Tuesday, November 7, 1848
1848 presidential election results
Zachary Taylor (Whig) and running mate Millard Fillmore won with 163 electoral votes and 47.3% of the popular vote.
| Candidate | Running mate | Party | Electoral votes | Popular vote | Share | States won |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zachary Taylor Won | Millard Fillmore | Whig | 163 | 1,361,393 | 47.30% | 15 |
| Lewis Cass | William Butler | Democratic | 127 | 1,223,460 | 42.50% | 14 |
| Martin Van Buren | Charles Adams, Sr. | Free Soil | 0 | 291,501 | 10.10% | 0 |
| Total popular votes counted | 2,879,184 | |||||
Electoral College map
Full-screen mapMargin:<55–1010–2020+points. Grey: no popular vote / no data.
Results by state
Download CSV| State | Zachary Taylor | Lewis Cass | Martin Van Buren | Margin | EV | Total votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 49.4% | 50.6% 9 | — | 1.1 | 9 | 61,659 |
| Arkansas | 44.9% | 55.1% 3 | — | 10.2 | 3 | 16,888 |
| Connecticut | 48.6% 6 | 43.4% | 8.0% | 5.2 | 6 | 62,398 |
| Delaware | 51.8% 3 | 47.5% | 0.7% | 4.3 | 3 | 12,432 |
| Florida | 57.2% 3 | 42.8% | — | 14.4 | 3 | 7,203 |
| Georgia | 51.5% 10 | 48.5% | — | 3.0 | 10 | 92,317 |
| Illinois | 42.4% | 44.9% 9 | 12.6% | 2.5 | 9 | 124,596 |
| Indiana | 45.7% | 49.0% 12 | 5.3% | 3.3 | 12 | 152,394 |
| Iowa | 44.6% | 50.5% 4 | 5.0% | 5.9 | 4 | 22,271 |
| Kentucky | 57.5% 12 | 42.5% | — | 14.9 | 12 | 116,865 |
| Louisiana | 54.6% 6 | 45.4% | — | 9.2 | 6 | 33,866 |
| Maine | 40.3% | 45.9% 9 | 13.9% | 5.6 | 9 | 87,625 |
| Maryland | 52.1% 8 | 47.7% | 0.2% | 4.4 | 8 | 72,359 |
| Massachusetts | 45.3% 12 | 26.2% | 28.4% | 16.9 | 12 | 134,748 |
| Michigan | 36.8% | 47.2% 5 | 16.0% | 10.4 | 5 | 65,082 |
| Mississippi | 49.4% | 50.6% 6 | — | 1.2 | 6 | 52,456 |
| Missouri | 44.9% | 55.1% 7 | — | 10.2 | 7 | 72,748 |
| New Hampshire | 29.5% | 55.4% 6 | 15.1% | 25.9 | 6 | 50,104 |
| New Jersey | 51.5% 7 | 47.5% | 1.1% | 4.0 | 7 | 77,745 |
| New York | 47.9% 36 | 25.1% | 26.4% | 21.5 | 36 | 455,944 |
| North Carolina | 55.2% 11 | 44.8% | — | 10.4 | 11 | 79,826 |
| Ohio | 42.1% | 47.0% 23 | 10.8% | 4.9 | 23 | 328,987 |
| Pennsylvania | 50.3% 26 | 46.7% | 3.0% | 3.7 | 26 | 369,092 |
| Rhode Island | 60.7% 4 | 32.7% | 6.6% | 28.0 | 4 | 11,049 |
| South Carolina | 9 electors chosen by state legislature and awarded to Lewis Cass | — | — | — | ||
| Tennessee | 52.5% 13 | 47.5% | — | 5.1 | 13 | 122,463 |
| Texas | 31.1% | 68.5% 4 | — | 37.4 | 4 | 17,000 |
| Vermont | 48.3% 6 | 22.8% | 28.9% | 19.4 | 6 | 47,897 |
| Virginia | 49.2% | 50.8% 17 | — | 1.6 | 17 | 92,004 |
| Wisconsin | 35.1% | 38.3% 4 | 26.6% | 3.2 | 4 | 39,166 |
Shares are of the votes counted for president; bold numbers are electoral votes won. Margin is the winner’s lead over the runner-up in points.
Closest states in 1848
- Alabama Lewis Cass by 691 votes (1.12 pts)
- Mississippi Lewis Cass by 634 votes (1.21 pts)
- Virginia Lewis Cass by 1,474 votes (1.60 pts)
- Illinois Lewis Cass by 3,099 votes (2.49 pts)
- Georgia Zachary Taylor by 2,747 votes (2.98 pts)
- Wisconsin Lewis Cass by 1,254 votes (3.20 pts)
- Indiana Lewis Cass by 5,027 votes (3.30 pts)
- Pennsylvania Zachary Taylor by 13,544 votes (3.67 pts)
Flipped since 1844
- Georgia: Democratic → Whig (10 EV)
- Louisiana: Democratic → Whig (6 EV)
- New York: Democratic → Whig (36 EV)
- Ohio: Whig → Democratic (23 EV)
- Pennsylvania: Democratic → Whig (26 EV)
Why the state electoral votes do not add up to the national total
In 1848 some states had no popular vote; their electors were chosen another way, so their electoral votes appear only in these notes:
- South Carolina: 9 electors chosen by state legislature and awarded to Lewis Cass
Source: 1848
Questions and answers
Who won the 1848 presidential election?
Zachary Taylor (Whig) won the 1848 election with 163 electoral votes, with Millard Fillmore as vice president.
How many electoral votes did each candidate win in 1848?
Zachary Taylor 163; Lewis Cass 127 (out of 290).
Who won the popular vote in 1848?
Zachary Taylor received the most popular votes: 1,361,393 (47.3%) of 2,879,184 counted.
What was the closest state in 1848?
Alabama, which Lewis Cass won by 691 votes (1.12 points).
Which states flipped in 1848?
Compared with 1844, 5 states changed party: Georgia (to Whig), Louisiana (to Whig), New York (to Whig), Ohio (to Democratic) and Pennsylvania (to Whig).
Official results As published by The American Presidency Project (UC Santa Barbara) and the state documents it links. How we use this data