1896 United States presidential election in South Dakota

The 1896 United States presidential election in South Dakota took place on November 3, 1896. All contemporary 45 states were part of the 1896 United States presidential election. Voters chose four electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president.

1896 United States presidential election in South Dakota

← 1892 November 3, 1896 1900 →
 
Nominee William Jennings Bryan William McKinley
Party Populist Republican
Alliance Democratic -
Home state Nebraska Ohio
Running mate Arthur Sewall (Democratic)
Thomas E. Watson (Populist)
Garret Hobart
Electoral vote 4 0
Popular vote 41,225 41,042
Percentage 49.70% 49.48%

County Results

President before election

Grover Cleveland
Democratic

Elected President

William McKinley
Republican

South Dakota was won by the Populist nominees,[a] former U.S. Representative William Jennings Bryan of Nebraska and his running mate Arthur Sewall of Maine. Two electors cast their vice presidential ballots for Thomas E. Watson.

Bryan won the state by a very narrow margin of 0.22 percentage points, becoming the first national Democratic presidential candidate to win the state. Bryan would later lose the state to Republican incumbent president William McKinley four years later and would later lose the state again to William Howard Taft in 1908. The state would not vote Democratic again until 1932. As of the 2020 election, this is the only time that a Republican candidate has won the presidency without carrying South Dakota.

Results

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1896 United States presidential election in South Dakota[1]
Party Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Populist William Jennings Bryan 41,225 49.70% 2
Democratic William Jennings Bryan 0 0.00% 2
Total William Jennings Bryan 41,225 49.70% 4
Republican William McKinley 41,042 49.48% 0
Prohibition Joshua Levering 683 0.82% 0
Totals 82,950 100.00% 4
Voter turnout

Results by county

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1896 United States Presidential Election in South Dakota (By County)[2]
County[2] William McKinley
Republican
William Jennings Bryan
Populist
Joshua Levering
Prohibition
Margin Total votes cast
# % # % # % # %
Aurora 387 44.08% 479 54.56% 12 1.37% -92 -10.48% 878
Beadle 935 49.84% 915 48.77% 26 1.39% 20 1.07% 1,876
Bon Homme 1,163 56.37% 893 43.29% 7 0.34% 270 13.09% 2,063
Brookings 1,263 48.71% 1,288 49.67% 42 1.62% -25 -0.96% 2,593
Brown 1,618 46.15% 1,867 53.25% 21 0.60% -249 -7.10% 3,506
Brule 441 39.59% 668 59.96% 5 0.45% -227 -20.38% 1,114
Buffalo 68 46.26% 79 53.74% 0 0.00% -11 -7.48% 147
Butte 222 43.53% 286 56.08% 2 0.39% -64 -12.55% 510
Campbell 449 54.62% 369 44.89% 4 0.49% 80 9.73% 822
Charles Mix 698 53.57% 594 45.59% 11 0.84% 104 7.98% 1,303
Clark 695 45.01% 816 52.85% 33 2.14% -121 -7.84% 1,544
Clay 1,238 53.36% 1,061 45.73% 21 0.91% 177 7.63% 2,320
Codington 1,041 57.10% 759 41.63% 23 1.26% 282 15.47% 1,823
Custer 429 45.30% 515 54.38% 3 0.32% -86 -9.08% 947
Davison 616 45.13% 733 53.70% 16 1.17% -117 -8.57% 1,365
Day 1,171 48.07% 1,230 50.49% 35 1.44% -59 -2.42% 2,436
Deuel 698 50.95% 668 48.76% 4 0.29% 30 2.19% 1,370
Douglas 533 58.06% 380 41.39% 5 0.54% 153 16.67% 918
Edmunds 371 41.78% 510 57.43% 7 0.79% -139 -15.65% 888
Fall River 532 48.76% 555 50.87% 4 0.37% -23 -2.11% 1,091
Faulk 430 64.08% 237 35.32% 4 0.60% 193 28.76% 671
Grant 1,029 52.72% 902 46.21% 21 1.08% 127 6.51% 1,952
Gregory 110 48.67% 116 51.33% 0 0.00% -6 -2.65% 226
Hamlin 702 55.10% 559 43.88% 13 1.02% 143 11.22% 1,274
Hand 451 43.96% 567 55.26% 8 0.78% -116 -11.31% 1,026
Hanson 420 38.75% 658 60.70% 6 0.55% -238 -21.96% 1,084
Hughes 462 58.33% 327 41.29% 3 0.38% 135 17.05% 792
Hutchinson 1,413 74.96% 458 24.30% 14 0.74% 955 50.66% 1,885
Hyde 223 64.45% 121 34.97% 2 0.58% 102 29.48% 346
Jerauld 274 44.48% 336 54.55% 6 0.97% -62 -10.06% 616
Kingsbury 950 46.82% 1,051 51.80% 28 1.38% -101 -4.98% 2,029
Lake 864 46.10% 999 53.31% 11 0.59% -135 -7.20% 1,874
Lawrence 2,210 42.91% 2,905 56.41% 35 0.68% -695 -13.50% 5,150
Lincoln 1,516 51.86% 1,393 47.66% 14 0.48% 123 4.21% 2,923
Lyman 114 59.07% 78 40.41% 1 0.52% 36 18.65% 193
Marshall 553 43.78% 694 54.95% 16 1.27% -141 -11.16% 1,263
McCook 678 39.03% 1,047 60.28% 12 0.69% -369 -21.24% 1,737
McPherson 512 58.25% 361 41.07% 6 0.68% 151 17.18% 879
Meade 550 40.56% 802 59.14% 4 0.29% -252 -18.58% 1,356
Miner 582 45.05% 705 54.57% 5 0.39% -123 -9.52% 1,292
Minnehaha 2,429 47.15% 2,667 51.77% 56 1.09% -238 -4.62% 5,152
Moody 780 43.36% 1,012 56.25% 7 0.39% -232 -12.90% 1,799
Pennington 739 41.40% 1,038 58.15% 8 0.45% -299 -16.75% 1,785
Potter 333 45.74% 390 53.57% 5 0.69% -57 -7.83% 728
Roberts 1,324 58.20% 929 40.84% 22 0.97% 395 17.36% 2,275
Sanborn 530 50.72% 500 47.85% 15 1.44% 30 2.87% 1,045
Spink 1,132 51.31% 1,061 48.10% 13 0.59% 71 3.22% 2,206
Stanley 89 38.53% 140 60.61% 2 0.87% -51 -22.08% 231
Sully 262 56.34% 198 42.58% 5 1.08% 64 13.76% 465
Turner 1,616 62.47% 950 36.72% 21 0.81% 666 25.74% 2,587
Union 1,297 46.24% 1,491 53.16% 17 0.61% -194 -6.92% 2,805
Walworth 250 46.21% 286 52.87% 5 0.92% -36 -6.65% 541
Yankton 1,423 51.39% 1,330 48.03% 16 0.58% 93 3.36% 2,769
Unorganized 337 47.73% 368 52.12% 1 0.14% -31 -4.39% 706
Totals 41,152 49.48% 41,341 49.70% 683 0.82% -189 -0.23% 83,176

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Although Bryan ran nationally as the Democratic nominee, that party was so weak in South Dakota that Bryan was instead endorsed by the state’s Populist Party, which was the major competitor with the GOP.

References

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  1. ^ Dave Leip's U.S. Election Atlas; Presidential General Election Results – South Dakota
  2. ^ a b Géoelections; Popular Vote at the Presidential Election for 1896 (.xlsx file for €30)