Tuesday, November 3, 1908
1908 presidential election results
William Howard Taft (Republican) and running mate James S. Sherman won with 321 electoral votes and 51.6% of the popular vote.
Tipping-point state: West Virginia, R+10.3 (nation R+8.6). It delivered electoral vote number 242 for the winner. What is a tipping-point state?
| Candidate | Running mate | Party | Electoral votes | Popular vote | Share | States won |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| William Howard Taft Won | James S. Sherman | Republican | 321 | 7,676,598 | 51.60% | 29 |
| William Jennings Bryan | John Kern | Democratic | 162 | 6,406,874 | 43.00% | 17 |
| Total popular votes counted | 14,884,098 | |||||
Electoral College map
Full-screen mapMargin:<55–1010–2020+points. Grey: no popular vote / no data.
Results by state
Download CSV| State | William Howard Taft | William Jennings Bryan | Margin | EV | Total votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 24.3% | 70.7% 11 | 46.4 | 11 | 105,152 |
| Arkansas | 37.3% | 57.3% 9 | 20.0 | 9 | 151,845 |
| California | 55.5% 10 | 33.0% | 22.5 | 10 | 386,625 |
| Colorado | 46.9% | 48.0% 5 | 1.1 | 5 | 263,858 |
| Connecticut | 59.4% 7 | 35.9% | 23.5 | 7 | 189,903 |
| Delaware | 52.1% 3 | 45.9% | 6.2 | 3 | 48,007 |
| Florida | 21.6% | 63.0% 5 | 41.4 | 5 | 49,360 |
| Georgia | 31.4% | 54.5% 13 | 23.1 | 13 | 132,794 |
| Idaho | 54.1% 3 | 37.2% | 16.9 | 3 | 97,293 |
| Illinois | 54.5% 27 | 39.0% | 15.5 | 27 | 1,155,254 |
| Indiana | 48.4% 15 | 46.9% | 1.5 | 15 | 721,117 |
| Iowa | 55.6% 13 | 40.6% | 15.1 | 13 | 494,770 |
| Kansas | 52.5% 10 | 42.9% | 9.6 | 10 | 376,043 |
| Kentucky | 48.0% | 49.7% 13 | 1.7 | 13 | 490,719 |
| Louisiana | 11.9% | 84.6% 9 | 72.7 | 9 | 75,117 |
| Maine | 63.0% 6 | 33.3% | 29.7 | 6 | 106,335 |
| Maryland | 48.8% 2 | 48.6% 6 | -0.3 | 8 | 238,531 |
| Massachusetts | 58.2% 16 | 34.0% | 24.2 | 16 | 456,905 |
| Michigan | 61.9% 14 | 32.4% | 29.5 | 14 | 538,124 |
| Minnesota | 59.1% 11 | 33.0% | 26.1 | 11 | 331,328 |
| Mississippi | 6.5% | 90.1% 10 | 83.6 | 10 | 66,904 |
| Missouri | 48.5% 18 | 48.4% | 0.1 | 18 | 715,841 |
| Montana | 46.9% 3 | 42.6% | 4.3 | 3 | 69,233 |
| Nebraska | 47.6% | 49.1% 8 | 1.5 | 8 | 266,799 |
| Nevada | 43.9% | 45.7% 3 | 1.8 | 3 | 24,526 |
| New Hampshire | 59.3% 4 | 37.6% | 21.8 | 4 | 89,595 |
| New Jersey | 56.8% 12 | 39.1% | 17.7 | 12 | 467,111 |
| New York | 53.1% 39 | 40.7% | 12.4 | 39 | 1,638,350 |
| North Carolina | 45.5% | 54.2% 12 | 8.7 | 12 | 252,554 |
| North Dakota | 61.0% 4 | 34.8% | 26.2 | 4 | 94,524 |
| Ohio | 51.0% 23 | 44.8% | 6.2 | 23 | 1,121,552 |
| Oklahoma | 43.4% | 48.1% 7 | 4.7 | 7 | 254,260 |
| Oregon | 56.5% 4 | 34.2% | 22.3 | 4 | 110,539 |
| Pennsylvania | 58.8% 34 | 35.4% | 23.4 | 34 | 1,267,450 |
| Rhode Island | 60.8% 4 | 34.2% | 26.6 | 4 | 72,317 |
| South Carolina | 5.9% | 93.8% 9 | 87.9 | 9 | 66,379 |
| South Dakota | 58.8% 4 | 35.1% | 23.8 | 4 | 114,775 |
| Tennessee | 45.9% | 52.7% 12 | 6.9 | 12 | 257,180 |
| Texas | 22.4% | 74.0% 18 | 51.6 | 18 | 292,913 |
| Utah | 56.2% 3 | 39.2% | 17.1 | 3 | 108,757 |
| Vermont | 75.1% 4 | 21.8% | 53.3 | 4 | 52,680 |
| Virginia | 38.4% | 60.5% 12 | 22.2 | 12 | 137,065 |
| Washington | 57.8% 5 | 31.8% | 26.0 | 5 | 183,570 |
| West Virginia | 53.4% 7 | 43.2% | 10.3 | 7 | 258,098 |
| Wisconsin | 54.5% 13 | 36.7% | 17.8 | 13 | 454,438 |
| Wyoming | 55.4% 3 | 39.7% | 15.8 | 3 | 37,608 |
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 1908
- Missouri William Howard Taft by 629 votes (0.09 pts)
- Colorado William Jennings Bryan by 2,951 votes (1.12 pts)
- Indiana William Howard Taft by 10,731 votes (1.49 pts)
- Nebraska William Jennings Bryan by 4,102 votes (1.54 pts)
- Kentucky William Jennings Bryan by 8,381 votes (1.71 pts)
- Nevada William Jennings Bryan by 437 votes (1.78 pts)
- Montana William Howard Taft by 2,960 votes (4.28 pts)
- Oklahoma William Jennings Bryan by 11,889 votes (4.68 pts)
Source: 1908
Questions and answers
Who won the 1908 presidential election?
William Howard Taft (Republican) won the 1908 election with 321 electoral votes, with James S. Sherman as vice president.
How many electoral votes did each candidate win in 1908?
William Howard Taft 321; William Jennings Bryan 162 (out of 483).
Who won the popular vote in 1908?
William Howard Taft received the most popular votes: 7,676,598 (51.6%) of 14,884,098 counted.
What was the closest state in 1908?
Missouri, which William Howard Taft won by 629 votes (0.09 points).
Which states flipped in 1908?
Compared with 1904, 3 states changed party: Colorado (to Democratic), Nebraska (to Democratic) and Nevada (to Democratic).
What was the tipping-point state in 1908?
West Virginia. Ranking the states by the winner's margin, it delivered electoral vote number 242; it voted Republican by 10.3 points, against Republican by 8.6 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