottawa	5,484	56.19%	3,941	40.38%	244	2.50%	85	0.87%	6	0.06%	1,543	15.81%	9,760
Presque Isle	1,407	61.52%	806	35.24%	60	2.62%	8	0.35%	6	0.26%	601	26.28%	2,287
Roscommon	311	53.44%	239	41.07%	24	4.12%	3	0.52%	5	0.86%	72	12.37%	582
Saginaw	9,544	51.70%	8,434	45.69%	312	1.69%	144	0.78%	27	0.15%	1,110	6.01%	18,461
Sanilac	4,639	69.62%	1,867	28.02%	38	0.57%	117	1.76%	2	0.03%	2,772	41.60%	6,663
Schoolcraft	994	58.96%	623	36.95%	45	2.67%	15	0.89%	9	0.53%	371	22.00%	1,686
Shiawassee	3,926	51.29%	3,308	43.22%	180	2.35%	233	3.04%	7	0.09%	618	8.07%	7,654
St. Clair	6,538	57.39%	4,617	40.53%	129	1.13%	99	0.87%	9	0.08%	1,921	16.86%	11,392
St. Joseph	3,132	45.01%	3,567	51.26%	191	2.74%	62	0.89%	7	0.10%	-435	-6.25%	6,959
Tuscola	4,461	63.49%	2,329	33.15%	52	0.74%	171	2.43%	13	0.19%	2,132	30.34%	7,026
Van Buren	4,302	55.32%	3,225	41.47%	167	2.15%	66	0.85%	16	0.21%	1,077	13.85%	7,776
Washtenaw	6,505	54.09%	5,279	43.90%	136	1.13%	106	0.88%	0	0.00%	1,226	10.19%	12,026
Wayne	70,056	51.82%	60,935	45.08%	3,204	2.37%	980	0.72%	9	0.01%	9,121	6.75%	135,184
Wexford	2,333	55.21%	1,683	39.82%	115	2.72%	95	2.25%	0	0.00%	650	15.38%	4,226
Totals	339,097	52.09%	286,775	44.05%	16,120	2.48%	8,139	1.25%	842	0.13%	52,322	8.04%	650,973

Analysis

Despite Hughes’ comfortable win, incumbent President Woodrow Wilson did nonetheless achieve the best performance in Michigan by a Democrat since Grover Cleveland in 1888.^[17] Wilson improved seventeen percent on his 1912 showing when he finished third behind both Roosevelt and Taft, with most of his gains occurring in the heavily evangelical cabinet counties of the southern part of the state. Wilson was the first Democrat to ever carry Kalamazoo County.^[18] This was the last time the Republican candidate won Michigan without carrying Kent County - the home of Grand Rapids, until Donald Trump did so in 2024. This is the last time a Democrat won two terms without ever carrying the state.

See also

• United States presidential elections in Michigan

References

1. "1916 Election for the Thirty-Third Term (1917-1921)". Retrieved April 3, 2018.
2. Burnham, Walter Dean (December 23, 1981). "The System of 1896: An Analysis". The Evolution of American Electoral Systems. Bloomsbury Academic. pp. 178–179. ISBN 0313213798.
3. English, Gustavus P.; Proceedings of the Ninth Republican National Convention (1888), p. 234
4. Sundquist, James (December 2010). Politics and Policy: The Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson Years. Brookings Institution Press. p. 526. ISBN 978-0815719090.
5. Rogowski, Ronald (2020). Commerce and Coalitions: How Trade Affects Domestic Political Alignments. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0691219431.
6. "Swamped! The Democrats Drowned Out by a Tremendous Republican Tidal Wave". The L'Anse Sentinel. L'Anse. November 10, 1894. p. 1.
7. Hansen, John Mark; Shigeo, Hirano; Snyder Jr., James M. (February 27, 2017). "Parties within Parties: Parties, Factions, and Coordinated Politics, 1900-1980". In Gerber, Alan S.; Schickler, Eric (eds.). Governing in a Polarized Age: Elections, Parties, and Political Representation in America. Cambridge University Press. pp. 165–168. ISBN 978-1-107-09509-0.
8. Pavord, Andrew C. (Summer 1996). "The Gamble for Power: Theodore Roosevelt's Decision to Run for the Presidency in 1912". Presidential Studies Quarterly. 26 (3): 633–647.
9. Mark, Steven Macdonald (1977). An American Interventionist: Frank Knox and United States Foreign Relations (Thesis). pp. 32–55.
10. Gould, Lewis L. The First Modern Clash over Federal Power: Wilson versus Hughes in the Presidential Election of 1916. p. 12.
11. Lovell, S.D. (1980). The Presidential Election of 1916. Southern Illinois University Press. p. 28. ISBN 0809309653.
12. Lovell; The Presidential Election of 1916
13. Gould; The First Modern Clash over Federal Power, p. 78
14. "Greatest Statesman We Have Ever Had — So Says Luther Burbank, Famous Scientist, of Wilson". Telegraph-Forum+date=September 22, 1916. Bucyrus, Ohio.
15. "1916 Presidential General Election Results — Michigan". Retrieved April 3, 2018.
16. Michigan Secretary of State; Michigan Manual (1917); pp. 714–715 (county totals), 739 (statewide totals)
17. "Presidential General Election Results Comparison — Michigan". Dave Leip’s U.S. Election Atlas.
18. Menendez, Albert J. (2005). The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004. McFarland. pp. 222–227. ISBN 0786422173.