1892 United States presidential election in California

The 1892 United States presidential election in California was held on November 8, 1892, as part of the 1892 United States presidential election. State voters chose nine representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

1892 United States presidential election in California

← 1888 November 8, 1892 1896 →
 
Nominee Grover Cleveland Benjamin Harrison James Weaver
Party Democratic Republican Populist
Home state New York Indiana Iowa
Running mate Adlai E. Stevenson Whitelaw Reid James Field
Electoral vote 8 1 0
Popular vote 118,174 118,027 25,311
Percentage 43.83% 43.78% 9.39%

County Results

President before election

Benjamin Harrison
Republican

Elected President

Grover Cleveland
Democratic

Incumbent President Benjamin Harrison’s administration had been plagued by divisions within his party and by controversy over foreign relations, notably with Italy and Chile.[1] In California, Harrison became less popular because it was believed that Senator Leland Stanford was dictating policies in the interest of the Southern Pacific Railroad.[1] Opposition to its power had already spawned several unsuccessful reform movements in California since 1873,[2] and the growing Populist movement also gained substantial support from small farmers in the state’s Central Valley region.[3] The relative weakness of partisan loyalties in California helped give the movement much more influence than in the East,[4] however the much greater urban character of the state’s economy, the diversity of its agricultural sector and the access of its wheat growers – the basis for Populist victories in the Plains States – to major ocean ports severely weakened the Populist Party under 1880 Greenback nominee James B. Weaver in California.[5] Consequently California would prove Weaver’s weakest state west of the Missouri River, giving him less than ten percent of the vote.

California voted for the Democratic challenger, former president Grover Cleveland, over the Republican incumbent, Benjamin Harrison by an extremely narrow margin of just 147 votes, or a 0.05452% margin, which constitutes the fifth-closest statewide presidential election result on record, behind Florida in 2000, Maryland in 1832 and 1904, and California itself 20 years later in 1912. Because the vote was so close and voters voted for individual electors, the ninth Cleveland elector received fewer votes than one Harrison elector, who was thus elected.[6] This was the second occasion in which California's electoral vote was split, rather than being awarded to a single candidate. The first occasion was in 1880. Such a split would only subsequently occur in California two subsequent times (1896, and 1912).[7] California is one of just three states that Cleveland won in 1892 but lost in his first two presidential elections, the others being Illinois and Wisconsin.

Results

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General Election Results[8]
Party Pledged to Elector Votes
Democratic Party Grover Cleveland R. A. Long 118,174
Democratic Party Grover Cleveland J. A. Filcher 118,151
Democratic Party Grover Cleveland R. P. Hammond 118,112
Democratic Party Grover Cleveland William Graves 118,109
Democratic Party Grover Cleveland Jackson Hatch 118,096
Democratic Party Grover Cleveland J. D. Lynch 118,029
Republican Party Benjamin Harrison Thomas R. Bard 118,027
Democratic Party Grover Cleveland M. Rosenthal 118,008
Democratic Party Grover Cleveland W. L. Silman 117,962
Democratic Party Grover Cleveland J. F. Thompson 117,840
Republican Party Benjamin Harrison William Carson 117,747
Republican Party Benjamin Harrison J. C. Campbell 117,743
Republican Party Benjamin Harrison J. A. Waymire 117,717
Republican Party Benjamin Harrison H. V. Morehouse 117,711
Republican Party Benjamin Harrison M. L. Mery 117,670
Republican Party Benjamin Harrison Isaac Hecht 117,613
Republican Party Benjamin Harrison J. R. Willoughby 117,605
Republican Party Benjamin Harrison S. L. Hanscom 117,504
People's Party James B. Weaver S. Bowers 25,311
People's Party James B. Weaver A. L. Warner 25,256
People's Party James B. Weaver J. S. Dore 25,254
People's Party James B. Weaver J. N. Barton 25,243
People's Party James B. Weaver L. F. Moulton 25,237
People's Party James B. Weaver T. V. Cator 25,229
People's Party James B. Weaver William McCormick 25,217
People's Party James B. Weaver W. C. Bowman 25,201
People's Party James B. Weaver D. T. Fowler 25,176
Prohibition Party John Bidwell R. H. McDonald 8,096
Prohibition Party John Bidwell William P. Miller 8,029
Prohibition Party John Bidwell F. M. Porter 8,028
Prohibition Party John Bidwell A. McArthur 8,007
Prohibition Party John Bidwell F. E. Kellogg 7,995
Prohibition Party John Bidwell T. L. Hierlihy 7,991
Prohibition Party John Bidwell F. E. Caton 7,980
Prohibition Party John Bidwell H. H. Luse 7,972
Prohibition Party John Bidwell S. Fowler 7,921
Write-in Scattering 1
Votes cast[a] 269,609

Results by county

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County Stephen Grover Cleveland
Democratic
Benjamin Harrison
Republican
James Baird Weaver
People's
John Bidwell
Prohibition
Scattering
Write-in
Margin Total votes cast[b]
# % # % # % # % # % # %
Alameda 7,114 38.52% 8,792 47.60% 2,114 11.45% 450 2.44% 0 0.00% -1,678 -9.09% 18,470
Alpine 17 19.77% 65 75.58% 4 4.65% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% -48 -55.81% 86
Amador 1,255 48.01% 1,125 43.04% 164 6.27% 70 2.68% 0 0.00% 130 4.97% 2,614
Butte 2,141 45.89% 2,180 46.73% 183 3.92% 161 3.45% 0 0.00% -39 -0.84% 4,665
Calaveras 1,276 46.79% 1,355 49.69% 75 2.75% 21 0.77% 0 0.00% -79 -2.90% 2,727
Colusa 1,187 57.20% 645 31.08% 191 9.20% 52 2.51% 0 0.00% 542 26.12% 2,075
Contra Costa 1,332 42.30% 1,631 51.79% 121 3.84% 65 2.06% 0 0.00% -299 -9.50% 3,149
Del Norte 339 52.72% 235 36.55% 59 9.18% 10 1.56% 0 0.00% 104 16.17% 643
El Dorado 1,270 48.00% 1,159 43.80% 174 6.58% 43 1.63% 0 0.00% 111 4.20% 2,646
Fresno 3,453 42.35% 3.031 37.18% 1,295 15.88% 374 4.59% 0 0.00% 422 5.18% 8,153
Glenn 808 51.70% 528 33.78% 183 11.71% 44 2.82% 0 0.00% 280 17.91% 1,563
Humboldt 1,844 33.98% 2,416 44.53% 1,036 19.09% 130 2.40% 0 0.00% -572 -10.54% 5,426
Inyo 266 33.25% 409 51.13% 85 10.63% 40 5.00% 0 0.00% -143 -17.88% 800
Kern 1,266 50.38% 992 39.47% 201 8.00% 54 2.15% 0 0.00% 274 10.90% 2,513
Lake 644 44.97% 532 37.15% 208 14.53% 48 3.35% 0 0.00% 112 7.82% 1,432
Lassen 524 46.66% 540 48.09% 40 3.56% 19 1.69% 0 0.00% -16 -1.42% 1,123
Los Angeles 8,119 35.64% 10,226 44.89% 3,086 13.55% 1,348 5.92% 0 0.00% -2,107 -9.25% 22,779
Marin 949 42.88% 1,186 53.59% 59 2.67% 19 0.86% 0 0.00% -237 -10.71% 2,213
Mariposa 526 51.98% 404 39.92% 70 6.92% 12 1.19% 0 0.00% 122 12.06% 1,012
Mendocino 2,023 49.56% 1,709 41.87% 158 3.87% 192 4.70% 0 0.00% 314 7.69% 4,082
Merced 995 50.46% 782 39.66% 126 6.39% 69 3.50% 0 0.00% 213 10.80% 1,972
Modoc 596 52.05% 406 35.46% 106 9.26% 37 3.23% 0 0.00% 190 16.59% 1,145
Mono 166 30.97% 286 53.36% 77 14.37% 7 1.31% 0 0.00% -120 -22.39% 536
Monterey 1,606 39.14% 1,709 41.65% 686 16.72% 102 2.49% 0 0.00% -103 -2.51% 4,103
Napa 1,478 42.43% 1,769 50.79% 173 4.97% 63 1.81% 0 0.00% -291 -8.35% 3,483
Nevada 1,634 39.84% 1,757 42.84% 616 15.02% 94 2.29% 0 0.00% -123 -3.00% 4,101
Orange 1,000 34.49% 1,152 39.74% 480 16.56% 267 9.21% 0 0.00% -152 -5.24% 2,899
Placer 1,524 43.08% 1,743 49.27% 185 5.23% 86 2.43% 0 0.00% -219 -6.19% 3,538
Plumas 537 43.62% 642 52.15% 27 2.19% 25 2.03% 0 0.00% -105 -8.53% 1,231
Sacramento 3,498 39.23% 4,362 48.92% 889 9.97% 168 1.88% 0 0.00% -864 -9.69% 8,917
San Benito 759 45.56% 616 36.97% 256 15.37% 35 2.10% 0 0.00% 143 8.58% 1,666
San Bernardino 2,546 33.65% 3,686 48.71% 721 9.53% 614 8.11% 0 0.00% -1,140 -15.07% 7,567
San Diego 2,334 30.26% 3,525 45.71% 1,519 19.70% 334 4.33% 0 0.00% -1,191 -15.44% 7,712
San Francisco 31,022 53.09% 24,416 41.78% 2,508 4.29% 489 0.84% 0 0.00% 6,606 11.30% 58,435
San Joaquin 3,106 44.19% 2,958 42.08% 592 8.42% 373 5.31% 0 0.00% 148 2.11% 7,029
San Luis Obispo 1,199 31.88% 1,433 38.10% 997 26.51% 132 3.51% 0 0.00% -234 -6.22% 3,761
San Mateo 1,020 47.40% 1,088 50.56% 32 1.49% 12 0.56% 0 0.00% -68 -3.16% 2,152
Santa Barbara 1,228 34.88% 1,483 42.12% 639 18.15% 170 4.83% 1 0.03% -255 -7.24% 3,521
Santa Clara 4,167 40.12% 4,620 44.48% 1,091 10.50% 509 4.90% 0 0.00% -453 -4.36% 10,387
Santa Cruz 1,512 36.77% 1,843 44.82% 562 13.67% 195 4.74% 0 0.00% -331 -8.05% 4,112
Shasta 1,137 39.41% 1,234 42.77% 436 15.11% 78 2.70% 0 0.00% -97 -3.36% 2,885
Sierra 529 38.61% 787 57.45% 46 3.36% 8 0.58% 0 0.00% -258 -18.83% 1,370
Siskiyou 1,605 49.74% 1,493 46.27% 109 3.38% 20 0.62% 0 0.00% 112 3.47% 3,227
Solano 2,174 44.52% 2,403 49.21% 213 4.36% 93 1.90% 0 0.00% -229 -4.69% 4,883
Sonoma 3,451 49.65% 3,016 43.40% 297 4.27% 186 2.68% 0 0.00% 435 6.26% 6,950
Stanislaus 1,369 53.69% 992 38.90% 58 2.27% 131 5.14% 0 0.00% 377 14.78% 2,550
Sutter 735 46.64% 745 47.27% 45 2.86% 51 3.24% 0 0.00% -10 -0.63% 1,576
Tehama 1,045 46.80% 969 43.39% 170 7.61% 49 2.19% 0 0.00% 76 3.40% 2,233
Trinity 457 46.92% 495 50.82% 19 1.95% 3 0.31% 0 0.00% -38 -3.90% 974
Tulare 2,613 42.09% 1,984 31.96% 1,410 22.71% 201 3.24% 0 0.00% 629 10.13% 6,208
Tuolumne 916 50.27% 739 40.56% 113 6.20% 54 2.96% 0 0.00% 177 9.71% 1,822
Ventura 958 34.80% 1,283 46.60% 415 15.07% 97 3.52% 0 0.00% -325 -11.81% 2,753
Yolo 1,707 50.74% 1,372 40.78% 135 4.01% 150 4.46% 0 0.00% 335 9.96% 3,364
Yuba 1,198 50.42% 1,079 45.41% 57 2.40% 42 1.77% 0 0.00% 119 5.01% 2,376
Total 118,174 43.83% 118,027 43.78% 25,311 9.39% 8,096 3.00% 1 0.00% 147 0.05% 269,609

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

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Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

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Notes

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  1. ^ Based on totals for highest elector on each ticket
  2. ^ Based on the highest elector on each ticket

References

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  1. ^ a b Dozer, Donald Marquand; ‘Benjamin Harrison and the Presidential Campaign of 1892’; The American Historical Review, Vol. 54, No. 1 (October 1948), pp. 49-77
  2. ^ Graffiths, David B.; ‘Anti-Monopoly Movement in California 1873-1898’; Southern California Quarterly, Vol. 52, No. 2 (June 1970), pp. 93-121
  3. ^ Hall, Tom G.; ‘California Populism at the Grass-Roots: The Case of Tulare County, 1892’; Southern California Quarterly, Vol. 49, No. 2 (June 1967), pp. 193-204
  4. ^ Kleppner, Paul; ‘Voters and Parties in the Western States, 1876-1900’; Western Historical Quarterly, Vol. 14, No. 1 (January 1983), pp. 49-68
  5. ^ Magliari, Michael; ‘Populism, Steamboats, and the Octopus: Transportation Rates and Monopoly in California's Wheat Regions, 1890-1896’; Pacific Historical Review, Vol. 58, No. 4 (November 1989), pp. 449-469
  6. ^ Knoles, George Harmon; The Presidential Campaign and Election of 1892, Volume 5 (1942), p. 229
  7. ^ "DIVIDED ELECTORAL VOTES". Newspapers.com. The Boston Globe. November 11, 1912. Retrieved June 1, 2021.
  8. ^ Statement of the Vote of the State of California at the General Election Held November 8, A.D. 1892. Sacramento, California: State Printing Office. p. 3. Retrieved July 3, 2024.