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1912 United States presidential election in Michigan
All 15 Michigan votes to the Electoral College
President before election; William Howard Taft; Republican	Elected President ; Woodrow Wilson; Democratic

The 1912 United States presidential election in Michigan took place on November 5, 1912, as part of the 1912 United States presidential election. Voters chose 15 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

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.^[1] The dominance of the culture of the Lower Peninsula by anti-slavery Yankees^[2] 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.^[3] 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.^[4] 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,^[5] and the party would only make minor gains there for the next third of a century. 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.^[6]

The state was not seriously affected by the split within the nationally dominant Republican Party during the Taft presidency. Only two of its ten Republican Congressmen were amongst the “Insurgents” who aligned with a revived Democratic Party.^[7] However, during 1911 state Governor Chase Osborn became one of the first politicians to work for a return of Theodore Roosevelt to the White House,^[8] and would soon call for both incumbent President Taft and rival progressive Robert M. La Follette to withdraw for Roosevelt to gain the nomination outright.^[8] Roosevelt would also soon gain the support of state party leader Frank Knox,^[9] although Taft supporters would dominate the state at actual party conventions.^[10] The state’s few Democratic delegates backed eventual nominee, Princeton University President Woodrow Wilson of Virginia.^[11]

Former president Theodore Roosevelt and his Progressive Party campaigned extensively in the state during October^[12] but early polls had Wilson making a close race even in this most Republican of states. Indeed, during October the state was viewed as close between Roosevelt and Wilson,^[13] or even seeing Wilson ahead.^[14] However, Michigan was actually comfortably won by Roosevelt and running mate governor of California Hiram Johnson, with 38.95 percent of the popular vote, against the incumbent president William Howard Taft (R–Ohio), and running mate Columbia University President Nicholas Murray Butler, with 27.63 percent of the popular vote. Wilson and running mate governor of Indiana Thomas R. Marshall finished third with 27.36 percent.^[15]

Results

1912 United States presidential election in Michigan^[15]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Progressive	Theodore Roosevelt	214,584	38.95%
	Republican	William Howard Taft (incumbent)	152,244	27.63%
	Democratic	Woodrow Wilson	150,751	27.36%
	Socialist	Eugene V. Debs	23,211	4.21%
	Prohibition	Eugene Chafin	8,934	1.62%
	Socialist Labor	Arthur Reimer	1,252	0.23%
Total votes			550,976	100%

Results by county

1912 United States presidential election in Michigan by county
County	William Howard Taft Republican		Thomas Woodrow Wilson Democratic		Theodore Roosevelt Progressive "Bull Moose"		Eugene Victor Debs Socialist		Eugene Wilder Chafin Prohibition		Arthur Elmer Reimer Socialist Labor		Margin^[a]		Total votes cast^[16]
County	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	Total votes cast^[16]
Alcona	291	29.45%	145	14.68%	461	46.66%	81	8.20%	9	0.91%	1	0.10%	-170	-17.21%	988
Alger	290	26.56%	263	24.08%	469	42.95%	53	4.85%	17	1.56%	0	0.00%	-179	-16.39%	1,092
Allegan	2,121	27.92%	1,925	25.34%	3,103	40.85%	291	3.83%	130	1.71%	26	0.34%	-982	-12.93%	7,596
Alpena	709	19.99%	1,105	31.15%	1,642	46.29%	64	1.80%	23	0.65%	4	0.11%	-537	-15.14%	3,547
Antrim	603	24.22%	450	18.07%	1,221	49.04%	180	7.23%	36	1.45%	0	0.00%	-618	-24.82%	2,490
Arenac	421	21.17%	452	22.72%	955	48.01%	115	5.78%	43	2.16%	3	0.15%	-503^[b]	-25.29%	1,989
Baraga	295	25.97%	280	24.65%	507	44.63%	37	3.26%	17	1.50%	0	0.00%	-212	-18.66%	1,136
Barry	1,585	28.84%	1,800	32.75%	1,880	34.21%	105	1.91%	121	2.20%	5	0.09%	-80^[b]	-1.46%	5,496
Bay	2,625	23.43%	2,990	26.68%	4,748	42.37%	521	4.65%	238	2.12%	83	0.74%	-1,758^[b]	-15.69%	11,205
Benzie	568	29.69%	326	17.04%	645	33.72%	264	13.80%	102	5.33%	8	0.42%	-77	-4.03%	1,913
Berrien	2,752	23.06%	4,225	35.40%	4,341	36.37%	442	3.70%	175	1.47%	0	0.00%	-116^[b]	-0.97%	11,935
Branch	1,865	30.11%	2,185	35.28%	1,840	29.71%	170	2.75%	125	2.02%	8	0.13%	320^[b]	5.17%	6,193
Calhoun	3,447	26.42%	3,781	28.98%	4,450	34.11%	979	7.50%	223	1.71%	165	1.26%	-669^[b]	-5.13%	13,045
Cass	1,462	27.14%	2,076	38.54%	1,433	26.60%	343	6.37%	73	1.36%	0	0.00%	-614^[c]	-11.40%	5,387
Charlevoix	1,296	36.82%	566	16.08%	1,201	34.12%	407	11.56%	44	1.25%	6	0.17%	95	2.70%	3,520
Cheboygan	896	27.69%	981	30.32%	1,167	36.06%	146	4.51%	31	0.96%	15	0.46%	-186^[b]	-5.75%	3,236
Chippewa	889	23.31%	879	23.05%	1,599	41.92%	192	5.03%	248	6.50%	7	0.18%	-710	-18.62%	3,814
Clare	563	30.99%	435	23.94%	658	36.21%	125	6.88%	29	1.60%	7	0.39%	-95	-5.23%	1,827
Clinton	1,723	31.97%	1,723	31.97%	1,812	33.62%	41	0.76%	87	1.61%	3	0.06%	-89^[d]	-1.65%	5,389
Crawford	257	34.97%	185	25.17%	249	33.88%	35	4.76%	8	1.09%	1	0.14%	8	1.09%	735
Delta	1,111	25.38%	1,066	24.35%	1,913	43.70%	244	5.57%	44	1.01%	0	0.00%	-802	-18.32%	4,378
Dickinson	1,371	40.90%	361	10.77%	1,337	39.89%	233	6.95%	43	1.28%	7	0.21%	34	1.01%	3,352
Eaton	2,333	32.02%	2,482	34.06%	2,217	30.42%	125	1.72%	111	1.52%	19	0.26%	149^[c]	2.04%	7,287
Emmet	830	25.00%	920	27.71%	1,100	33.13%	417	12.56%	53	1.60%	0	0.00%	-180^[b]	-5.42%	3,320
Genesee	3,426	25.73%	3,005	22.57%	5,934	44.57%	659	4.95%	255	1.92%	34	0.26%	-2,508	-18.84%	13,313
Gladwin	638	39.07%	331	20.27%	549	33.62%	85	5.21%	25	1.53%	5	0.31%	89	5.45%	1,633
Gogebic	818	26.92%	572	18.82%	1,360	44.75%	124	4.08%	146	4.80%	19	0.63%	-542	-17.83%	3,039
Grand Traverse	899	23.25%	937	24.23%	1,676	43.34%	283	7.32%	53	1.37%	19	0.49%	-739^[b]	-19.11%	3,867
Gratiot	1,809	30.64%	1,835	31.08%	2,130	36.07%	45	0.76%	83	1.41%	3	0.05%	-295^[b]	-5.00%	5,905
Hillsdale	1,437	20.68%	2,229	32.08%	3,047	43.85%	59	0.85%	171	2.46%	6	0.09%	-818^[b]	-11.77%	6,949
Houghton	3,571	29.18%	2,385	19.49%	5,460	44.62%	443	3.62%	369	3.02%	10	0.08%	-1,889	-15.44%	12,238
Huron	1,813	28.61%	1,236	19.50%	3,165	49.94%	68	1.07%	53	0.84%	2	0.03%	-1,352	-21.34%	6,337
Ingham	3,515	26.71%	3,915	29.75%	4,780	36.32%	574	4.36%	324	2.46%	51	0.39%	-865^[b]	-6.57%	13,159
Ionia	2,049	26.50%	2,757	35.66%	2,579	33.35%	170	2.20%	165	2.13%	12	0.16%	178^[b]	2.30%	7,732
Iosco	521	28.90%	418	23.18%	808	44.81%	30	1.66%	24	1.33%	2	0.11%	-287	-15.92%	1,803
Iron	1,031	45.24%	218	9.57%	871	38.22%	108	4.74%	24	1.05%	27	1.18%	160	7.02%	2,279
Isabella	1,417	29.71%	1,389	29.13%	1,754	36.78%	141	2.96%	64	1.34%	4	0.08%	-337	-7.07%	4,769
Jackson	2,456	18.68%	4,283	32.58%	5,801	44.13%	375	2.85%	198	1.51%	32	0.24%	-1,518^[b]	-11.55%	13,145
Kalamazoo	2,642	21.47%	3,660	29.74%	4,125	33.51%	1,438	11.68%	403	3.27%	40	0.32%	-465^[b]	-3.78%	12,308
Kalkaska	488	32.28%	293	21.11%	473	34.08%	126	9.08%	44	3.17%	4	0.29%	-25	-1.80%	1,428
Kent	6,498	20.35%	9,412	29.48%	13,610	42.63%	1,899	5.95%	447	1.40%	60	0.19%	-4,198^[b]	-13.15%	31,926
Keweenaw	495	44.80%	59	5.34%	500	45.25%	33	2.99%	17	1.54%	1	0.09%	-5	-0.45%	1,105
Lake	227	24.02%	186	19.68%	478	50.58%	45	4.76%	9	0.95%	0	0.00%	-251	-26.56%	945
Lapeer	1,728	32.09%	1,200	22.28%	2,311	42.92%	39	0.72%	103	1.91%	4	0.07%	-583	-10.83%	5,385
Leelanau	621	35.42%	344	19.62%	678	38.68%	84	4.79%	21	1.20%	5	0.29%	-57	-3.25%	1,753
Lenawee	2,996	27.02%	4,239	38.23%	3,497	31.54%	139	1.25%	218	1.97%	0	0.00%	742^[b]	6.69%	11,089
Livingston	1,408	28.49%	1,960	39.66%	1,455	29.44%	14	0.28%	104	2.10%	1	0.02%	505^[b]	10.22%	4,942
Luce	234	37.38%	102	16.29%	271	43.29%	11	1.76%	8	1.28%	0	0.00%	-37	-5.91%	626
Mackinac	612	34.63%	730	41.31%	395	22.35%	0	0.00%	28	1.58%	2	0.11%	-118^[c]	-6.68%	1,767
Macomb	2,508	34.45%	2,829	38.85%	1,800	24.72%	28	0.38%	110	1.51%	6	0.08%	-321^[c]	-4.41%	7,281
Manistee	1,240	26.27%	1,790	37.92%	1,312	27.79%	289	6.12%	76	1.61%	14	0.30%	478^[b]	10.12%	4,721
Marquette	2,603	33.28%	997	12.75%	3,607	46.11%	490	6.26%	103	1.32%	22	0.28%	-1,004	-12.84%	7,822
Mason	844	21.51%	1,073	27.34%	1,726	43.99%	174	4.43%	104	2.65%	3	0.08%	-653^[b]	-16.64%	3,924
Mecosta	1,059	26.84%	958	24.28%	1,637	41.50%	201	5.10%	85	2.15%	5	0.13%	-578	-14.65%	3,945
Menominee	1,191	26.94%	1,195	27.03%	1,810	40.94%	191	4.32%	30	0.68%	4	0.09%	-615^[b]	-13.91%	4,421
Midland	902	29.09%	671	21.64%	1,440	46.44%	44	1.42%	43	1.39%	1	0.03%	-538	-17.35%	3,101
Missaukee	671	32.88%	347	17.00%	899	44.05%	83	4.07%	33	1.62%	8	0.39%	-228	-11.17%	2,041
Monroe	2,253	30.88%	2,995	41.04%	1,881	25.78%	69	0.95%	89	1.22%	10	0.14%	-742^[c]	-10.17%	7,297
Montcalm	1,874	28.80%	1,373	21.10%	2,843	43.68%	288	4.43%	112	1.72%	18	0.28%	-969	-14.89%	6,508
Montmorency	325	43.62%	163	21.88%	238	31.95%	16	2.15%	3	0.40%	0	0.00%	87	11.68%	745
Muskegon	1,523	18.47%	1,678	20.35%	4,314	52.32%	633	7.68%	70	0.85%	28	0.34%	-2,636^[b]	-31.97%	8,246
Newaygo	964	24.59%	776	19.80%	1,850	47.19%	247	6.30%	74	1.89%	9	0.23%	-886	-22.60%	3,920
Oakland	4,083	35.46%	3,668	31.86%	3,296	28.63%	213	1.85%	249	2.16%	4	0.03%	415^[c]	3.60%	11,513
Oceana	857	23.00%	796	21.36%	1,827	49.03%	119	3.19%	116	3.11%	11	0.30%	-970	-26.03%	3,726
Ogemaw	541	31.64%	319	18.65%	724	42.34%	77	4.50%	43	2.51%	6	0.35%	-183	-10.70%	1,710
Ontonagon	719	41.13%	359	20.54%	513	29.35%	137	7.84%	20	1.14%	0	0.00%	206	11.78%	1,748
Osceola	1,306	37.03%	609	17.27%	1,408	39.92%	104	2.95%	94	2.67%	6	0.17%	-102	-2.89%	3,527
Oscoda	110	32.45%	66	19.47%	158	46.61%	3	0.88%	1	0.29%	1	0.29%	-48	-14.16%	339
Otsego	448	42.79%	194	18.53%	378	36.10%	12	1.15%	15	1.43%	0	0.00%	70	6.69%	1,047
Ottawa	1,825	20.87%	2,036	23.28%	4,411	50.43%	333	3.81%	125	1.43%	16	0.18%	-2,375^[b]	-27.16%	8,746
Presque Isle	729	37.42%	259	13.30%	890	45.69%	59	3.03%	10	0.51%	1	0.05%	-161	-8.26%	1,948
Roscommon	134	22.60%	150	25.30%	273	46.04%	30	5.06%	5	0.84%	1	0.17%	-123^[b]	-20.74%	593
Saginaw	5,032	27.94%	5,845	32.46%	5,664	31.45%	1,291	7.17%	175	0.97%	0	0.00%	181^[b]	1.01%	18,007
Sanilac	2,166	32.19%	1,161	17.26%	3,215	47.79%	69	1.03%	113	1.68%	4	0.06%	-1,049	-15.59%	6,728
Schoolcraft	595	37.95%	337	21.49%	570	36.35%	49	3.13%	14	0.89%	3	0.19%	25	1.59%	1,568
Shiawassee	2,309	30.05%	1,957	25.47%	2,892	37.64%	249	3.24%	263	3.42%	13	0.17%	-583	-7.59%	7,683
St. Clair	2,958	27.48%	3,008	27.95%	4,423	41.09%	241	2.24%	113	1.05%	21	0.20%	-1,415^[b]	-13.15%	10,764
St. Joseph	1,224	19.03%	2,388	37.13%	2,395	37.24%	325	5.05%	90	1.40%	10	0.16%	-7^[b]	-0.11%	6,432
Tuscola	2,559	34.65%	1,255	16.99%	3,353	45.40%	59	0.80%	148	2.00%	11	0.15%	-794	-10.75%	7,385
Van Buren	2,101	29.01%	1,994	27.53%	2,809	38.79%	250	3.45%	88	1.22%	0	0.00%	-708	-9.78%	7,242
Washtenaw	2,495	23.64%	4,164	39.45%	3,642	34.50%	118	1.12%	121	1.15%	16	0.15%	522^[b]	4.95%	10,556
Wayne	26,599	30.08%	22,678	25.65%	34,680	39.22%	3,657	4.14%	547	0.62%	260	0.29%	-8,081	-9.14%	88,421
Wexford	1,075	26.52%	817	20.15%	1,710	42.18%	310	7.65%	126	3.11%	16	0.39%	-635	-15.66%	4,054
Totals	152,244	27.63%	150,751	27.36%	214,584	38.95%	23,211	4.21%	8,934	1.62%	1,252	0.23%	-62,340	-11.31%	550,976

Analysis

Michigan was one of only two states where Democratic candidate Woodrow Wilson came in third behind former president of the United States Theodore Roosevelt and the current president of the United States William Howard Taft — the only other such state being Vermont where Wilson finished a much more distant third. Since 1912 there has been only one occasion (Bill Clinton in Utah in 1992) where a winning presidential candidate finished third in any non-Confederate state.

As of the 2020 presidential election^[update], this is the last election in which Ottawa County, Sanilac County, and Missaukee County did not support the Republican candidate.^[17]^[18] This was the first time since 1852 that Michigan voted for a non-Republican presidential candidate, and the only time Michigan ever voted for a third-party presidential candidate.

With 38.95 percent of the popular vote, Michigan would prove to be Roosevelt's third-strongest state in terms of popular vote percentage in the 1912 election after South Dakota (where Taft was not on the ballot) and California (where Taft was a write-in candidate).^[19]

Notes

^ Because Roosevelt finished first in Michigan as a whole, and Taft was second and the first-finished major party nominee, margin given is Taft vote minus Roosevelt vote and percentage margin Taft percentage minus Roosevelt percentage unless noted otherwise for the county in question.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab In this county where Wilson finished second ahead of Taft, margin given is Wilson vote minus Roosevelt vote and percentage margin Wilson percentage minus Roosevelt percentage.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f In this county where both Wilson and Taft finished ahead of state winner Roosevelt, margin given is Taft vote minus Wilson vote and percentage margin Taft percentage minus Wilson percentage.
^ In this county Wilson and Taft tied for second position, margin given is as usual Taft vote minus Roosevelt vote.

References

^ 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.
^ English, Gustavus P.; Proceedings of the Ninth Republican National Convention (1888), p. 234
^ Sundquist, James (December 2010). Politics and Policy: The Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson Years. Brookings Institution Press. p. 526. ISBN 978-0815719090.
^ Rogowski, Ronald (2020). Commerce and Coalitions: How Trade Affects Domestic Political Alignments. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0691219431.
^ "Swamped! The Democrats Drowned Out by a Tremendous Republican Tidal Wave". The L'Anse Sentinel. L'Anse. November 10, 1894. p. 1.
^ 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.
^ Baker, John D. (December 1973). "The Character of the Congressional Revolution of 1910". The Journal of American History. 60 (3): 679–691. doi:10.2307/1917684. JSTOR 1917684.
^ ^a ^b 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.
^ Mark, Steven Macdonald (1977). An American Interventionist: Frank Knox and United States Foreign Relations (Thesis). pp. 32–55.
^ Chace, James (2009). 1912: Wilson, Roosevelt, Taft and Debs — The Election that Changed the Country. Simon and Schuster. pp. 109, 112. ISBN 978-1439188262.
^ Chace; 1912: Wilson, Roosevelt, Taft and Debs, p. 156
^ Chace; 1912: Wilson, Roosevelt, Taft and Debs, p. 229
^ "Wilson Leading in Nearly every State: Polls by New York Herald Indicate Victory for Democrats — Illinois and Michigan Are Exceptions". Wichita Falls Times. Wichita Falls, Texas. October 9, 1912.
^ "Comment and Gossip". Fremont Herald. Fremont, Nebraska. September 27, 1912. p. 3.
^ ^a ^b "1912 Presidential Election Results — Michigan".
^ Michigan Department of State – Bureau of Elections; Michigan Manual (1913), pp. 672–673 (counties), 739 (total)
^ Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004, pp. 222-227 ISBN 0786422173
^ Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
^ "1912 Presidential Election Statistics". Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved March 5, 2018.