United States presidential election in Massachusetts, 1916

United States presidential election in Massachusetts, 1916
November 7, 1916

 
Nominee Charles E. Hughes Woodrow Wilson
Party Republican Democratic
Home state New York New Jersey
Running mate Charles W. Fairbanks Thomas R. Marshall
Electoral vote 18 0
Popular vote 268,784 247,885
Percentage 50.5% 46.6%
County Results
  Wilson – 50–60%
  Hughes – 50–60%
President before election

Woodrow Wilson
Democratic

 Elected President

Woodrow Wilson
Democratic

The 1916 United States presidential election in Massachusetts took place on November 7, 1916, as part of the 1916 United States presidential election, which was held throughout all contemporary 48 states. Voters chose eighteen representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Massachusetts was won by the Republican nominee, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Charles Evans Hughes of New York, and his running mate Senator Charles W. Fairbanks of Indiana. Hughes and Fairbanks defeated the Democratic nominees, incumbent Democratic President Woodrow Wilson and Vice President Thomas R. Marshall.

Hughes carried the state with 50.54 percent, to Wilson's 46.61 percent, a Republican victory margin of 3.93 percent. Coming in a distant third was Socialist candidate Allan L. Benson, who took 2.08%.

Massachusetts had long been a typical Yankee Republican bastion in the wake of the Civil War, having voted Republican in every election from 1856 through 1908.[1] However, in 1912, former Republican President Theodore Roosevelt had run as a third party candidate against incumbent Republican President William Howard Taft, splitting the Republican vote and allowing Woodrow Wilson as the Democratic candidate to win Massachusetts with a plurality of only 35.53 percent of the vote. With the Republican base re-united behind Hughes in 1916, Massachusetts was returned to the Republican column.

Hughes won twelve out of fourteen counties in the State of Massachusetts, while Wilson won only two. The race was kept close statewide by the fact that Wilson carried Suffolk County, home to the state's capital and largest city, Boston. Wilson's only other county victory was the small island of Nantucket. However both candidates had fair levels of support across the state, as neither got more than 60% of the vote in any county. As Wilson narrowly won re-election nationwide, Massachusetts ended weighing in as about 7% more Republican than the national average.

Wilson is the last Democrat to win a presidential election while losing either Massachusetts or neighboring Rhode Island, although he had previously carried both states in 1912.

Results

United States presidential election in Massachusetts, 1916[2]
Party Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Republican Charles Evans Hughes 268,784 50.54% 18
Democratic Woodrow Wilson 247,885 46.61% 0
Socialist Allan L. Benson 11,058 2.08% 0
Prohibition Frank Hanly 2,993 0.56% 0
Socialist Labor Arthur E. Reimer 1,097 0.21% 0
Write-ins Write-ins 6 0.00% 0
Totals 531,823 100.00% 18

Results by county

County Hughes# Hughes% Wilson# Wilson% Others# Others% Total votes cast[3]
Barnstable 2,836 58.68% 1,892 39.15% 105 2.17% 4,833
Berkshire 9,787 52.09% 8,357 44.48% 645 3.43% 18,789
Bristol 22,578 53.69% 18,065 42.96% 1,407 3.35% 42,050
Dukes 464 58.96% 309 39.26% 14 1.78% 787
Essex 35,909 50.51% 32,498 45.71% 2,688 3.78% 71,095
Franklin 4,353 56.93% 3,054 39.94% 239 3.13% 7,646
Hampden 18,207 50.19% 17,028 46.94% 1,042 2.87% 36,277
Hampshire 5,748 56.15% 4,202 41.05% 286 2.79% 10,236
Middlesex 60,802 53.77% 49,844 44.08% 2,426 2.15% 113,072
Nantucket 249 44.15% 307 54.43% 8 1.42% 564
Norfolk 19,284 58.71% 12,702 38.67% 858 2.61% 32,844
Plymouth 13,515 52.48% 11,009 42.75% 1,228 4.77% 25,752
Suffolk 42,492 40.03% 61,047 57.51% 2,609 2.46% 106,148
Worcester 32,541 52.76% 27,540 44.65% 1,599 2.59% 61,680
Absentee[4]1932.20%4067.80%00.00%59
Totals268,78450.54%247,89446.61%15,1542.85%531,832

References

  1. ↑ Dave Leip’s U.S. Election Atlas; Presidential General Election Results Comparison – Massachusetts
  2. ↑ "1916 Presidential General Election Results - Massachusetts". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved 2013-02-07.
  3. ↑ Robinson, Edgar Eugene; The Presidential Vote; 1896-1932 (second edition); pp. 226-227 Published 1947 by Stanford University Press
  4. ↑ Massachusetts Secretary of State, ‘Presidential Electors at Large,’ Public Document #43 (1916)
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