How many electoral votes were needed to win in 1896?

A majority of the 447 electoral votes was required (224); William McKinley finished with 271.

What share of the popular vote did William McKinley win in 1896?

William McKinley drew 51.02% of the national popular vote in 1896.

Progressive EraCycle 28 / 60

1896

Industrial America chooses a direction.

William McKinley (Republican) defeated William Jennings Bryan (Democratic), 51.0% to 46.7% of the popular vote.

The 1896 U.S. presidential election was won by William McKinley (Republican) with 271 of 447 electoral votes, defeating William Jennings Bryan (Democratic). Electoral-vote margin: 95 (271 to 176). Popular-vote margin: 4.3 percentage points. Turnout was 79.6%. The cycle falls in the Progressive Era of American electoral history.

McKinley

271 EV

Bryan

176 EV

0224 to win447

The map · 1896

23 states for Rep · 22 for Dem

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

Narrative

Industrial America chooses a direction

Republican William McKinley defeated populist Democrat William Jennings Bryan in a watershed election that realigned American politics for a generation. Bryan, fusing the Democratic and Populist parties, electrified the nation with his 'Cross of Gold' speech demanding free silver coinage to help debtors. McKinley ran a front-porch campaign funded by industrialist Mark Hanna, appealing to urban workers and business interests with promises of prosperity through high tariffs. The Republican Party would dominate presidential politics for the next 36 years.

Key issue

Gold standard vs. free silver; tariff protection vs. agrarian relief

Notable

'Cross of Gold' election; realigned politics for a generation toward Republican dominance

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.

From the National Archives

V.P. Garret A. Hobart died November 21, 1899.

National Archives, Electoral College results for 1896, archives.gov, read October 3, 2026. Quoted as published.

States · 45 reporting

Rep · 13 EV · McKinley 12, Bryan 1

Rep · 9 EV · McKinley 8, Bryan 1

State results · 1896

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

Closest states

Kentucky McKinley by 281 · 0.06 pts
South Dakota Bryan by 183 · 0.2 pts
California McKinley by 2,797 · 0.9 pts
Oregon McKinley by 2,117 · 2.2 pts
Wyoming Bryan by 583 · 2.8 pts

Tipping point

OhioMcKinley won it by 4.8 points; its electoral votes took the total to 232, past the 224 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.

1896 presidential election results by state: popular vote, margin and electoral votes
State	Electoral votes	William McKinley Rep	William Jennings Bryan Dem	Also named	Margin	Leader
Alabama¹	11 EV	54,737¹ 28.3%	130,307¹ 67.3%	John M. Palmer 6,462 · 3.3%¹ Joshua Levering 2,147 · 1.1%¹	75,570 39.0 pts	Bryan Dem
Arkansas²	8 EV	37,512² 25.1%	110,103² 73.7%	None	72,591 48.6 pts	Bryan Dem
California³	9 EV McKinley 8, Bryan 1	146,170³ 49.3%	143,373³ 48.4%	None	2,797 0.9 pts	McKinley Rep
Colorado⁴	4 EV	26,271⁴ 13.8%	161,153⁴ 85.0%	None	134,882 71.1 pts	Bryan Dem
Connecticut⁵	6 EV	110,285⁵ 63.2%	56,740⁵ 32.5%	John M. Palmer 4,334 · 2.5%⁵ Joshua Levering 1,808 · 1.0%⁵	53,545 30.7 pts	McKinley Rep
Delaware^6,7	3 EV	16,804⁶ 53.4%	13,424⁶ 42.7%	John M. Palmer 877 · 2.8%⁶ Joshua Levering 355 · 1.1%⁶	3,380 10.7 pts	McKinley Rep
Florida⁸	4 EV	11,288⁸ 24.3%	32,736⁸ 70.5%	Joshua Levering 1,778 · 3.8%⁸ John M. Palmer 654 · 1.4%⁸	21,448 46.2 pts	Bryan Dem
Georgia⁹	13 EV	60,091⁹ 36.9%	94,232⁹ 57.9%	Joshua Levering 5,613 · 3.5%⁹ John M. Palmer 2,708 · 1.7%⁹	34,141 21.0 pts	Bryan Dem
Idaho¹⁰	3 EV	6,324¹⁰ 21.3%	23,192¹⁰ 78.1%	None	16,868 56.8 pts	Bryan Dem
Illinois¹¹	24 EV	607,130¹¹ 55.7%	464,632¹¹ 42.6%	None	142,498 13.1 pts	McKinley Rep
Indiana¹²	15 EV	323,754¹² 50.8%	305,573¹² 48.0%	None	18,181 2.9 pts	McKinley Rep
Iowa¹³	13 EV	289,293¹³ 55.5%	223,741¹³ 42.9%	None	65,552 12.6 pts	McKinley Rep
Kansas¹⁴	10 EV	159,541¹⁴ 47.6%	171,810¹⁴ 51.3%	None	12,269 3.7 pts	Bryan Dem
Kentucky¹⁵	13 EV McKinley 12, Bryan 1	218,171¹⁵ 48.9%	217,890¹⁵ 48.9%	John M. Palmer 5,114 · 1.1%¹⁵ Joshua Levering 4,781 · 1.1%¹⁵	281 0.06 pts	McKinley Rep
Louisiana¹⁶	8 EV	22,037¹⁶ 21.8%	77,175¹⁶ 76.4%	John M. Palmer 1,834 · 1.8%¹⁶	55,138 54.6 pts	Bryan Dem
Maine¹⁷	6 EV	80,465¹⁷ 67.8%	34,688¹⁷ 29.2%	John M. Palmer 1,870 · 1.6%¹⁷ Joshua Levering 1,570 · 1.3%¹⁷	45,777 38.6 pts	McKinley Rep
Maryland¹⁸	8 EV	136,959¹⁸ 54.6%	104,735¹⁸ 41.8%	Joshua Levering 5,918 · 2.4%¹⁸	32,224 12.8 pts	McKinley Rep
Massachusetts¹⁹	15 EV	278,976¹⁹ 69.5%	105,711¹⁹ 26.3%	John M. Palmer 11,749 · 2.9%¹⁹	173,265 43.1 pts	McKinley Rep
Michigan²⁰	14 EV	293,582²⁰ 53.9%	236,714²⁰ 43.5%	John M. Palmer 6,879 · 1.3%²⁰	56,868 10.4 pts	McKinley Rep
Minnesota²¹	9 EV	193,501²¹ 56.7%	139,626²¹ 40.9%	Joshua Levering 4,343 · 1.3%²¹	53,875 15.8 pts	McKinley Rep
Mississippi²²	9 EV	5,130²² 7.3%	63,859²² 90.5%	John M. Palmer 1,071 · 1.5%²²	58,729 83.3 pts	Bryan Dem
Missouri²³	17 EV	304,940²³ 45.2%	363,667²³ 54.0%	None	58,727 8.7 pts	Bryan Dem
Montana²⁴	3 EV	9,998²⁴ 19.1%	42,190²⁴ 80.7%	None	32,192 61.6 pts	Bryan Dem
Nebraska²⁵	8 EV	102,292²⁵ 45.9%	115,762²⁵ 51.9%	John M. Palmer 2,798 · 1.3%²⁵	13,470 6.0 pts	Bryan Dem
Nevada²⁶	3 EV	1,938²⁶ 18.8%	8,377²⁶ 81.2%	None	6,439 62.4 pts	Bryan Dem
New Hampshire²⁷	4 EV	57,444²⁷ 68.7%	21,650²⁷ 25.9%	John M. Palmer 3,520 · 4.2%²⁷	35,794 42.8 pts	McKinley Rep
New Jersey²⁸	10 EV	221,367²⁸ 59.7%	133,675²⁸ 36.0%	John M. Palmer 6,373 · 1.7%²⁸ Joshua Levering 5,614 · 1.5%²⁸ Charles H. Matchett 3,985 · 1.1%²⁸	87,692 23.6 pts	McKinley Rep
New York²⁹	36 EV	819,838²⁹ 57.6%	551,369²⁹ 38.7%	John M. Palmer 18,950 · 1.3%²⁹ Charles H. Matchett 17,667 · 1.2%²⁹ Joshua Levering 16,052 · 1.1%²⁹	268,469 18.9 pts	McKinley Rep
North Carolina³⁰	11 EV	155,222³⁰ 46.9%	174,488³⁰ 52.7%	None	19,266 5.8 pts	Bryan Dem
North Dakota³¹	3 EV	26,335³¹ 55.6%	20,686³¹ 43.7%	None	5,649 11.9 pts	McKinley Rep
Ohio³²	23 EV	525,991³² 51.9%	477,494³² 47.1%	None	48,497 4.8 pts	McKinley Rep
Oregon³³	4 EV	48,779³³ 50.1%	46,662³³ 47.9%	John M. Palmer 977 · 1.0%³³	2,117 2.2 pts	McKinley Rep
Pennsylvania³⁴	32 EV	728,300³⁴ 61.0%	433,228³⁴ 36.3%	Joshua Levering 19,274 · 1.6%³⁴	295,072 24.7 pts	McKinley Rep
Rhode Island³⁵	4 EV	37,437³⁵ 68.3%	14,459³⁵ 26.4%	John M. Palmer 1,166 · 2.1%³⁵ Joshua Levering 1,160 · 2.1%³⁵ Charles H. Matchett 558 · 1.0%³⁵	22,978 41.9 pts	McKinley Rep
South Carolina^36,37	9 EV	9,281³⁶ 13.5%	58,798³⁶ 85.3%	John M. Palmer 828 · 1.2%³⁶	49,517 71.9 pts	Bryan Dem
South Dakota³⁸	4 EV	41,022³⁸ 49.5%	41,205³⁸ 49.7%	None	183 0.2 pts	Bryan Dem
Tennessee³⁹	12 EV	148,773³⁹ 46.5%	166,268³⁹ 51.9%	None	17,495 5.5 pts	Bryan Dem
Texas⁴⁰	15 EV	167,520⁴⁰ 30.7%	370,434⁴⁰ 68.0%	None	202,914 37.2 pts	Bryan Dem
Utah⁴¹	3 EV	13,461⁴¹ 17.2%	64,851⁴¹ 82.8%	None	51,390 65.6 pts	Bryan Dem
Vermont⁴²	4 EV	51,127⁴² 80.1%	10,637⁴² 16.7%	John M. Palmer 1,331 · 2.1%⁴² Joshua Levering 733 · 1.1%⁴²	40,490 63.4 pts	McKinley Rep
Virginia⁴³	12 EV	135,368⁴³ 45.9%	154,709⁴³ 52.5%	None	19,341 6.6 pts	Bryan Dem
Washington⁴⁴	4 EV	39,124⁴⁴ 42.0%	51,557⁴⁴ 55.4%	John M. Palmer 1,499 · 1.6%⁴⁴	12,433 13.4 pts	Bryan Dem
West Virginia⁴⁵	6 EV	104,414⁴⁵ 52.4%	92,927⁴⁵ 46.6%	None	11,487 5.8 pts	McKinley Rep
Wisconsin⁴⁶	12 EV	268,135⁴⁶ 59.9%	165,523⁴⁶ 37.0%	Joshua Levering 7,509 · 1.7%⁴⁶ John M. Palmer 4,584 · 1.0%⁴⁶	102,612 22.9 pts	McKinley Rep
Wyoming⁴⁷	3 EV	10,072⁴⁷ 48.3%	10,655⁴⁷ 51.1%	None	583 2.8 pts	Bryan Dem

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.
Delaware The official table notes: Not a footnote in the table: the almanac's Delaware returns (p. 429) show the state total 16,804 McKinley and 13,424 Bryan from New Castle and Sussex counties only, and explain that the Governor, in certifying the electors, refused to include Kent County because no certificate had been filed; two rival Kent certificates gave Bryan 2,047, McKinley 1,824 and Bryan 3,157, McKinley 3,567, Palmer 89, Levering 115. So these Delaware figures omit Kent County.
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.
Idaho 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.
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.
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.
Montana The official table prints no state total here; the total is the sum of the tickets it lists.
Nebraska The official table prints no state total here; the total is the sum of the tickets it lists.
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.
North Dakota 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.
South Carolina The official table notes: The almanac's South Carolina returns note: "There were two McKinley electoral tickets. The Regular Republican ticket received 5,058 and the 'Reorganized Republican' ticket 4,223"; the table's 9,281 is their sum.
South Dakota 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.
Utah 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.
Washington 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.
Wisconsin The official table prints no state total here; the total is the sum of the tickets it lists.
Wyoming The official table prints no state total here; the total is the sum of the tickets it lists.

SourceThe World Almanac and Encyclopedia 1897 (Public domain in the United States: published before 1931, retrieved 2026-10-03). How these figures were compiled

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1892

Grover Cleveland · Dem

1900

William McKinley · Rep

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