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County Results
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Apresidential election was held inIndiana on November 3, 1908. Voters chose 15 representatives, or electors to theElectoral College, who voted forpresident andvice president.
Ever sincethe Civil War, partisan alliances inIndiana had been related to history of White settlement, with most ofSouthern Indiana andGerman-settled counties voting strongly Democratic, opposed toYankee-settledNorthern Indiana which voted Republican.[1] Between the end of the Civil War and the end of theThird Party System, elections in the state were always very close; although the state become more Republican whenWilliam Jennings Bryan’sfree silver policy drove conservative Democrats to the Republican party for the following two decades and would lead to him to lose toWilliam McKinley in1896 and1900.[2] However, untilAlton B. Parker lost the state by thirteen points in1904, Indiana’s strongSouthern leanings meant its Democratic counties remained very loyal and the state remained much closer than the other “Lower North” states ofIllinois,Ohio,Pennsylvania andNew Jersey.[3]
For 1908, third-time Democratic nomineeWilliam Jennings Bryan nominated, under the advice of future Vice PresidentThomas R. Marshall, former Indianapolis city solicitorJohn W. Kern as his running mate in an effort to capture this electorally crucial state that had not voted for a popular vote loser since1848.[4] However,Republican nominee,Secretary of WarWilliam Howard Taft would nonetheless achieve the fourth consecutive Republican win in the state by the narrow margin of 1.49 percentage points.
| 1908 United States presidential election in Indiana[5] | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Running mate | Popular vote | Electoral vote | ||||
| Count | % | Count | % | |||||
| Republican | William Howard Taft ofOhio | James Schoolcraft Sherman ofNew York | 348,993 | 48.40% | 15 | 100.00% | ||
| Democratic | William Jennings Bryan ofNebraska | John Worth Kern ofIndiana | 338,262 | 46.91% | 0 | 0.00% | ||
| Prohibition | Eugene Wilder Chafin ofIllinois | Aaron Sherman Watkins ofOhio | 18,845 | 2.50% | 0 | 0.00% | ||
| Socialist | Eugene Victor Debs ofIndiana | Benjamin Hanford ofNew York | 13,476 | 1.87% | 0 | 0.00% | ||
| Populist | Thomas Edward Watson ofGeorgia | Samuel Williams ofIndiana | 1,193 | 0.17% | 0 | 0.00% | ||
| Socialist Labor | August Gillhaus ofNew York | Donald L. Munro ofVirginia | 643 | 0.09% | 0 | 0.00% | ||
| Independence | Thomas Louis Hisgen ofMassachusetts | John Temple Graves ofGeorgia | 514 | 0.07% | 0 | 0.00% | ||
| Total | 721,126 | 100.00% | 15 | 100.00% | ||||
| County | William Howard Taft[6] Republican | William Jennings Bryan[6] Democratic | Eugene Wilder Chafin[6] Prohibition | Eugene V. Debs[6] Socialist | Various candidates Other parties | Margin | Total votes cast | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Adams | 1,726 | 32.63% | 3,404 | 64.36% | 141 | 2.67% | 13 | 0.25% | 5 | 0.09% | -1,678 | -31.73% | 5,289 |
| Allen | 9,468 | 42.06% | 12,145 | 53.95% | 340 | 1.51% | 494 | 2.19% | 66 | 0.29% | -2,677 | -11.89% | 22,513 |
| Bartholomew | 3,306 | 46.13% | 3,637 | 50.75% | 151 | 2.11% | 59 | 0.82% | 14 | 0.20% | -331 | -4.62% | 7,167 |
| Benton | 1,936 | 53.48% | 1,566 | 43.26% | 103 | 2.85% | 15 | 0.41% | 0 | 0.00% | 370 | 10.22% | 3,620 |
| Blackford | 1,835 | 43.10% | 2,214 | 52.00% | 166 | 3.90% | 42 | 0.99% | 1 | 0.02% | -379 | -8.90% | 4,258 |
| Boone | 3,471 | 48.22% | 3,525 | 48.97% | 166 | 2.31% | 11 | 0.15% | 25 | 0.35% | -54 | -0.75% | 7,198 |
| Brown | 663 | 34.60% | 1,177 | 61.43% | 68 | 3.55% | 5 | 0.26% | 3 | 0.16% | -514 | -26.83% | 1,916 |
| Carroll | 2,546 | 47.46% | 2,590 | 48.28% | 152 | 2.83% | 68 | 1.27% | 9 | 0.17% | -44 | -0.82% | 5,365 |
| Cass | 4,700 | 45.44% | 5,234 | 50.60% | 349 | 3.37% | 38 | 0.37% | 23 | 0.22% | -534 | -5.16% | 10,344 |
| Clark | 3,706 | 46.56% | 4,085 | 51.33% | 82 | 1.03% | 68 | 0.85% | 18 | 0.23% | -379 | -4.76% | 7,959 |
| Clay | 3,766 | 43.79% | 4,204 | 48.88% | 110 | 1.28% | 499 | 5.80% | 22 | 0.26% | -438 | -5.09% | 8,601 |
| Clinton | 3,626 | 47.20% | 3,680 | 47.90% | 281 | 3.66% | 78 | 1.02% | 17 | 0.22% | -54 | -0.70% | 7,682 |
| Crawford | 1,403 | 44.50% | 1,539 | 48.81% | 126 | 4.00% | 82 | 2.60% | 3 | 0.10% | -136 | -4.31% | 3,153 |
| Daviess | 3,424 | 48.38% | 3,253 | 45.97% | 134 | 1.89% | 204 | 2.88% | 62 | 0.88% | 171 | 2.42% | 7,077 |
| De Kalb | 2,991 | 42.41% | 3,684 | 52.24% | 287 | 4.07% | 63 | 0.89% | 27 | 0.38% | -693 | -9.83% | 7,052 |
| Dearborn | 2,520 | 41.81% | 3,365 | 55.83% | 94 | 1.56% | 41 | 0.68% | 7 | 0.12% | -845 | -14.02% | 6,027 |
| Decatur | 2,838 | 50.62% | 2,564 | 45.73% | 159 | 2.84% | 39 | 0.70% | 7 | 0.12% | 274 | 4.89% | 5,607 |
| Delaware | 7,014 | 51.29% | 5,725 | 41.86% | 475 | 3.47% | 316 | 2.31% | 146 | 1.07% | 1,289 | 9.43% | 13,676 |
| Dubois | 1,397 | 28.88% | 3,344 | 69.12% | 36 | 0.74% | 58 | 1.20% | 3 | 0.06% | -1,947 | -40.24% | 4,838 |
| Elkhart | 6,245 | 48.19% | 5,697 | 43.96% | 596 | 4.60% | 400 | 3.09% | 21 | 0.16% | 548 | 4.23% | 12,959 |
| Fayette | 2,394 | 55.77% | 1,700 | 39.60% | 114 | 2.66% | 81 | 1.89% | 4 | 0.09% | 694 | 16.17% | 4,293 |
| Floyd | 3,431 | 43.85% | 4,064 | 51.94% | 94 | 1.20% | 226 | 2.89% | 10 | 0.13% | -633 | -8.09% | 7,825 |
| Fountain | 2,894 | 48.90% | 2,846 | 48.09% | 122 | 2.06% | 45 | 0.76% | 11 | 0.19% | 48 | 0.81% | 5,918 |
| Franklin | 1,670 | 38.23% | 2,616 | 59.89% | 74 | 1.69% | 7 | 0.16% | 1 | 0.02% | -946 | -21.66% | 4,368 |
| Fulton | 2,426 | 49.34% | 2,350 | 47.79% | 125 | 2.54% | 13 | 0.26% | 3 | 0.06% | 76 | 1.55% | 4,917 |
| Gibson | 3,753 | 48.44% | 3,656 | 47.19% | 241 | 3.11% | 86 | 1.11% | 11 | 0.14% | 97 | 1.25% | 7,747 |
| Grant | 7,181 | 49.42% | 5,819 | 40.05% | 1,140 | 7.85% | 339 | 2.33% | 52 | 0.36% | 1,362 | 9.37% | 14,531 |
| Greene | 4,145 | 44.17% | 4,172 | 44.45% | 84 | 0.90% | 930 | 9.91% | 54 | 0.58% | -27 | -0.29% | 9,385 |
| Hamilton | 4,421 | 56.48% | 2,947 | 37.65% | 435 | 5.56% | 24 | 0.31% | 1 | 0.01% | 1,474 | 18.83% | 7,828 |
| Hancock | 2,472 | 43.50% | 3,040 | 53.49% | 146 | 2.57% | 22 | 0.39% | 3 | 0.05% | -568 | -9.99% | 5,683 |
| Harrison | 2,419 | 46.17% | 2,646 | 50.51% | 100 | 1.91% | 67 | 1.28% | 7 | 0.13% | -227 | -4.33% | 5,239 |
| Hendricks | 3,231 | 54.28% | 2,571 | 43.19% | 146 | 2.45% | 0 | 0.00% | 5 | 0.08% | 660 | 11.09% | 5,953 |
| Henry | 4,358 | 54.63% | 3,197 | 40.07% | 332 | 4.16% | 61 | 0.76% | 30 | 0.38% | 1,161 | 14.55% | 7,978 |
| Howard | 4,423 | 50.60% | 3,497 | 40.01% | 550 | 6.29% | 255 | 2.92% | 16 | 0.18% | 926 | 10.59% | 8,741 |
| Huntington | 3,973 | 47.62% | 3,712 | 44.49% | 405 | 4.85% | 241 | 2.89% | 13 | 0.16% | 261 | 3.13% | 8,344 |
| Jackson | 2,631 | 39.93% | 3,783 | 57.41% | 140 | 2.12% | 30 | 0.46% | 5 | 0.08% | -1,152 | -17.48% | 6,589 |
| Jasper | 1,939 | 55.19% | 1,495 | 42.56% | 70 | 1.99% | 7 | 0.20% | 2 | 0.06% | 444 | 12.64% | 3,513 |
| Jay | 3,256 | 45.75% | 3,370 | 47.35% | 426 | 5.99% | 53 | 0.74% | 12 | 0.17% | -114 | -1.60% | 7,117 |
| Jefferson | 2,995 | 50.06% | 2,708 | 45.26% | 176 | 2.94% | 97 | 1.62% | 7 | 0.12% | 287 | 4.80% | 5,983 |
| Jennings | 2,100 | 51.23% | 1,871 | 45.65% | 101 | 2.46% | 21 | 0.51% | 6 | 0.15% | 229 | 5.59% | 4,099 |
| Johnson | 2,519 | 42.04% | 3,268 | 54.54% | 193 | 3.22% | 9 | 0.15% | 3 | 0.05% | -749 | -12.50% | 5,992 |
| Knox | 4,247 | 42.53% | 5,116 | 51.24% | 199 | 1.99% | 375 | 3.76% | 48 | 0.48% | -869 | -8.70% | 9,985 |
| Kosciusko | 4,377 | 54.45% | 3,362 | 41.82% | 233 | 2.90% | 54 | 0.67% | 13 | 0.16% | 1,015 | 12.63% | 8,039 |
| La Porte | 5,824 | 49.52% | 5,680 | 48.30% | 126 | 1.07% | 103 | 0.88% | 27 | 0.23% | 144 | 1.22% | 11,760 |
| Lagrange | 2,357 | 60.13% | 1,414 | 36.07% | 133 | 3.39% | 10 | 0.26% | 6 | 0.15% | 943 | 24.06% | 3,920 |
| Lake | 9,499 | 60.97% | 5,502 | 35.32% | 125 | 0.80% | 303 | 1.94% | 150 | 0.96% | 3,997 | 25.66% | 15,579 |
| Lawrence | 3,884 | 53.77% | 3,118 | 43.16% | 93 | 1.29% | 119 | 1.65% | 10 | 0.14% | 766 | 10.60% | 7,224 |
| Madison | 7,481 | 43.48% | 8,296 | 48.22% | 497 | 2.89% | 894 | 5.20% | 36 | 0.21% | -815 | -4.74% | 17,204 |
| Marion | 34,351 | 48.67% | 34,078 | 48.28% | 839 | 1.19% | 1,075 | 1.52% | 237 | 0.34% | 273 | 0.39% | 70,580 |
| Marshall | 2,947 | 45.31% | 3,287 | 50.54% | 199 | 3.06% | 55 | 0.85% | 16 | 0.25% | -340 | -5.23% | 6,504 |
| Martin | 1,667 | 48.35% | 1,733 | 50.26% | 34 | 0.99% | 11 | 0.32% | 3 | 0.09% | -66 | -1.91% | 3,448 |
| Miami | 3,820 | 45.26% | 4,176 | 49.48% | 233 | 2.76% | 187 | 2.22% | 24 | 0.28% | -356 | -4.22% | 8,440 |
| Monroe | 3,051 | 51.48% | 2,780 | 46.91% | 77 | 1.30% | 14 | 0.24% | 4 | 0.07% | 271 | 4.57% | 5,926 |
| Montgomery | 4,427 | 49.64% | 4,227 | 47.39% | 195 | 2.19% | 44 | 0.49% | 26 | 0.29% | 200 | 2.24% | 8,919 |
| Morgan | 3,074 | 50.98% | 2,789 | 46.25% | 121 | 2.01% | 44 | 0.73% | 2 | 0.03% | 285 | 4.73% | 6,030 |
| Newton | 1,645 | 56.47% | 1,190 | 40.85% | 65 | 2.23% | 8 | 0.27% | 5 | 0.17% | 455 | 15.62% | 2,913 |
| Noble | 3,507 | 50.72% | 3,249 | 46.99% | 120 | 1.74% | 29 | 0.42% | 9 | 0.13% | 258 | 3.73% | 6,914 |
| Ohio | 619 | 49.13% | 622 | 49.37% | 16 | 1.27% | 3 | 0.24% | 0 | 0.00% | -3 | -0.24% | 1,260 |
| Orange | 2,433 | 53.92% | 1,961 | 43.46% | 70 | 1.55% | 44 | 0.98% | 4 | 0.09% | 472 | 10.46% | 4,512 |
| Owen | 1,726 | 44.53% | 2,023 | 52.19% | 61 | 1.57% | 51 | 1.32% | 15 | 0.39% | -297 | -7.66% | 3,876 |
| Parke | 3,026 | 48.35% | 2,707 | 43.25% | 315 | 5.03% | 204 | 3.26% | 7 | 0.11% | 319 | 5.10% | 6,259 |
| Perry | 1,903 | 43.93% | 2,356 | 54.39% | 34 | 0.78% | 37 | 0.85% | 2 | 0.05% | -453 | -10.46% | 4,332 |
| Pike | 2,359 | 47.88% | 2,360 | 47.90% | 59 | 1.20% | 131 | 2.66% | 18 | 0.37% | -1 | -0.02% | 4,927 |
| Porter | 2,940 | 59.88% | 1,789 | 36.44% | 78 | 1.59% | 59 | 1.20% | 44 | 0.90% | 1,151 | 23.44% | 4,910 |
| Posey | 2,444 | 42.49% | 3,084 | 53.62% | 147 | 2.56% | 69 | 1.20% | 8 | 0.14% | -640 | -11.13% | 5,752 |
| Pulaski | 1,561 | 44.20% | 1,832 | 51.87% | 101 | 2.86% | 14 | 0.40% | 24 | 0.68% | -271 | -7.67% | 3,532 |
| Putnam | 2,626 | 44.31% | 3,131 | 52.83% | 121 | 2.04% | 36 | 0.61% | 12 | 0.20% | -505 | -8.52% | 5,926 |
| Randolph | 4,792 | 60.90% | 2,600 | 33.05% | 380 | 4.83% | 87 | 1.11% | 9 | 0.11% | 2,192 | 27.86% | 7,868 |
| Ripley | 2,660 | 47.65% | 2,749 | 49.25% | 88 | 1.58% | 76 | 1.36% | 9 | 0.16% | -89 | -1.59% | 5,582 |
| Rush | 3,102 | 52.96% | 2,544 | 43.44% | 191 | 3.26% | 13 | 0.22% | 7 | 0.12% | 558 | 9.53% | 5,857 |
| Scott | 979 | 42.96% | 1,243 | 54.54% | 51 | 2.24% | 3 | 0.13% | 3 | 0.13% | -264 | -11.58% | 2,279 |
| Shelby | 3,529 | 44.54% | 4,035 | 50.93% | 252 | 3.18% | 95 | 1.20% | 12 | 0.15% | -506 | -6.39% | 7,923 |
| Spencer | 2,920 | 51.54% | 2,662 | 46.98% | 61 | 1.08% | 18 | 0.32% | 5 | 0.09% | 258 | 4.55% | 5,666 |
| St. Joseph | 11,222 | 53.92% | 8,562 | 41.14% | 272 | 1.31% | 705 | 3.39% | 52 | 0.25% | 2,660 | 12.78% | 20,813 |
| Starke | 1,521 | 52.18% | 1,305 | 44.77% | 43 | 1.48% | 39 | 1.34% | 7 | 0.24% | 216 | 7.41% | 2,915 |
| Steuben | 2,704 | 62.00% | 1,453 | 33.32% | 182 | 4.17% | 13 | 0.30% | 9 | 0.21% | 1,251 | 28.69% | 4,361 |
| Sullivan | 2,942 | 35.67% | 4,657 | 56.46% | 225 | 2.73% | 398 | 4.83% | 26 | 0.32% | -1,715 | -20.79% | 8,248 |
| Switzerland | 1,444 | 47.27% | 1,537 | 50.31% | 58 | 1.90% | 14 | 0.46% | 2 | 0.07% | -93 | -3.04% | 3,055 |
| Tippecanoe | 6,164 | 53.42% | 4,984 | 43.19% | 289 | 2.50% | 65 | 0.56% | 37 | 0.32% | 1,180 | 10.23% | 11,539 |
| Tipton | 2,395 | 46.45% | 2,556 | 49.57% | 183 | 3.55% | 13 | 0.25% | 9 | 0.17% | -161 | -3.12% | 5,156 |
| Union | 1,066 | 54.25% | 808 | 41.12% | 73 | 3.72% | 18 | 0.92% | 0 | 0.00% | 258 | 13.13% | 1,965 |
| Vanderburgh | 9,116 | 49.43% | 8,033 | 43.56% | 135 | 0.73% | 1,034 | 5.61% | 125 | 0.68% | 1,083 | 5.87% | 18,443 |
| Vermillion | 2,568 | 50.83% | 1,844 | 36.50% | 217 | 4.30% | 407 | 8.06% | 16 | 0.32% | 724 | 14.33% | 5,052 |
| Vigo | 10,223 | 45.76% | 10,685 | 47.82% | 257 | 1.15% | 690 | 3.09% | 487 | 2.18% | -462 | -2.07% | 22,342 |
| Wabash | 4,091 | 53.55% | 3,116 | 40.79% | 337 | 4.41% | 87 | 1.14% | 9 | 0.12% | 975 | 12.76% | 7,640 |
| Warren | 2,092 | 65.09% | 1,045 | 32.51% | 70 | 2.18% | 3 | 0.09% | 4 | 0.12% | 1,047 | 32.58% | 3,214 |
| Warrick | 2,839 | 48.37% | 2,782 | 47.40% | 138 | 2.35% | 101 | 1.72% | 9 | 0.15% | 57 | 0.97% | 5,869 |
| Washington | 1,976 | 42.58% | 2,573 | 55.44% | 74 | 1.59% | 12 | 0.26% | 6 | 0.13% | -597 | -12.86% | 4,641 |
| Wayne | 6,731 | 57.34% | 4,503 | 38.36% | 179 | 1.52% | 308 | 2.62% | 17 | 0.14% | 2,228 | 18.98% | 11,738 |
| Wells | 2,185 | 35.92% | 3,345 | 54.99% | 482 | 7.92% | 65 | 1.07% | 6 | 0.10% | -1,160 | -19.07% | 6,083 |
| White | 2,423 | 49.26% | 2,326 | 47.29% | 144 | 2.93% | 19 | 0.39% | 7 | 0.14% | 97 | 1.97% | 4,919 |
| Whitley | 2,302 | 46.57% | 2,493 | 50.43% | 134 | 2.71% | 13 | 0.26% | 1 | 0.02% | -191 | -3.86% | 4,943 |
| Totals | 348,993 | 48.40% | 338,262 | 46.91% | 18,036 | 2.50% | 13,476 | 1.87% | 2,359 | 0.33% | 10,731 | 1.49% | 721,126 |