Candidate

William Howard Taft

Republican

Elections

Won

Electoral votes, all elections

329

Years

1908–1912

Record

William Howard Taft: result of each presidential election
Year	Electoral votes	Popular vote	Result
1908	321 of 483	7,678,988 51.6%	Won
1912	8 of 531	Not computed minor-party votes not named in every state	Lost

Popular vote is the sum of the sourced state counts, shown only where every state that held a popular vote has one; sums from county returns (1868–1972) can run a few tenths of a point below national totals published elsewhere.

Electoral votesNational Archives, Electoral College results: 1908, 1912 (public domain, read 2026-10-03). How these figures were compiled

SourceThe World Almanac and Encyclopedia 1910 (Public domain in the United States: published before 1931, retrieved 2026-10-03). How these figures were compiled

Election by election

1908Republican · Won

States carried · 30 of 46

Closest states won

Missouriby 629 · 0.09 pts
Marylandby 605 · 0.3 pts
Indianaby 10,731 · 1.5 pts

Closest states lost

ColoradoBryan by 2,944 · 1.1 pts
NebraskaBryan by 4,102 · 1.5 pts
KentuckyBryan by 8,381 · 1.7 pts

Margins computed for 46 of 46 states: those with a sourced popular vote that names Taft.

SourceThe World Almanac and Encyclopedia 1910 (Public domain in the United States: published before 1931, retrieved 2026-10-03). How these figures were compiled

From the National Archives

V.P. James S. Sherman died October 30, 1912.

National Archives, Electoral College results for 1908, archives.gov, read October 3, 2026. Quoted as published.

1912Republican · Lost

States carried · 2 of 48

Closest states won

Vermontby 1,235 · 2.0 pts
Utahby 5,521 · 4.9 pts

Closest states lost

IdahoWilson by 1,111 · 1.1 pts
WyomingWilson by 750 · 1.8 pts
New HampshireWilson by 1,797 · 2.0 pts

Margins computed for 46 of 48 states: those with a sourced popular vote that names Taft.

SourceThe World Almanac and Encyclopedia 1914 (Public domain in the United States: published before 1931, retrieved 2026-10-03). How these figures were compiled

From the National Archives

Republican Party candidate Taft, and Vice Presidential running mate James S. Sherman, received 8 electoral votes each, but Sherman died just before the election. After the election, before the meeting of the electors, Nicholas Butler was selected to receive the electoral votes from Utah and Vermont that would have gone to Sherman.

National Archives, Electoral College results for 1912, archives.gov, read October 3, 2026. Quoted as published.