1912 Democratic Party presidential primaries

From March 19 to June 4, 1912, voters of the Democratic Party elected delegates to the 1912 Democratic National Convention for the purpose of choosing a nominee for president in the 1912 election.[1]

1912 Democratic Party presidential primaries

March 19 to June 4, 19121916 →

1,088 delegates to the 1912 Democratic National Convention
726 (two-thirds) votes needed to win
 
CandidateWoodrow WilsonChamp Clark
Home stateNew JerseyMissouri
Delegate count324440.5
Contests won55
Popular vote435,169405,537
Percentage44.6%41.6%

 
CandidateJudson HarmonOscar Underwood
Home stateOhioAlabama
Delegate count148117.5
Contests won1
Popular vote116,294
Percentage11.9%

     Wilson      Clark      Underwood
     Harmon      Baldwin      Various[a]

Previous Democratic nominee

William Jennings Bryan

Democratic nominee

Woodrow Wilson

The primaries were inconclusive, with Speaker of the House Champ Clark holding a lead over Woodrow Wilson, but neither candidate close to the two-thirds of the delegates necessary to secure the nomination. In third place, Ohio governor Judson Harmon boasted the support of his home state and New York, the largest single delegation. House Majority Leader Oscar Underwood had strong support from the Deep South but little appeal outside the region.

At the convention, Wilson eventually secured the nomination over Clark after forty back-and-forth ballots.

Candidates

edit

Nominee

edit

Withdrew During Convention

edit

Withdrew During Primaries

edit

Results

edit
StateDateWoodrow WilsonChamp ClarkJudson HarmonJohn Burke
North DakotaMarch 190.0%0.0%0.0%100.0%
WisconsinApril 255.7%44.2%0.0%0.0%
IllinoisApril 925.7%74.3%0.0%0.0%
PennsylvaniaApril 13100.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%
NebraskaApril 1927.9%41.0%24.3%0.0%
OregonApril 1953.0%43.4%3.3%0.0%
MassachusettsApril 3029.9%68.9%0.0%0.0%
MarylandMay 634.3%54.4%11.3%0.0%
CaliforniaMay 1428.5%71.5%0.0%0.0%
OhioMay 2145.7%1.3%51.7%0.0%
New JerseyMay 2898.9%1.1%0.0%0.0%
South DakotaJune 435.2%32.0%[notes 1]0.0%0.0%
Legend:  1st place
(popular vote)
2nd place
(popular vote)
3rd place
(popular vote)

See also

edit

Notes

edit
  1. ^ The pro-Clark vote was split between two slates of delegates. The first one, labeled "Wilson-Clark-Bryan" received 32% while the second one, labeled "Champ Clark" received 20%. Clark's people accused the latter slate of being a scheme to split the vote. Only the votes received by the Wilson-Clark-Bryan slate are included in this total.
  1. ^ Favorite sons received the support of Indiana (Thomas R. Marshall) and North Dakota (John Burke).

References

edit
  1. ^ Kalb, Deborah (2016-02-19). Guide to U.S. Elections - Google Books. ISBN 9781483380353. Retrieved 2016-02-19.