1916 Presidential Election

November 7, 1916 · Progressive Era to Normalcy · 531 electoral votes, 266 to win

Wilson held on against Hughes by 23 electoral votes on 'He kept us out of war'; California's 13 votes, decided by under 4,000 ballots, settled it. Five months later America was at war.

Elected

Woodrow Wilson

Democratic

Electoral vote

277 of 531

Popular vote

49.2%

9,126,868 votes

Turnout

61.8%

The result

EV share
Woodrow WilsonDemocraticThomas R. Marshall277
9,126,86849.20%30
Charles Evans HughesRepublicanCharles W. Fairbanks254
8,548,72846.10%18
Allan L. BensonSocialistGeorge Ross Kirkpatrick—590,5243.19%—
Frank HanlyProhibitionIra Landrith—221,3021.19%—
NoneProgressive Party (United States, 1912–1920)John M. Parker—33,4060.18%—
Arthur E. ReimerSocialist LaborCaleb Harrison—15,2950.08%—

18,536,123 votes recorded for the candidates listed.

Results by state

AlabamaWoodrow Wilson76.0%11Charles Evans Hughes · 22.0%
ArizonaWoodrow Wilson57.2%3Charles Evans Hughes · 35.4%
ArkansasWoodrow Wilson66.0%9Charles Evans Hughes · 28.7%
CaliforniaWoodrow Wilson46.6%13Charles Evans Hughes · 46.3%
ColoradoWoodrow Wilson60.8%6Charles Evans Hughes · 34.7%
ConnecticutCharles Evans Hughes49.8%7Woodrow Wilson · 46.7%
DelawareCharles Evans Hughes50.2%3Woodrow Wilson · 47.8%
FloridaWoodrow Wilson69.3%6Charles Evans Hughes · 18.1%
GeorgiaWoodrow Wilson79.5%14Charles Evans Hughes · 7.0%
IdahoWoodrow Wilson52.2%4Charles Evans Hughes · 41.1%
IllinoisCharles Evans Hughes52.6%29Woodrow Wilson · 43.3%
IndianaCharles Evans Hughes47.4%15Woodrow Wilson · 46.5%
IowaCharles Evans Hughes54.3%13Woodrow Wilson · 42.9%
KansasWoodrow Wilson50.0%10Charles Evans Hughes · 44.1%
KentuckyWoodrow Wilson51.9%13Charles Evans Hughes · 46.5%
LouisianaWoodrow Wilson85.9%10Charles Evans Hughes · 7.0%
MaineCharles Evans Hughes51.0%6Woodrow Wilson · 47.0%
MarylandWoodrow Wilson52.8%8Charles Evans Hughes · 44.8%
MassachusettsCharles Evans Hughes50.5%18Woodrow Wilson · 46.6%
MichiganCharles Evans Hughes52.2%15Woodrow Wilson · 43.9%
MinnesotaCharles Evans Hughes46.4%12Woodrow Wilson · 46.3%
MississippiWoodrow Wilson93.3%10Charles Evans Hughes · 4.9%
MissouriWoodrow Wilson50.6%18Charles Evans Hughes · 46.9%
MontanaWoodrow Wilson56.8%4Charles Evans Hughes · 37.6%
NebraskaWoodrow Wilson55.3%8Charles Evans Hughes · 41.0%
NevadaWoodrow Wilson53.4%3Charles Evans Hughes · 36.4%
New HampshireWoodrow Wilson49.1%4Charles Evans Hughes · 49.1%
New JerseyCharles Evans Hughes54.4%14Woodrow Wilson · 42.7%
New MexicoWoodrow Wilson50.4%3Charles Evans Hughes · 46.5%
New YorkCharles Evans Hughes57.5%45Woodrow Wilson · 44.5%
North CarolinaWoodrow Wilson58.1%12Charles Evans Hughes · 41.7%
North DakotaWoodrow Wilson47.8%5Charles Evans Hughes · 46.3%
OhioWoodrow Wilson51.9%24Charles Evans Hughes · 44.2%
OklahomaWoodrow Wilson50.7%10Charles Evans Hughes · 33.3%
OregonCharles Evans Hughes48.5%5Woodrow Wilson · 45.9%
PennsylvaniaCharles Evans Hughes54.3%38Woodrow Wilson · 40.2%
Rhode IslandCharles Evans Hughes51.1%5Woodrow Wilson · 46.0%
South CarolinaWoodrow Wilson96.7%9Charles Evans Hughes · 2.4%
South DakotaCharles Evans Hughes49.8%5Woodrow Wilson · 45.9%
TennesseeWoodrow Wilson56.3%12Charles Evans Hughes · 42.7%
TexasWoodrow Wilson77.0%20Charles Evans Hughes · 17.4%
UtahWoodrow Wilson58.8%4Charles Evans Hughes · 37.8%
VermontCharles Evans Hughes62.4%4Woodrow Wilson · 35.2%
VirginiaWoodrow Wilson67.0%12Charles Evans Hughes · 31.8%
WashingtonWoodrow Wilson48.1%7Charles Evans Hughes · 43.9%
West VirginiaCharles Evans Hughes49.4%7 Hughes · 1 WilsonWoodrow Wilson · 48.5%
WisconsinCharles Evans Hughes49.4%13Woodrow Wilson · 42.8%
WyomingWoodrow Wilson54.7%3Charles Evans Hughes · 41.8%

The state table accounts for 276 of Woodrow Wilson's 277 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

65th Congress

1917–1919

Unified government

Senate

53–42

Democratic vs Republican · 1 others

House

210–216

Democratic vs Republican · 9 others