Tuesday, November 3, 1896
1896 presidential election results
William McKinley (Republican) and running mate Garret Hobart won with 271 electoral votes and 51.1% of the popular vote.
Tipping-point state: Ohio, R+5.0 (nation R+5.3). It delivered electoral vote number 224 for the winner. What is a tipping-point state?
| Candidate | Running mate | Party | Electoral votes | Popular vote | Share | States won |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| William McKinley Won | Garret Hobart | Republican | 271 | 7,105,076 | 51.10% | 23 |
| William Jennings Bryan | Sewall/Watson | Democratic | 176 | 6,370,897 | 45.80% | 22 |
| Total popular votes counted | 13,905,691 | |||||
Electoral College map
Full-screen mapMargin:<55–1010–2020+points. Grey: no popular vote / no data.
Results by state
Download CSV| State | William McKinley | William Jennings Bryan | Margin | EV | Total votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 28.6% | 67.0% 11 | 38.4 | 11 | 194,580 |
| Arkansas | 25.1% | 73.7% 8 | 48.6 | 8 | 149,396 |
| California | 49.1% 8 | 41.2% 1 | 7.9 | 9 | 299,374 |
| Colorado | 13.9% | 84.9% 4 | 71.1 | 4 | 189,539 |
| Connecticut | 63.2% 6 | 32.5% | 30.7 | 6 | 174,394 |
| Delaware | 53.5% 3 | 42.6% | 11.0 | 3 | 31,538 |
| Florida | 24.3% | 66.0% 4 | 41.7 | 4 | 46,468 |
| Georgia | 36.8% | 58.0% 13 | 21.2 | 13 | 163,309 |
| Idaho | 21.3% | 78.1% 3 | 56.7 | 3 | 29,631 |
| Illinois | 55.7% 24 | 42.7% | 13.0 | 24 | 1,090,766 |
| Indiana | 50.8% 15 | 48.0% | 2.9 | 15 | 637,089 |
| Iowa | 55.5% 13 | 42.9% | 12.6 | 13 | 521,550 |
| Kansas | 47.5% | 51.5% 10 | 4.0 | 10 | 336,085 |
| Kentucky | 48.9% 12 | 48.9% 1 | 0.1 | 13 | 445,928 |
| Louisiana | 21.8% | 76.4% 8 | 54.6 | 8 | 101,046 |
| Maine | 67.9% 6 | 29.2% | 38.7 | 6 | 118,419 |
| Maryland | 54.7% 8 | 41.6% | 13.1 | 8 | 250,249 |
| Massachusetts | 69.5% 15 | 26.3% | 43.3 | 15 | 401,269 |
| Michigan | 53.8% 14 | 43.5% | 10.3 | 14 | 545,583 |
| Minnesota | 56.6% 9 | 40.9% | 15.7 | 9 | 341,762 |
| Mississippi | 6.9% | 91.0% 9 | 84.1 | 9 | 69,591 |
| Missouri | 45.2% | 54.0% 17 | 8.7 | 17 | 674,032 |
| Montana | 19.7% | 79.9% 3 | 60.2 | 3 | 53,330 |
| Nebraska | 46.2% | 51.5% 8 | 5.4 | 8 | 223,181 |
| Nevada | 18.8% | 75.6% 3 | 56.9 | 3 | 10,314 |
| New Hampshire | 68.7% 4 | 25.4% | 43.2 | 4 | 83,670 |
| New Jersey | 59.7% 10 | 36.0% | 23.6 | 10 | 371,014 |
| New York | 57.6% 36 | 38.7% | 18.9 | 36 | 1,423,876 |
| North Carolina | 46.8% | 52.6% 11 | 5.8 | 11 | 331,337 |
| North Dakota | 55.6% 3 | 43.6% | 11.9 | 3 | 47,391 |
| Ohio | 51.9% 23 | 46.8% | 5.0 | 23 | 1,014,295 |
| Oregon | 50.0% 4 | 48.0% | 2.0 | 4 | 97,335 |
| Pennsylvania | 61.0% 32 | 35.8% | 25.2 | 32 | 1,194,355 |
| Rhode Island | 68.3% 4 | 26.4% | 41.9 | 4 | 54,785 |
| South Carolina | 13.5% | 85.3% 9 | 71.8 | 9 | 68,938 |
| South Dakota | 49.5% | 49.7% 4 | 0.2 | 4 | 82,937 |
| Tennessee | 46.3% | 52.1% 12 | 5.8 | 12 | 320,903 |
| Texas | 31.7% | 51.9% 15 | 20.2 | 15 | 515,987 |
| Utah | 17.3% | 82.7% 3 | 65.5 | 3 | 78,098 |
| Vermont | 80.1% 4 | 15.9% | 64.2 | 4 | 63,831 |
| Virginia | 45.9% | 52.5% 12 | 6.6 | 12 | 294,674 |
| Washington | 41.8% | 55.2% 4 | 13.4 | 4 | 93,583 |
| West Virginia | 52.2% 6 | 46.8% | 5.4 | 6 | 201,757 |
| Wisconsin | 59.9% 12 | 37.0% | 22.9 | 12 | 447,409 |
| Wyoming | 47.8% | 49.3% 3 | 1.4 | 3 | 21,093 |
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 1896
- Kentucky William McKinley by 277 votes (0.06 pts)
- South Dakota William Jennings Bryan by 185 votes (0.22 pts)
- Wyoming William Jennings Bryan by 304 votes (1.44 pts)
- Oregon William McKinley by 1,961 votes (2.01 pts)
- Indiana William McKinley by 18,216 votes (2.86 pts)
- Kansas William Jennings Bryan by 13,565 votes (4.04 pts)
- Ohio William McKinley by 51,109 votes (5.04 pts)
- Nebraska William Jennings Bryan by 11,943 votes (5.35 pts)
Flipped since 1892
- California: Democratic → Republican (9 EV)
- Colorado: Populist → Democratic (4 EV)
- Connecticut: Democratic → Republican (6 EV)
- Delaware: Democratic → Republican (3 EV)
- Idaho: Populist → Democratic (3 EV)
- Illinois: Democratic → Republican (24 EV)
- Indiana: Democratic → Republican (15 EV)
- Kansas: Populist → Democratic (10 EV)
- Kentucky: Democratic → Republican (13 EV)
- Maryland: Democratic → Republican (8 EV)
- Montana: Republican → Democratic (3 EV)
- Nebraska: Republican → Democratic (8 EV)
- Nevada: Populist → Democratic (3 EV)
- New Jersey: Democratic → Republican (10 EV)
- New York: Democratic → Republican (36 EV)
- North Dakota: Democratic → Republican (3 EV)
- South Dakota: Republican → Democratic (4 EV)
- Washington: Republican → Democratic (4 EV)
- West Virginia: Democratic → Republican (6 EV)
- Wisconsin: Democratic → Republican (12 EV)
- Wyoming: Republican → Democratic (3 EV)
Source: 1896
Questions and answers
Who won the 1896 presidential election?
William McKinley (Republican) won the 1896 election with 271 electoral votes, with Garret Hobart as vice president.
How many electoral votes did each candidate win in 1896?
William McKinley 271; William Jennings Bryan 176 (out of 447).
Who won the popular vote in 1896?
William McKinley received the most popular votes: 7,105,076 (51.1%) of 13,905,691 counted.
What was the closest state in 1896?
Kentucky, which William McKinley won by 277 votes (0.06 points).
Which states flipped in 1896?
Compared with 1892, 21 states changed party: California (to Republican), Colorado (to Democratic), Connecticut (to Republican), Delaware (to Republican), Idaho (to Democratic), Illinois (to Republican), Indiana (to Republican), Kansas (to Democratic), Kentucky (to Republican), Maryland (to Republican), Montana (to Democratic), Nebraska (to Democratic), Nevada (to Democratic), New Jersey (to Republican), New York (to Republican), North Dakota (to Republican), South Dakota (to Democratic), Washington (to Democratic), West Virginia (to Republican), Wisconsin (to Republican) and Wyoming (to Democratic).
What was the tipping-point state in 1896?
Ohio. Ranking the states by the winner's margin, it delivered electoral vote number 224; it voted Republican by 5.0 points, against Republican by 5.3 points nationally.
Official results As published by The American Presidency Project (UC Santa Barbara) and the state documents it links. How we use this data