United States presidential election in Idaho, 1896

United States presidential election in Idaho, 1896

November 3, 1896

Nominee William J. Bryan William McKinley Party Democratic Republican Home state Nebraska Ohio Running mate Arthur Sewall Garret Hobart Electoral vote 3 0 Popular vote 23,135 6,314 Percentage 78.10% 21.32%

President before election Grover Cleveland Democratic Elected President William McKinley Republican

Elections in Idaho
Federal government Presidential elections 1892 1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 Presidential primaries Democratic Caucuses 2008 Republican Primaries 2008 2012 U.S. Senate elections 1980 1986 1990 1992 1996 1998 2002 2004 2008 2010 2014 2016 U.S. House elections 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018
State government General elections 2014 Gubernatorial elections 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 State legislature elections 2006
Ballot measures Gubernatorial elections Amendment 2 Proposition 2

The 1896 United States presidential election in Idaho took place on November 3, 1896. All contemporary 45 states were part of the 1896 United States presidential election. Idaho voters chose three electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president.

Background

Idaho, upon its organization as a territory overwhelmingly Democratic,^[1] had been increasingly dominated by the Republican Party in the years leading up to statehood, as ex-Southern and Mormon mining settlers were increasingly outweighed by those from the Midwest.^[2] The state Democratic Party would regroup and its pro-silver, anti-Mormon faction under Marshal Fred T. Dubois would bring the state into the Union in the late 1880s.^[1]

Upon statehood, Idaho was shaken by a wave of strikes in the silver-mining regions^[3] and even deeper conflict whereby an idled ore concentrator was destroyed in Gem.^[4] This, alongside opposition to Republican Governor Norman Bushnell Willey’s declaration of martial law upon the miners, and against the absentee ownership of Idaho’s land and water,^[5] would turn the state’s electorate strongly towards the Populist leader James B. Weaver, who carried the state in 1892 in an election where Gold Democrat and former President Grover Cleveland was not even on the ballot.

As the 1896 election approached, it was clear that silver politics would be the determining factor in Idaho’s vote,^[6] and that the state would not vote for any candidate opposing free silver. Senator Fred T. Dubois, who had been a critical player in giving Idaho statehood,^[1] confirmed this in June. When William Jennings Bryan gained the Democratic nomination on a platform favouring the coinage of silver at 16:1 relative to gold, the Populist Party supported him throughout the country.^[7] To absolutely squash any doubts as to where Idaho’s electoral votes would go, Dubois, realizing the vital importance, of silver, crossed lines to make Bryan the “Republican”^{[lower-alpha 1]} candidate,^[8] although the Republican State Convention was to endorse and place on the ballot national nominees William McKinley and Garrett Hobart.^[9]

Vote

Idaho was won by the Democratic/Populist nominees, William Jennings Bryan of Nebraska and his running mate Arthur Sewall of Maine. Bryan won every county, and only in three of twenty-one did McKinley crack a quarter of the vote. Despite half a century of overwhelming Republican dominance, no presidential nominee had equalled Bryan’s performance in the state.

Results

Notes

References