The 1916 United States presidential election in Utah took place on November 7, 1916. All contemporary forty-eight states were part of the 1916 United States presidential election. State voters chose four electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president. This was the first election featuring as a distinct voting unit Duchesne County, which had been split from Wasatch County in 1915.
In the preceding 1912 presidential election, Utah had been one of only two states (the other being strongly Republican Vermont) to give a plurality to incumbent President William Howard Taft. However, in contrast to the East where supporters of Theodore Roosevelt's "Bull Moose" Party rapidly returned to the Republicans, in the Mountain States many if not most of these supporters turned to the Democratic Party not only in presidential elections, but also in state and federal legislative ones.Sarasohn, David; 'The Election of 1916: Realigning the Rockies', Western Historical Quarterly, Vol. 11, No. 3 (July 1980), pp. 285-305 Another factor helping Wilson was a powerful "peace vote" in the Western statesMenendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004, p. 47 due to opposition to participation in World War I, and a third was that a considerable part of the substantial vote for Socialist candidate Eugene Debs from the previous election was turned over to Wilson owing to such progressive reforms as the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Amendments. A fourth factor was that Taft had support from the Mormon hierarchy that commanded the loyalty of most of Utah's population – which caused Utah to remain largely loyal to him amidst the GOP split – but the LDS Church did not maintain support with Hughes.
The combined result was that Wilson was able to make Utah his second-strongest victory outside of the "Solid South" – in a state that four years previously had given him his seventh-lowest popular vote proportion.Dave Leip's U.S. Election Atlas; 1912 Presidential General Election Data – National by State: Sorted by Vote Percentage for Wilson Utah was his eleventh-best state overall and voted 17.83 percentage points more Democratic than the nation at-large. Wilson swept every county in the state, including rock-ribbed Republican Kane County, which had been Taft's third-strongest county nationwide in 1912,Dave Leip's U.S. Election Atlas; 1912 Presidential Election Statistics which has never otherwise supported a Democrat for president, and where otherwise only William Jennings Bryan in 1896 and Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1936 have as Democrats received so much as one-third of the vote. This is the only time a Democrat swept every county in the state.
Results + General Election ResultsUtah State Archives, Abstract of the Returns of an Election held in the State of Utah, Tuesday, November 7th, A.D. 1916 for Presidential Electors, for Representatives in the Sixty-fifth Congress of the United States, for State Officers, and for District Officers in Districts comprising more than one county, and for the Adoption of Rejection of Proposed Amendments to the Constitution of this State.Party Pledged to Elector Votes Democratic Party Woodrow Wilson Jesse Knight84,145 Democratic Party Woodrow Wilson Robert N. Baskin84,025 Democratic Party Woodrow Wilson Anthon Anderson83,962 Democratic Party Woodrow Wilson John Seaman83,872 Republican Party Charles Evans Hughes Orange Seely54,137 Republican Party Charles Evans Hughes Asa R. Hawley54,136 Republican Party Charles Evans Hughes Thomas Smart54,089 Republican Party Charles Evans Hughes David Jenson53,993 Socialist Party Allan L. Benson Charles E. Robinson4,460 Socialist Party Allan L. Benson Albert V. Wallis4,458 Socialist Party Allan L. Benson Francis J. Mallet4,454 Socialist Party Allan L. Benson Morton Alexander4,451 Prohibition Party Frank Hanly Rachel E. Waite149 Prohibition Party Frank Hanly James H. Worrall147 Prohibition Party Frank Hanly Louis Page145 Socialist Labor Party Arthur E. Reimer Eugene A. Battell144 Socialist Labor Party Arthur E. Reimer James P. Erskine143 Socialist Labor Party Arthur E. Reimer Howard Hall143 Socialist Labor Party Arthur E. Reimer Theodore Petersen142 Progressive Party Woodrow Wilson Jesse Knight111 Progressive Party Woodrow Wilson Anthon Anderson111 Progressive Party Woodrow Wilson John Seaman111 Progressive Party Woodrow Wilson Robert N. Baskin110Votes cast 143,146
Results by county County Woodrow WilsonDemocratic Charles Evans HughesRepublican Allan L. BensonSocialist Frank HanlyProhibition Arthur E. ReimerSocialist LaborMarginTotal votes cast # % # % # % # % # % # %Beaver 1,29158.84%84238.38%612.78%00.00%00.00%44920.46%2,194Box Elder 2,95854.70%2,41644.67%340.63%00.00%00.00%54210.02%5,408Cache 5,30558.03%3,75641.09%750.82%20.02%40.04%1,54916.94%9,142Carbon 1,47850.43%1,30144.39%1475.02%40.14%10.03%1776.04%2,931Davis 2,13456.16%1,64143.18%220.58%20.05%10.03%49312.97%3,800Duchesne 1,44356.61%68726.95%41016.08%00.00%90.35%75629.66%2,549Emery 1,40758.72%89637.40%883.67%00.00%50.21%51121.33%2,396Garfield 84361.26%51637.50%161.16%10.07%00.00%32723.76%1,376Grand 30656.77%21339.52%193.53%00.00%10.19%9317.25%539Iron 1,15656.09%82540.03%763.69%00.00%40.19%33116.06%2,061Juab 2,22161.30%1,24834.45%1514.17%00.00%30.08%97326.86%3,623Kane 32950.85%30446.99%142.16%00.00%00.00%253.86%647Millard 1,80456.23%1,29340.31%942.93%60.19%110.34%51115.93%3,208Morgan 48450.63%46448.54%80.84%00.00%00.00%202.09%956Piute 41756.20%26936.25%557.41%00.00%10.13%14819.95%742Rich 45458.28%32541.72%00.00%00.00%00.00%12916.56%779Salt Lake 30,70761.18%17,59335.05%1,7783.54%700.14%410.08%13,11426.13%50,189San Juan 44866.27%21331.51%152.22%00.00%00.00%23534.76%676Sanpete 3,45753.50%2,91845.16%781.21%10.02%80.12%5398.34%6,462Sevier 2,05253.44%1,72044.79%671.74%00.00%10.03%3328.65%3,840Summit 1,49851.00%1,19540.69%2408.17%10.03%30.10%30310.32%2,937Tooele 1,52855.20%1,12440.61%1134.08%10.04%20.07%40414.60%2,768Uintah 1,46564.37%71231.28%944.13%40.18%10.04%75333.08%2,276Utah 8,24859.39%5,20137.45%4102.95%110.08%170.12%3,04721.94%13,887Wasatch 88551.57%81747.61%140.82%00.00%00.00%683.96%1,716Washington 1,39766.40%70333.41%40.19%00.00%00.00%69432.98%2,104Wayne 39362.68%22535.89%91.44%00.00%00.00%16826.79%627Weber 8,14861.20%4,72035.45%3682.76%460.35%310.23%3,42825.75%13,313Total84,25658.86%54,13737.82%4,4603.12%1490.10%1440.10%30,11921.04%143,146
Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic
Beaver Box Elder Carbon Davis Emery Garfield Iron Juab Kane Millard Morgan Piute Rich Salt Lake San Juan Sanpete Sevier Summit Tooele Wasatch Wayne
Counties that flipped from Progressive to Democratic Uintah Weber
See also United States presidential elections in Utah
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