1900 United States presidential election in Michigan

The 1900 United States presidential election in Michigan took place on November 6, 1900, as part of the 1900 United States presidential election. Voters chose fourteen[1] representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

1900 United States presidential election in Michigan

November 6, 1900
All 14 Michigan votes to the Electoral College
Nominee William McKinley William Jennings Bryan Party Republican Democratic Home state Ohio Nebraska Running mate Theodore Roosevelt Adlai Stevenson I Electoral vote 14 0 Popular vote 316,269 211,685 Percentage 58.10% 38.89%
County Results McKinley   40-50%   50-60%   60-70%   70-80%   80-90%   90-100% Bryan   40-50%
President before election William McKinley Republican Elected President William McKinley Republican

Background

Ever since the formation of the Republican Party, Michigan had been a Republican-leaning state due to the Lower Peninsula’s strong history of settlement by anti-slavery Yankees, who after the end of Reconstruction continued to see the need for solid Republican voting to oppose the solidly Democratic Confederate and Border States.[2] During the Third Party System, heavily Catholic and immigrant-settled Southeast Michigan would lean towards the Democratic Party, which was opposed to the moralistic pietism of Yankee Republicans.

In the 1892 election, aided by favorable demographic changes[3] and a legislative change allocating electors by congressional district, the Democratic Party managed to carry five of Michigan’s fourteen electoral votes, and also elect a Governor and a majority to the state legislature. However, the Panic of 1893 turned expectations or hopes of Michigan becoming a swing state rudely on its head, especially when incumbent President Cleveland stood firm, sending in troops to break the Pullman Strike. In the 1894 elections, only one Democrat maintained a seat in the state legislature,[4] a loss of seventy seats compared to the 1890 elections.

During the 1896 presidential election, the Methodist cabinet counties would turn towards evangelical free silver Democrat William Jennings Bryan,[5] whilst the previously Democratic German Catholic counties opposed free silver and turned to Republican nominee William McKinley as the Church opposed free silver and Bryan’s prohibitionist leanings.[6][7]

During the following two election cycles, the Democrats regained only a small portion of their 1894 losses in Michigan’s legislature. Both McKinley and Bryan would be re-nominated for the 1900 presidential election.

Vote

Bryan campaigned in the state in early October, relying on a theme of “misrule” in the colonies of Puerto Rico and the Philippines which had been acquired in the Spanish–American War.[8] In a speech at Muskegeon, Bryan argued that Puerto Ricans and Filipinos were taxed without representation.[9]

As McKinley’s running mate, Theodore Roosevelt did not campaign in the state, as it was viewed as safe for the Republicans. All forecasts had the state being carried by McKinley,[10] and in some the state was regarded as so safe as not to be discussed. These predictions were borne out by the election result when McKinley carried Michigan by 58.05 percent to Bryan’s 38.96 percent and all but one county – St. Joseph in Michiana, which would prove the last time until Woodrow Wilson in 1916 when a Democrat won any Michigan county in a two-way race, for the state would become apart from Vermont the most solidly one-party Republican in the nation for the first third of the 20th century.

Results

1900 United States presidential election in Michigan[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	William McKinley (inc.)	316,269	58.10%
	Democratic	William Jennings Bryan	211,685	38.89%
	Prohibition	John G. Woolley	11,859	2.18%
	Socialist	Eugene V. Debs	2,826	0.52%
	People's	Wharton Barker	903	0.17%
	Socialist Labor	Joseph F. Malloney	837	0.15%
Total votes			544,379	100%

Results by county

County	William McKinley Republican		William Jennings Bryan Democratic		John Granville Woolley Prohibition		Eugene Victor Debs Socialist		Various candidates Other parties		Margin		Total votes cast[12]
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Alcona	849	84.06%	145	14.36%	12	1.19%	1	0.10%	3	0.30%	704	69.70%	1,010
Alger	1,017	69.90%	415	28.52%	15	1.03%	5	0.34%	3	0.21%	602	41.37%	1,455
Allegan	5,590	61.13%	3,275	35.82%	238	2.60%	26	0.28%	15	0.16%	2,315	25.32%	9,144
Alpena	2,283	59.34%	1,435	37.30%	31	0.81%	89	2.31%	9	0.23%	848	22.04%	3,847
Antrim	2,575	74.90%	729	21.20%	77	2.24%	38	1.11%	19	0.55%	1,846	53.69%	3,438
Arenac	972	51.02%	861	45.20%	47	2.47%	19	1.00%	6	0.31%	111	5.83%	1,905
Baraga	606	63.92%	333	35.13%	6	0.63%	2	0.21%	1	0.11%	273	28.80%	948
Barry	3,294	51.44%	2,895	45.21%	193	3.01%	10	0.16%	11	0.17%	399	6.23%	6,403
Bay	6,462	54.60%	5,081	42.93%	233	1.97%	23	0.19%	37	0.31%	1,381	11.67%	11,836
Benzie	1,472	66.28%	626	28.19%	111	5.00%	3	0.14%	9	0.41%	846	38.09%	2,221
Berrien	6,595	55.47%	4,960	41.72%	187	1.57%	104	0.87%	43	0.36%	1,635	13.75%	11,889
Branch	4,293	54.73%	3,419	43.59%	106	1.35%	8	0.10%	18	0.23%	874	11.14%	7,844
Calhoun	6,220	50.11%	5,560	44.79%	285	2.30%	294	2.37%	54	0.44%	660	5.32%	12,413
Cass	3,217	51.81%	2,825	45.50%	131	2.11%	17	0.27%	19	0.31%	392	6.31%	6,209
Charlevoix	2,268	71.28%	776	24.39%	84	2.64%	47	1.48%	7	0.22%	1,492	46.89%	3,182
Cheboygan	2,092	59.08%	1,398	39.48%	40	1.13%	6	0.17%	5	0.14%	694	19.60%	3,541
Chippewa	2,477	71.59%	893	25.81%	75	2.17%	8	0.23%	7	0.20%	1,584	45.78%	3,460
Clare	1,182	63.62%	640	34.45%	32	1.72%	2	0.11%	2	0.11%	542	29.17%	1,858
Clinton	3,795	55.08%	2,928	42.50%	139	2.02%	15	0.22%	13	0.19%	867	12.58%	6,890
Crawford	440	62.59%	252	35.85%	6	0.85%	4	0.57%	1	0.14%	188	26.74%	703
Delta	3,081	70.94%	1,210	27.86%	24	0.55%	11	0.25%	17	0.39%	1,871	43.08%	4,343
Dickinson	2,858	84.51%	451	13.34%	48	1.42%	12	0.35%	13	0.38%	2,407	71.17%	3,382
Eaton	4,809	53.78%	3,908	43.70%	185	2.07%	19	0.21%	21	0.23%	901	10.08%	8,942
Emmet	2,362	62.52%	1,281	33.91%	119	3.15%	6	0.16%	10	0.26%	1,081	28.61%	3,778
Genesee	6,478	59.43%	3,934	36.09%	396	3.63%	61	0.56%	32	0.29%	2,544	23.34%	10,901
Gladwin	978	75.23%	299	23.00%	18	1.38%	3	0.23%	2	0.15%	679	52.23%	1,300
Gogebic	2,166	73.13%	676	22.82%	92	3.11%	11	0.37%	17	0.57%	1,490	50.30%	2,962
Grand Traverse	3,127	68.38%	1,286	28.12%	137	3.00%	10	0.22%	13	0.28%	1,841	40.26%	4,573
Gratiot	4,263	55.49%	3,202	41.68%	168	2.19%	21	0.27%	29	0.38%	1,061	13.81%	7,683
Hillsdale	4,780	56.93%	3,324	39.59%	255	3.04%	24	0.29%	14	0.17%	1,456	17.34%	8,397
Houghton	8,019	73.39%	2,422	22.17%	441	4.04%	30	0.27%	15	0.14%	5,597	51.22%	10,927
Huron	3,632	60.57%	2,120	35.36%	164	2.74%	64	1.07%	16	0.27%	1,512	25.22%	5,996
Ingham	5,350	49.60%	5,104	47.32%	281	2.60%	24	0.22%	28	0.26%	246	2.28%	10,787
Ionia	5,101	54.31%	4,055	43.18%	196	2.09%	28	0.30%	12	0.13%	1,046	11.14%	9,392
Iosco	1,402	66.41%	679	32.16%	23	1.09%	5	0.24%	2	0.09%	723	34.25%	2,111
Iron	1,561	84.88%	257	13.97%	13	0.71%	6	0.33%	2	0.11%	1,304	70.91%	1,839
Isabella	2,969	58.64%	1,996	39.42%	69	1.36%	6	0.12%	23	0.45%	973	19.22%	5,063
Jackson	6,325	49.01%	6,203	48.06%	333	2.58%	28	0.22%	17	0.13%	122	0.95%	12,906
Kalamazoo	6,010	53.62%	4,707	41.99%	256	2.28%	192	1.71%	44	0.39%	1,303	11.62%	11,209
Kalkaska	1,312	75.45%	361	20.76%	56	3.22%	8	0.46%	2	0.12%	951	54.69%	1,739
Kent	17,861	54.79%	13,775	42.26%	813	2.49%	99	0.30%	50	0.15%	4,086	12.53%	32,598
Keweenaw	452	92.24%	31	6.33%	4	0.82%	1	0.20%	2	0.41%	421	85.92%	490
Lake	841	68.88%	350	28.67%	14	1.15%	6	0.49%	10	0.82%	491	40.21%	1,221
Lapeer	3,706	59.71%	2,208	35.57%	215	3.46%	62	1.00%	16	0.26%	1,498	24.13%	6,207
Leelanau	1,468	68.41%	634	29.54%	36	1.68%	3	0.14%	5	0.23%	834	38.86%	2,146
Lenawee	6,847	51.75%	5,966	45.09%	345	2.61%	19	0.14%	55	0.42%	881	6.66%	13,232
Livingston	2,860	49.70%	2,727	47.38%	152	2.64%	9	0.16%	7	0.12%	133	2.31%	5,755
Luce	405	70.31%	159	27.60%	10	1.74%	0	0.00%	2	0.35%	246	42.71%	576
Mackinac	1,059	61.71%	632	36.83%	15	0.87%	9	0.52%	1	0.06%	427	24.88%	1,716
Macomb	4,239	53.75%	3,491	44.26%	141	1.79%	8	0.10%	8	0.10%	748	9.48%	7,887
Manistee	3,152	56.33%	2,336	41.74%	91	1.63%	10	0.18%	7	0.13%	816	14.58%	5,596
Marquette	5,235	75.52%	1,471	21.22%	177	2.55%	13	0.19%	36	0.52%	3,764	54.30%	6,932
Mason	2,185	61.31%	1,251	35.10%	85	2.38%	34	0.95%	9	0.25%	934	26.21%	3,564
Mecosta	2,802	65.44%	1,375	32.11%	88	2.06%	10	0.23%	7	0.16%	1,427	33.33%	4,282
Menominee	3,121	65.97%	1,543	32.61%	36	0.76%	13	0.27%	18	0.38%	1,578	33.35%	4,731
Midland	1,784	57.64%	1,221	39.45%	51	1.65%	19	0.61%	20	0.65%	563	18.19%	3,095
Missaukee	1,421	67.12%	616	29.10%	57	2.69%	18	0.85%	5	0.24%	805	38.03%	2,117
Monroe	3,876	48.88%	3,859	48.67%	160	2.02%	12	0.15%	22	0.28%	17	0.21%	7,929
Montcalm	4,826	63.15%	2,636	34.49%	148	1.94%	20	0.26%	12	0.16%	2,190	28.66%	7,642
Montmorency	543	69.17%	233	29.68%	6	0.76%	3	0.38%	0	0.00%	310	39.49%	785
Muskegon	5,250	63.60%	2,796	33.87%	127	1.54%	55	0.67%	27	0.33%	2,454	29.73%	8,255
Newaygo	2,607	62.68%	1,424	34.24%	120	2.89%	3	0.07%	5	0.12%	1,183	28.44%	4,159
Oakland	6,173	53.04%	4,966	42.67%	460	3.95%	30	0.26%	9	0.08%	1,207	10.37%	11,638
Oceana	2,407	63.08%	1,199	31.42%	183	4.80%	13	0.34%	14	0.37%	1,208	31.66%	3,816
Ogemaw	1,186	67.31%	518	29.40%	46	2.61%	5	0.28%	7	0.40%	668	37.91%	1,762
Ontonagon	982	68.82%	429	30.06%	14	0.98%	0	0.00%	2	0.14%	553	38.75%	1,427
Osceola	2,635	71.08%	880	23.74%	175	4.72%	7	0.19%	10	0.27%	1,755	47.34%	3,707
Oscoda	245	79.80%	60	19.54%	2	0.65%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	185	60.26%	307
Otsego	1,020	67.95%	436	29.05%	33	2.20%	8	0.53%	4	0.27%	584	38.91%	1,501
Ottawa	5,324	62.21%	3,050	35.64%	142	1.66%	25	0.29%	17	0.20%	2,274	26.57%	8,558
Presque Isle	1,328	71.67%	496	26.77%	17	0.92%	4	0.22%	8	0.43%	832	44.90%	1,853
Roscommon	327	64.50%	175	34.52%	5	0.99%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	152	29.98%	507
Saginaw	8,413	50.17%	7,610	45.38%	207	1.23%	427	2.55%	112	0.67%	803	4.79%	16,769
Sanilac	4,173	63.93%	2,065	31.64%	262	4.01%	8	0.12%	19	0.29%	2,108	32.30%	6,527
Schoolcraft	1,141	69.91%	460	28.19%	21	1.29%	7	0.43%	3	0.18%	681	41.73%	1,632
Shiawassee	5,051	56.69%	3,441	38.62%	390	4.38%	12	0.13%	16	0.18%	1,610	18.07%	8,910
St. Clair	7,432	61.41%	4,403	36.38%	192	1.59%	50	0.41%	26	0.21%	3,029	25.03%	12,103
St. Joseph	3,178	48.19%	3,283	49.78%	101	1.53%	4	0.06%	29	0.44%	-105	-1.59%	6,595
Tuscola	4,726	61.26%	2,648	34.32%	306	3.97%	14	0.18%	21	0.27%	2,078	26.93%	7,715
Van Buren	4,892	58.72%	3,235	38.83%	151	1.81%	21	0.25%	32	0.38%	1,657	19.89%	8,331
Washtenaw	5,369	50.10%	5,072	47.33%	222	2.07%	43	0.40%	10	0.09%	297	2.77%	10,716
Wayne	36,671	55.26%	28,337	42.70%	543	0.82%	369	0.56%	436	0.66%	8,334	12.56%	66,356
Wexford	2,519	67.75%	1,014	27.27%	119	3.20%	57	1.53%	9	0.24%	1,505	40.48%	3,718
Totals	313,495	58.05%	210,418	38.96%	11,685	2.16%	2,763	0.51%	1,710	0.32%	103,077	19.09%	540,071

References

1. "1900 Election for the Twenty-Ninth Term (1901-1905)". Retrieved 2018-04-03.
2. English, Gustavus P.; Proceedings of the Ninth Republican National Convention (1888), p. 234
3. Kleppner, Paul; The Third Electoral System, 1853-1892: Parties, Votes and Political Cultures, pp. 198-207 ISBN 0807813281
4. ‘Swamped! The Democrats Drowned Out by a Tremendous Republican Tidal Wave’; The L'Anse Sentinel, November 10, 1894, p. 1
5. Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004, p. 31 ISBN 0786422173
6. Kleppner, Paul (1970). The cross of culture: a social analysis of midwestern politics, 1850-1900. Free Press. pp. 323-335
7. Harpine, William D.; From the Front Porch to the Front Page: McKinley and Bryan in the 1896 Presidential Campaign, pp. 166-167 ISBN 9781585444502
8. ‘Misrule of Puerto Ricans Told in a Report by Pattison’; The Enquirer (Cincinnati), October 11, 1900, p. 2
9. ‘Misrule of Puerto Ricans’, The Semi-Weekly Times-Democrat (New Orleans, Louisiana), October 12, 1900, p. 2
10. ‘The Herald Forecast’; The Kansas City Star, October 21, 1900, p. 1
11. "1900 Presidential General Election Results – Michigan". Retrieved 2018-04-03.
12. Géoelections; Popular Vote at the Presidential Election for 1900 (.xlsx file for €30 including full minor party figures)