1908 United States presidential election in New Jersey
1908 United States presidential election in New Jersey
County Results
Taft
40-50%
50-60%
60-70%
Bryan
50-60%
The 1908 United States presidential election in New Jersey took place on November 3, 1908. All contemporary 46 states were part of the 1908 United States presidential election . Voters chose 14 electors to the Electoral College , which selected the president and vice president .
New Jersey was won by the Republican nominees, United States Secretary of War William Howard Taft of Ohio and his running mate Congressman James S. Sherman of New York . Taft and Sherman defeated the Democratic nominees, former Congressman and two-time prior presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan of Nebraska and his running mate Senator John W. Kern of Indiana . Also in the running was the Socialist Party candidate, Eugene V. Debs , who ran with Ben Hanford .
Taft carried New Jersey comfortably with 56.80 percent of the vote to Bryan's 39.07 percent, a victory margin of 17.72 percent.[ 1]
Eugene Debs came in a distant third, with 2.19 percent.
Like much of the Northeast , New Jersey in the early decades of the 20th century was a staunchly Republican state, having not given a majority of the vote to a Democratic presidential candidate since 1892 . While winning a comfortable victory nationwide, Taft easily held New Jersey in the Republican column in 1908. On the county-level map, Taft carried 18 of the state's 21 counties, breaking 60% of the vote in 8 counties. Bryan won only the three rural counties in western North Jersey , Warren , Sussex , and Hunterdon , which had long been non-Yankee Democratic enclaves in the otherwise Republican Northeast.[ 2]
New Jersey's election result in 1908 made the state over 9% more Republican than the national average. This is the last time a Republican won the election without Hunterdon, Warren, and Sussex counties.
Bryan had previously lost New Jersey twice to William McKinley in 1896 and 1900 .
Results
Results by county
County
William Howard Taft[ 3]
William Jennings Bryan[ 3]
Eugene Victor Debs[ 3]
Eugene Wilder Chafin[ 3]
Various candidates[ 3]
Margin
Total votes cast
#
%
#
%
#
%
#
%
#
%
#
%
Atlantic
8,822
63.71%
4,577
33.05%
76
0.55%
342
2.47%
30
0.22%
4,245
30.66%
13,847
Bergen
14,042
61.51%
7,628
33.42%
575
2.52%
219
0.96%
364
1.59%
6,414
28.10%
22,828
Burlington
9,020
57.16%
6,274
39.76%
140
0.89%
299
1.89%
46
0.29%
2,746
17.40%
15,779
Camden
18,999
61.32%
10,469
33.79%
697
2.25%
711
2.29%
107
0.35%
8,530
27.53%
30,983
Cape May
2,937
63.27%
1,553
33.46%
33
0.71%
111
2.39%
8
0.17%
1,384
29.81%
4,642
Cumberland
6,770
56.56%
4,521
37.77%
158
1.32%
476
3.98%
45
0.38%
2,249
18.79%
11,970
Essex
53,687
61.71%
30,191
34.70%
2,205
2.53%
317
0.36%
604
0.69%
23,496
27.01%
87,004
Gloucester
5,318
56.37%
3,707
39.29%
72
0.76%
322
3.41%
15
0.16%
1,611
17.08%
9,434
Hudson
41,967
48.91%
39,637
46.20%
2,776
3.24%
172
0.20%
1,244
1.45%
2,330
2.72%
85,796
Hunterdon
3,733
43.04%
4,737
54.62%
29
0.33%
140
1.61%
34
0.39%
-1,004
-11.58%
8,673
Mercer
14,941
58.99%
9,289
36.67%
687
2.71%
284
1.12%
128
0.51%
5,652
22.31%
25,329
Middlesex
11,261
57.57%
7,940
40.59%
98
0.50%
134
0.69%
127
0.65%
3,321
16.98%
19,560
Monmouth
12,519
56.29%
9,252
41.60%
137
0.62%
204
0.92%
127
0.57%
3,267
14.69%
22,239
Morris
9,089
61.16%
5,026
33.82%
367
2.47%
243
1.64%
137
0.92%
4,063
27.34%
14,862
Ocean
3,326
65.15%
1,634
32.01%
22
0.43%
89
1.74%
34
0.67%
1,692
33.14%
5,105
Passaic
17,635
55.96%
11,961
37.96%
1,086
3.45%
241
0.76%
588
1.87%
5,674
18.01%
31,511
Salem
3,713
52.91%
3,173
45.22%
36
0.51%
88
1.25%
7
0.10%
540
7.70%
7,017
Somerset
5,043
59.43%
3,271
38.55%
24
0.28%
94
1.11%
53
0.62%
1,772
20.88%
8,485
Sussex
2,653
44.25%
3,214
53.61%
36
0.60%
70
1.17%
22
0.37%
-561
-9.36%
5,995
Union
15,919
60.90%
8,806
33.69%
912
3.49%
132
0.50%
370
1.42%
7,113
27.21%
26,139
Warren
3,904
39.38%
5,662
57.12%
83
0.84%
242
2.44%
22
0.22%
-1,758
-17.73%
9,913
Totals
265,298
56.80%
182,522
39.07%
10,249
2.19%
4,930
1.06%
4,112
0.88%
82,776
17.72%
467,111
See also
References
