Who won Tennessee in the 1908 presidential election?

Bryan (Democratic) carried Tennessee in 1908, winning its 12 electoral votes.

How many electoral votes did Tennessee have in 1908?

Tennessee cast 12 electoral votes in the 1908 presidential election.

Did Tennessee vote for the national winner in 1908?

No. Tennessee backed Bryan, while William Howard Taft won the presidency nationally.

Progressive EraTN · 12 EV

1908

Tennessee: Bryan carries 12 EV.

Tennessee cast its 12 electoral votes for Bryan (Democratic). National winner: William Howard Taft (Republican) — Tennessee voted against the national winner this cycle.

Tennessee in 1908

The 1908 contest saw Tennessee line up behind Bryan, delivering 12 electoral votes to the Democratic ticket. Nationally the result broke the other way — William Howard Taft (Republican) won the presidency, leaving Tennessee among the states he did not carry.

It marked the 10th consecutive election in which Tennessee backed the Democratic party, a streak reaching back to 1872. Tennessee did not move alone — neighboring Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Missouri broke the same way in 1908. Across the 57 presidential elections Tennessee has taken part in, it has most often sided with the Democratic party (24 times). The vote fell within the Progressive Era — Trust-busting, suffrage, and World War I.

In the national count, William Howard Taft took 321 of the 483 electoral votes, against William Jennings Bryan's 162. William Howard Taft led the national popular vote with 51.57% of the ballots cast.

The 1908 national map

Tennessee full history →