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 18 representatives, or electors to the
Electoral College, who voted for
president
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
and
vice president
A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...
.
was won by the
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
nominee,
U.S. Supreme Court Justice
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point of ...
Charles Evans Hughes
Charles Evans Hughes Sr. (April 11, 1862 – August 27, 1948) was an American statesman, politician and jurist who served as the 11th Chief Justice of the United States from 1930 to 1941. A member of the Republican Party, he previously was the ...
of
New York, and his running mate
Senator
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
Charles W. Fairbanks
Charles Warren Fairbanks (May 11, 1852 – June 4, 1918) was an American politician who served as a senator from Indiana from 1897 to 1905 and the 26th vice president of the United States from 1905 to 1909. He was also the Republican vice pre ...
of
Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
. Hughes and Fairbanks defeated the
Democratic nominees, incumbent Democratic
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...
and
Vice President
A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...
Thomas R. Marshall
Thomas Riley Marshall (March 14, 1854 – June 1, 1925) was an American politician who served as the 28th vice president of the United States from 1913 to 1921 under President Woodrow Wilson. A prominent lawyer in Indiana, he became an acti ...
.
Hughes carried the state with 50.54%, to Wilson's 46.61%, a Republican victory margin of 3.93%. Coming in a distant third was
Socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
candidate
Allan L. Benson, who took 2.08%.
Massachusetts had long been a typical Yankee Republican bastion in the wake of the
Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
, having voted Republican in every election from
1856 through
1908.
[Dave Leip’s U.S. Election Atlas]
Presidential General Election Results Comparison – Massachusetts
/ref> However, in 1912, former Republican President Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
had run as a Progressive candidate against incumbent Republican President William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...
, splitting the Republican vote and allowing Woodrow Wilson win Massachusetts, becoming the first Democratic presidential candidate to do so, though with a plurality of only 35.53% of the vote. With the Republican base re-united behind Hughes in 1916, Massachusetts was returned to the Republican column.
Hughes won 12 out of 14 counties in the State of Massachusetts, while Wilson won only 2. The race was kept close statewide by the fact that Wilson carried Suffolk County, home to the state's capital and largest city, Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
. 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 up weighing in as about 7% more Republican than the national average. As of 2023, this is the last time that the town of Granville voted Democratic.
Wilson is the last Democrat to win a presidential election while losing Massachusetts.
Results
Results by county
See also
* United States presidential elections in Massachusetts
Following is a table of United States presidential elections in Massachusetts, ordered by year. Since its admission to statehood in 1788, Massachusetts has participated in every U.S. presidential election.
Winners of the state are in bold. The sh ...
References
{{1916 United States elections
1916
1916 Massachusetts elections