How many electoral votes were needed to win in 1884?

A majority of the 401 electoral votes was required (201); Grover Cleveland finished with 219.

What share of the popular vote did Grover Cleveland win in 1884?

Grover Cleveland drew 48.85% of the national popular vote in 1884.

Gilded AgeCycle 25 / 60

1884

Grover Cleveland and the 1884 map.

Grover Cleveland (Democratic) defeated James G. Blaine (Republican), 48.9% to 48.3% of the popular vote.

The 1884 U.S. presidential election was won by Grover Cleveland (Democratic) with 219 of 401 electoral votes, defeating James G. Blaine (Republican). Electoral-vote margin: 37 (219 to 182). Popular-vote margin: 0.6 percentage points. Turnout was 78.2%. The cycle falls in the Gilded Age era of American electoral history.

Cleveland

219 EV

Blaine

182 EV

0201 to win401

The map · 1884

20 states for Dem · 18 for Rep

Open the what-if calculator → — flip states and re-count. A toy, not history.

Narrative

Grover Cleveland and the 1884 map

Democrat Grover Cleveland ended 24 years of Republican presidential dominance by narrowly defeating James G. Blaine in a notoriously mud-slinging campaign. 'Mugwumps' — reform Republicans — defected to Cleveland over Blaine's corruption record. The election turned on New York, where a Protestant minister's anti-Catholic slur ('Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion') alienated Irish Catholic voters days before the election, likely costing Blaine the state and the presidency. Cleveland won New York by just 1,149 votes.

Key issue

Political corruption; civil service reform; tariff policy

Notable

First Democrat elected president since 1856; 'Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion' gaffe cost Blaine NY

This summary was drafted with AI tools and has not yet been checked sentence by sentence. The vote table and the National Archives note on this page come from named sources; where they differ from the summary, rely on them. Tell us about an error.

States · 38 reporting

State results · 1884

Popular vote by state, with each state's electoral votes.

Closest states

New York Cleveland by 1,047 · 0.09 pts
Michigan Blaine by 3,308 · 0.8 pts
Connecticut Cleveland by 1,284 · 0.9 pts
Indiana Cleveland by 6,512 · 1.3 pts
New Jersey Cleveland by 4,412 · 1.7 pts

Tipping point

New YorkCleveland won it by 0.09 points; its electoral votes took the total to 219, past the 201 needed.

Line up the states the winner carried from widest margin to narrowest and add up their electoral votes: the tipping point is the state that takes the total past a majority.

Scroll the table sideways for every column.

1884 presidential election results by state: popular vote, margin and electoral votes
State	Electoral votes	Grover Cleveland Dem	James G. Blaine Rep	John P. St. John Proh	Also named	Margin	Leader
Alabama¹	10 EV	92,973¹ 60.6%	59,144¹ 38.5%	Not named	None	33,829 22.0 pts	Cleveland Dem
Arkansas²	7 EV	72,927² 58.0%	50,895² 40.5%	Not named	Benjamin F. Butler 1,847 · 1.5%²	22,032 17.5 pts	Cleveland Dem
California³	8 EV	89,288³ 45.4%	102,416³ 52.1%	2,920³ 1.5%	Benjamin F. Butler 2,017 · 1.0%³	13,128 6.7 pts	Blaine Rep
Colorado⁴	3 EV	27,603⁴ 41.5%	36,166⁴ 54.4%	762⁴ 1.1%	Benjamin F. Butler 1,961 · 2.9%⁴	8,563 12.9 pts	Blaine Rep
Connecticut⁵	6 EV	67,182⁵ 48.9%	65,898⁵ 48.0%	2,494⁵ 1.8%	Benjamin F. Butler 1,685 · 1.2%⁵	1,284 0.9 pts	Cleveland Dem
Delaware⁶	3 EV	16,976⁶ 56.4%	13,053⁶ 43.4%	Not named	None	3,923 13.0 pts	Cleveland Dem
Florida⁷	4 EV	31,769⁷ 53.1%	28,031⁷ 46.8%	Not named	None	3,738 6.2 pts	Cleveland Dem
Georgia⁸	12 EV	94,653⁸ 66.4%	47,692⁸ 33.4%	Not named	None	46,961 32.9 pts	Cleveland Dem
Illinois⁹	22 EV	312,584⁹ 46.5%	337,411⁹ 50.1%	12,005⁹ 1.8%	Benjamin F. Butler 10,849 · 1.6%⁹	24,827 3.7 pts	Blaine Rep
Indiana¹⁰	15 EV	244,992¹⁰ 49.5%	238,480¹⁰ 48.2%	Not named	Benjamin F. Butler 8,293 · 1.7%¹⁰	6,512 1.3 pts	Cleveland Dem
Iowa^11,12	13 EV	177,316¹¹ 47.2%	197,089¹¹ 52.4%	Not named	None	19,773 5.3 pts	Blaine Rep
Kansas¹³	9 EV	90,132¹³ 33.9%	154,406¹³ 58.1%	4,954¹³ 1.9%	Benjamin F. Butler 16,341 · 6.1%¹³	64,274 24.2 pts	Blaine Rep
Kentucky¹⁴	13 EV	152,961¹⁴ 55.4%	118,122¹⁴ 42.8%	3,139¹⁴ 1.1%	None	34,839 12.6 pts	Cleveland Dem
Louisiana¹⁵	8 EV	62,546¹⁵ 57.2%	46,347¹⁵ 42.4%	Not named	None	16,199 14.8 pts	Cleveland Dem
Maine¹⁶	6 EV	51,656¹⁶ 39.9%	71,716¹⁶ 55.4%	2,143¹⁶ 1.7%	Benjamin F. Butler 3,994 · 3.1%¹⁶	20,060 15.5 pts	Blaine Rep
Maryland¹⁷	8 EV	96,866¹⁷ 52.1%	85,748¹⁷ 46.1%	2,827¹⁷ 1.5%	None	11,118 6.0 pts	Cleveland Dem
Massachusetts¹⁸	14 EV	122,352¹⁸ 40.3%	146,724¹⁸ 48.4%	9,925¹⁸ 3.3%	Benjamin F. Butler 24,382 · 8.0%¹⁸	24,372 8.0 pts	Blaine Rep
Michigan^19,20	13 EV	189,361¹⁹ 47.2%	192,669¹⁹ 48.0%	18,403¹⁹ 4.6%	None	3,308 0.8 pts	Blaine Rep
Minnesota²¹	7 EV	70,065²¹ 36.9%	111,685²¹ 58.8%	4,684²¹ 2.5%	Benjamin F. Butler 3,583 · 1.9%²¹	41,620 21.9 pts	Blaine Rep
Mississippi²²	9 EV	76,510²² 63.7%	43,509²² 36.3%	Not named	None	33,001 27.5 pts	Cleveland Dem
Missouri^23,24	16 EV	235,988²³ 53.5%	202,929²³ 46.0%	Not named	None	33,059 7.5 pts	Cleveland Dem
Nebraska^25,26	5 EV	54,391²⁵ 40.5%	76,903²⁵ 57.3%	2,899²⁵ 2.2%	None	22,512 16.8 pts	Blaine Rep
Nevada²⁷	3 EV	5,578²⁷ 43.6%	7,193²⁷ 56.2%	Not named	None	1,615 12.6 pts	Blaine Rep
New Hampshire²⁸	4 EV	39,187²⁸ 46.3%	43,250²⁸ 51.1%	1,571²⁸ 1.9%	None	4,063 4.8 pts	Blaine Rep
New Jersey²⁹	9 EV	127,778²⁹ 49.0%	123,366²⁹ 47.3%	6,153²⁹ 2.4%	Benjamin F. Butler 3,456 · 1.3%²⁹	4,412 1.7 pts	Cleveland Dem
New York³⁰	36 EV	563,048³⁰ 48.2%	562,001³⁰ 48.2%	25,001³⁰ 2.1%	Benjamin F. Butler 17,002 · 1.5%³⁰	1,047 0.09 pts	Cleveland Dem
North Carolina³¹	11 EV	142,952³¹ 53.2%	125,068³¹ 46.6%	Not named	None	17,884 6.7 pts	Cleveland Dem
Ohio³²	23 EV	368,286³² 46.9%	400,082³² 51.0%	11,269³² 1.4%	None	31,796 4.1 pts	Blaine Rep
Oregon³³	3 EV	24,604³³ 46.7%	26,860³³ 51.0%	Not named	Benjamin F. Butler 726 · 1.4%³³	2,256 4.3 pts	Blaine Rep
Pennsylvania³⁴	30 EV	392,785³⁴ 43.7%	473,804³⁴ 52.7%	15,737³⁴ 1.7%	Benjamin F. Butler 17,002 · 1.9%³⁴	81,019 9.0 pts	Blaine Rep
Rhode Island³⁵	4 EV	12,391³⁵ 37.8%	19,030³⁵ 58.1%	928³⁵ 2.8%	Benjamin F. Butler 422 · 1.3%³⁵	6,639 20.3 pts	Blaine Rep
South Carolina³⁶	9 EV	69,764³⁶ 76.2%	21,733³⁶ 23.8%	Not named	None	48,031 52.5 pts	Cleveland Dem
Tennessee³⁷	12 EV	133,270³⁷ 51.4%	124,090³⁷ 47.8%	Not named	None	9,180 3.5 pts	Cleveland Dem
Texas³⁸	13 EV	223,679³⁸ 69.4%	91,701³⁸ 28.5%	3,508³⁸ 1.1%	Benjamin F. Butler 3,321 · 1.0%³⁸	131,978 41.0 pts	Cleveland Dem
Vermont³⁹	4 EV	17,331³⁹ 29.2%	39,514³⁹ 66.5%	1,752³⁹ 3.0%	Benjamin F. Butler 785 · 1.3%³⁹	22,183 37.4 pts	Blaine Rep
Virginia⁴⁰	12 EV	145,497⁴⁰ 51.1%	139,356⁴⁰ 48.9%	Not named	None	6,141 2.2 pts	Cleveland Dem
West Virginia^41,42	6 EV	67,317⁴¹ 50.9%	63,096⁴¹ 47.7%	Not named	None	4,221 3.2 pts	Cleveland Dem
Wisconsin⁴³	11 EV	146,459⁴³ 45.8%	161,157⁴³ 50.4%	7,656⁴³ 2.4%	Benjamin F. Butler 4,598 · 1.4%⁴³	14,698 4.6 pts	Blaine Rep

Shares are of each state’s total vote for president. “Not named”: the figures do not give that candidate a line of their own in that state — for example under 1% of the vote, not on the ballot there, or counted on an unnamed line (see the state’s note). Margin is the leader’s lead over the second-placed candidate.

Notes on the figures

Alabama The official table prints no state total here; the total is the sum of the tickets it lists.
Arkansas The official table prints no state total here; the total is the sum of the tickets it lists.
California The official table prints no state total here; the total is the sum of the tickets it lists.
Colorado The official table prints no state total here; the total is the sum of the tickets it lists.
Connecticut The official table prints no state total here; the total is the sum of the tickets it lists.
Delaware The official table prints no state total here; the total is the sum of the tickets it lists.
Florida The official table prints no state total here; the total is the sum of the tickets it lists.
Georgia The official table prints no state total here; the total is the sum of the tickets it lists.
Illinois The official table prints no state total here; the total is the sum of the tickets it lists.
Indiana The official table prints no state total here; the total is the sum of the tickets it lists.
Iowa The official table prints no state total here; the total is the sum of the tickets it lists.
Iowa The official table notes: * Fusion of the Democrats and Greenbackers on one electoral ticket (the Cleveland figure is the fusion ticket's vote).
Kansas The official table prints no state total here; the total is the sum of the tickets it lists.
Kentucky The official table prints no state total here; the total is the sum of the tickets it lists.
Louisiana The official table prints no state total here; the total is the sum of the tickets it lists.
Maine The official table prints no state total here; the total is the sum of the tickets it lists.
Maryland The official table prints no state total here; the total is the sum of the tickets it lists.
Massachusetts The official table prints no state total here; the total is the sum of the tickets it lists.
Michigan The official table prints no state total here; the total is the sum of the tickets it lists.
Michigan The official table notes: * Fusion of the Democrats and Greenbackers on one electoral ticket (the Cleveland figure is the fusion ticket's vote).
Minnesota The official table prints no state total here; the total is the sum of the tickets it lists.
Mississippi The official table prints no state total here; the total is the sum of the tickets it lists.
Missouri The official table prints no state total here; the total is the sum of the tickets it lists.
Missouri The official table notes: † Fusion of the Republicans and Greenbackers on one electoral ticket (the Blaine figure is the fusion ticket's vote).
Nebraska The official table prints no state total here; the total is the sum of the tickets it lists.
Nebraska The official table notes: * Fusion of the Democrats and Greenbackers on one electoral ticket (the Cleveland figure is the fusion ticket's vote).
Nevada The official table prints no state total here; the total is the sum of the tickets it lists.
New Hampshire The official table prints no state total here; the total is the sum of the tickets it lists.
New Jersey The official table prints no state total here; the total is the sum of the tickets it lists.
New York The official table prints no state total here; the total is the sum of the tickets it lists.
North Carolina The official table prints no state total here; the total is the sum of the tickets it lists.
Ohio The official table prints no state total here; the total is the sum of the tickets it lists.
Oregon The official table prints no state total here; the total is the sum of the tickets it lists.
Pennsylvania The official table prints no state total here; the total is the sum of the tickets it lists.
Rhode Island The official table prints no state total here; the total is the sum of the tickets it lists.
South Carolina The official table prints no state total here; the total is the sum of the tickets it lists.
Tennessee The official table prints no state total here; the total is the sum of the tickets it lists.
Texas The official table prints no state total here; the total is the sum of the tickets it lists.
Vermont The official table prints no state total here; the total is the sum of the tickets it lists.
Virginia The official table prints no state total here; the total is the sum of the tickets it lists.
West Virginia The official table prints no state total here; the total is the sum of the tickets it lists.
West Virginia The official table notes: † Fusion of the Republicans and Greenbackers on one electoral ticket (the Blaine figure is the fusion ticket's vote).
Wisconsin The official table prints no state total here; the total is the sum of the tickets it lists.

SourceThe World Almanac 1886 (Public domain in the United States: published before 1931, retrieved 2026-10-03). How these figures were compiled

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