1896 Presidential Election

The Battle of the Standards

November 3, 1896 · The Gilded Age · 447 electoral votes, 224 to win

McKinley's businesslike front-porch campaign, funded on an unprecedented scale by Mark Hanna, beat Bryan's whirlwind free-silver crusade. The realignment it sealed kept Republicans dominant for a generation.

Elected

William McKinley

Republican

Electoral vote

271 of 447

Popular vote

51.0%

7,111,607 votes

Turnout

79.6%

The result

EV share
William McKinleyRepublicanGarret Hobart271
7,111,60751.00%23
William Jennings BryanDemocraticArthur Sewall176
6,509,05246.70%22
John M. PalmerNational DemocraticSimon Bolivar Buckner—134,6450.97%—
Joshua LeveringProhibitionHale Johnson—131,3120.94%—
Charles H. MatchettSocialist LaborMatthew Maguire—36,3730.26%—
Charles Eugene BentleyNational Prohibition PartyJames H. Southgate—13,9680.10%—

13,936,957 votes recorded for the candidates listed.

Results by state

AlabamaWilliam Jennings Bryan67.0%11William McKinley · 28.6%
ArkansasWilliam Jennings Bryan73.7%8William McKinley · 25.1%
CaliforniaWilliam McKinley49.2%1 Bryan · 8 McKinleyWilliam Jennings Bryan · 48.5%
ColoradoWilliam Jennings Bryan84.9%4William McKinley · 13.9%
ConnecticutWilliam McKinley63.2%6William Jennings Bryan · 32.5%
DelawareWilliam McKinley53.2%3William Jennings Bryan · 43.1%
FloridaWilliam Jennings Bryan70.4%4William McKinley · 24.3%
GeorgiaWilliam Jennings Bryan57.8%13William McKinley · 36.6%
IdahoWilliam Jennings Bryan78.1%3William McKinley · 21.3%
IllinoisWilliam McKinley55.7%24William Jennings Bryan · 42.7%
IndianaWilliam McKinley50.8%15William Jennings Bryan · 48.0%
IowaWilliam McKinley55.5%13William Jennings Bryan · 42.9%
KansasWilliam Jennings Bryan51.5%10William McKinley · 47.5%
KentuckyWilliam McKinley48.9%1 Bryan · 12 McKinleyWilliam Jennings Bryan · 48.9%
LouisianaWilliam Jennings Bryan76.4%8William McKinley · 21.8%
MaineWilliam McKinley67.9%6William Jennings Bryan · 29.2%
MarylandWilliam McKinley54.7%8William Jennings Bryan · 41.6%
MassachusettsWilliam McKinley69.5%15William Jennings Bryan · 26.3%
MichiganWilliam McKinley53.8%14William Jennings Bryan · 43.5%
MinnesotaWilliam McKinley56.6%9William Jennings Bryan · 40.9%
MississippiWilliam Jennings Bryan91.0%9William McKinley · 6.9%
MissouriWilliam Jennings Bryan54.0%17William McKinley · 45.2%
MontanaWilliam Jennings Bryan79.9%3William McKinley · 19.7%
NebraskaWilliam Jennings Bryan51.5%6William McKinley · 46.2%
NevadaWilliam Jennings Bryan81.2%3William McKinley · 18.8%
New HampshireWilliam McKinley68.7%4William Jennings Bryan · 25.9%
New JerseyWilliam McKinley59.7%10William Jennings Bryan · 36.0%
New YorkWilliam McKinley57.6%36William Jennings Bryan · 38.7%
North CarolinaWilliam Jennings Bryan52.6%11William McKinley · 46.8%
North DakotaWilliam McKinley55.6%3William Jennings Bryan · 43.7%
OhioWilliam McKinley51.9%23William Jennings Bryan · 47.1%
OregonWilliam McKinley50.0%4William Jennings Bryan · 48.0%
PennsylvaniaWilliam McKinley61.0%32William Jennings Bryan · 36.3%
Rhode IslandWilliam McKinley68.3%4William Jennings Bryan · 26.4%
South CarolinaWilliam Jennings Bryan85.3%9William McKinley · 13.5%
South DakotaWilliam Jennings Bryan49.7%3William McKinley · 49.5%
TennesseeWilliam Jennings Bryan52.1%12William McKinley · 46.3%
TexasWilliam Jennings Bryan68.4%15William McKinley · 30.3%
UtahWilliam Jennings Bryan82.7%3William McKinley · 17.3%
VermontWilliam McKinley80.1%4William Jennings Bryan · 16.7%
VirginiaWilliam Jennings Bryan52.5%12William McKinley · 45.9%
WashingtonWilliam Jennings Bryan57.0%4William McKinley · 41.8%
West VirginiaWilliam McKinley52.2%6William Jennings Bryan · 46.8%
WisconsinWilliam McKinley59.9%12William Jennings Bryan · 37.0%
WyomingWilliam Jennings Bryan51.6%3William McKinley · 47.8%

The state table accounts for 173 of William Jennings Bryan's 176 official electoral votes. The remainder reflect split delegations, district allocations, faithless electors or votes not counted, as recorded at the electoral count.

The Congress it seated

55th Congress

1897–1899

Unified government

Senate

34–46

Democratic vs Republican · 10 others

House

134–206

Democratic vs Republican · 16 others