Results breakdown of the United States presidential election, 1880

Presidential election results map. Red denotes those won by Garfield/Arthur, blue denotes states won by Hancock/English. Numbers indicate the number of electoral votes allotted to each state.

The results of the United States presidential election of 1880 showed a victory for Republican James A. Garfield over Democrat Winfield Scott Hancock in a presidential election held on Tuesday, November 2, 1880. The voter turnout rate was one of the highest in the nation's history. In the end, the popular vote totals of the two main candidates were separated by fewer than 2,000 votes, the smallest victory in the popular vote ever recorded. In the electoral college, however, Garfield's victory was decisive; he won nearly all of the populous Northern states to achieve a majority of 214 electoral votes to 155 for Hancock. Hancock's sweep of the Southern states was not enough for victory, but it cemented his party's dominance of the region for generations. The election of 1880 was the sixth consecutive presidential election won by the Republicans, the second longest winning streak in American history after the Democratic-Republican Party during the period 1800-1824.

Results

Of the 2,320 counties/independent cities making returns, Hancock won in 1,242 (53.53%) while Garfield carried 1,061 (45.73%). In Virginia, nine counties (0.39%) recorded more votes cast for the "Readjuster Democratic" ticket than either of the two-party candidates. Six counties (0.26%) spread across four states recorded a Weaver victory while one county (0.04%) in Arkansas recorded more votes cast for "Scattering" (Non-Democratic/Non-Republican/Non-Greenback-Labor). One county (0.04%) in Indiana split evenly between Hancock and Garfield.

Two Democratic Electoral Tickets were nominated, one by the debt-paying, the other by the "Readjuster" or anti-debt paying faction of the party in Virginia. The "Readjuster" ticket carried 9 counties and received 31,527 votes for 14.89% of the vote.[1]

The merger with the Socialist Labor had broadened the Greenback base. Even though Weaver failed to capture a single electoral vote in this election, the Greenback Labor Party won 6 counties in Iowa (Weaver's home state), Texas (Chambers' home state), Missouri, and Mississippi.

The popular vote at the county level shows that the Democratic Party had a county-level base in the Republican North, Midwest, and West. The Hancock-led Democrats won far more counties (53.5%) than the victorious Republican Party (45.7%). Thus, the Republican Party, even after the Compromise of 1877, had a county base in the South, but it was a much smaller presence than the one that the Democratic Party had in the North. It had dwindled since the 1876 election, particularly in South Carolina.

From the analysis of the county-level map data, there are several major indicators. The Democratic Party at the count level was multi-regional, while the Republican Party was essentially uni-regional, with scattered support in other regions. The Democrats' county-level victories seem to have come from sparsely populated counties, the Republicans' in more densely populated counties.[2] This would explain Hancock's narrow popular vote loss to Garfield despite carrying many more counties.

Although Hancock lost the popular vote, "The Hero of Gettysburg" did carry Adams County, Pennsylvania, with 53.9% of the vote.

To date, this was the closest election ever in terms of popular vote (with a margin of fewer than 10,000) and states carried, as both candidates won 19 states. This election also makes the first (and as of 2014 the only) election in which the two main candidates won the same number of states.

Results by county explicitly indicating the percentage for the winning candidate. Shades of red are for Garfield (Republican), shades of blue are for Hancock (Democratic), shades of green are for Weaver (Greenback-Labor), shades of purple are for Hancock (Readjuster Democratic), and shades of orange are for "Scattering" (Non-Democratic/Non-Republican/Non-Greenback-Labor).
Presidential candidate Party Home state Popular vote Electoral
vote		 Running mate
Count Pct Vice-presidential candidate Home state Elect. vote
James A. Garfield Republican Ohio 4,453,337 48.31% 214(b) Chester A. Arthur New York 214(b)
Winfield Scott Hancock Democratic Pennsylvania 4,444,267 48.22% 155(a) William Hayden English Indiana 155(a)
James B. Weaver Greenback Iowa 306,135 3.32% 0 Benjamin J. Chambers Texas 0
Neal S. Dow Prohibition Maine 10,269 0.11% 0 Henry Adams Thompson Ohio 0
John W. Phelps American Vermont 631 0.01% 0 Samuel C. Pomeroy Kansas 0
Other 2,771 0.03% — Other —
Total 9,217,410 100% 369 369
Needed to win 185 185

Source (Popular Vote): Leip, David. "1880 Presidential Election Results". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved July 27, 2005. 

Source (Electoral Vote): "Electoral College Box Scores 1789–1996". National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved July 31, 2005. 

(a) See "Georgia's vote" below.
(b) See "California's vote" below.

Popular vote
Garfield
  
 48.31%
Hancock
  
 48.22%
Weaver
  
 3.32%
Others
  
 0.15%
Electoral vote
Garfield
  
 57.99%
Hancock
  
 42.01%

Results by state

The margin of victory was less than 5% in several states (146 electoral votes):

  1. California, 0.09%
  2. New Jersey, 0.82%
  3. Indiana, 1.41%
  4. Oregon, 1.63%
  5. New York, 1.91%
  6. Connecticut, 2.00%
  7. Delaware, 3.51%
  8. North Carolina, 3.56%
  9. Pennsylvania, 4.26%
  10. New Hampshire, 4.70%
  11. Ohio, 4.72%
  12. Nevada, 4.80%

In several others, the margin of victory was between 5% and 10% (60 electoral votes):

  1. Colorado, 5.23%
  2. Maine, 6.14%
  3. Illinois, 6.54%
  4. Florida, 8.35%
  5. Maryland, 8.82%
  6. Tennessee, 9.00%
  7. West Virginia, 9.90%

[3]
As of 2012, this is the second and last election where the two leading candidates each carried half of the states. It had previously happened in 1848.

States won by Garfield/Arthur
States won by Hancock/English
James Garfield
Republican		 Winfield Hancock
Democratic		 James Weaver
Greenback		 Neal Dow
Prohibition		 Margin State Total
State electoral
votes		 # % electoral
votes		 # % electoral
votes		 # % electoral
votes		 # % electoral
votes		 # % #
Alabama 10 56,350 37.10 - 91,130 59.99 10 4,422 2.91 - - - - -34,780 -22.90 151,902 AL
Arkansas 6 41,661 38.66 - 60,489 56.13 6 4,079 3.78 - - - - -18,828 -17.47 107,772 AR
California 6 80,282 48.89 1 80,426 48.98 5 3,381 2.06 - 54 0.03 - -144 -0.09 164,218 CA
Colorado 3 27,450 51.26 3 24,647 46.03 - 1,435 2.68 - - - - 2,803 5.23 53,546 CO
Connecticut 6 67,071 50.51 6 64,411 48.50 - 868 0.65 - 409 0.31 - 2,660 2.00 132,798 CT
Delaware 3 14,148 48.03 - 15,181 51.53 3 129 0.44 - - - - -1,033 -3.51 29,458 DE
Florida 4 23,654 45.83 - 27,964 54.17 4 - - - - - - -4,310 -8.35 51,618 FL
Georgia 11 54,470 34.59 - 102,981 65.41 11 - - - - - - -48,511 -30.81 157,451 GA
Illinois 21 318,036 51.11 21 277,321 44.56 - 26,358 4.24 - 440 0.07 - 40,715 6.54 622,305 IL
Indiana 15 232,164 49.33 15 225,522 47.91 - 12,986 2.76 - - - - 6,642 1.41 470,672 IN
Iowa 11 183,904 56.99 11 105,845 32.80 - 32,327 10.02 - 592 0.18 - 78,059 24.19 322,668 IA
Kansas 5 121,549 60.40 5 59,801 29.72 - 19,851 9.86 - 10 0.00 - 61,748 30.68 201,236 KS
Kentucky 12 106,490 39.87 - 148,875 55.74 12 11,506 4.31 - 233 0.09 - -42,385 -15.87 267,104 KY
Louisiana 8 38,978 37.31 - 65,047 62.27 8 437 0.42 - - - - -26,069 -24.96 104,462 LA
Maine 7 74,052 51.46 7 65,211 45.32 - 4,409 3.06 - 92 0.06 - 8,841 6.14 143,903 ME
Maryland 8 78,515 45.59 - 93,706 54.41 8 - - - - - - -15,191 -8.82 172,221 MD
Massachusetts 13 165,198 58.53 13 111,720 39.58 - 4,548 1.61 - 682 0.24 - 53,478 18.95 282,265 MA
Michigan 11 185,335 52.49 11 131,597 37.27 - 34,895 9.88 - 940 0.27 - 53,738 15.22 353,079 MI
Minnesota 5 93,902 62.28 5 53,315 35.36 - 3,267 2.17 - 286 0.19 - 40,587 26.92 150,770 MN
Mississippi 8 34,844 29.76 - 75,750 64.71 8 5,797 4.95 - - - - -40,906 -34.94 117,068 MS
Missouri 15 153,647 38.67 - 208,600 52.51 15 35,042 8.82 - - - - -54,953 -13.83 397,289 MO
Nebraska 3 54,979 62.87 3 28,523 32.62 - 3,950 4.52 - - - - 26,456 30.25 87,452 NE
Nevada 3 8,732 47.60 - 9,613 52.40 3 - - - - - - -881 -4.80 18,345 NV
New Hampshire 5 44,856 51.94 5 40,797 47.24 - 528 0.61 - 180 0.21 - 4,059 4.70 86,361 NH
New Jersey 9 120,555 49.02 - 122,565 49.84 9 2,617 1.06 - 191 0.08 - -2,010 -0.82 245,928 NJ
New York 35 555,544 50.32 35 534,511 48.42 - 12,373 1.12 - 1,517 0.14 - 21,033 1.91 1,103,945 NY
North Carolina 10 115,616 47.98 - 124,204 51.55 10 1,126 0.47 - - - - -8,588 -3.56 240,946 NC
Ohio 22 375,048 51.73 22 340,821 47.01 - 6,456 0.89 - 2,616 0.36 - 34,227 4.72 724,967 OH
Oregon 3 20,619 50.51 3 19,955 48.88 - 249 0.61 - - - - 664 1.63 40,823 OR
Pennsylvania 29 444,704 50.84 29 407,428 46.57 - 20,668 2.36 - 1,939 0.22 - 37,276 4.26 874,783 PA
Rhode Island 4 18,195 62.24 4 10,779 36.87 - 236 0.81 - 20 0.07 - 7,416 25.37 29,235 RI
South Carolina 7 57,954 34.13 - 111,236 65.51 7 567 0.33 - - - - -53,282 -31.38 169,793 SC
Tennessee 12 107,677 44.26 - 129,569 53.26 12 6,017 2.47 - - - - -21,892 -9.00 243,263 TN
Texas 8 57,893 23.95 - 156,428 64.71 8 27,405 11.34 - - - - -98,535 -40.76 241,726 TX
Vermont 5 45,091 69.81 5 18,182 28.15 - 1,212 1.88 - - - - 26,909 41.66 64,594 VT
Virginia 11 83,533 39.47 - 128,083 60.53 11 - - - - - - -44,550 -21.05 211,616 VA
West Virginia 5 46,243 41.05 - 57,390 50.95 5 9,008 8.00 - - - - -11,147 -9.90 112,641 WV
Wisconsin 10 144,398 54.04 10 114,644 42.91 - 7,986 2.99 - 68 0.03 - 29,754 11.14 267,187 WI
TOTALS: 369 4,453,337 48.31 214 4,444,267 48.22 155 306,135 3.32 - 10,269 0.11 - 9,070 0.10 9,217,410 US

Georgia's vote

According to Article II, Section 1, clause 3 of the Constitution, "The Congress may determine the Time of choosing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the United States." In 1792, Congress had set the date for the Electoral College to vote at the first Wednesday in December, and it was still set to that day in 1880, when it fell on December 1. However, Georgia's electors failed to cast their ballots on December 1, instead voting on the following Wednesday, December 8. Congress chose to count Georgia's vote in the official tally, but it is arguable that Georgia's electoral vote was constitutionally invalid, and thus that Hancock's electoral vote should have been 144, not 155.

California's vote

In this year, California's electoral votes were split between the two candidates, with Garfield getting one and Hancock getting five, giving Garfield nineteen states plus one electoral vote. It is speculated that Garfield lost electoral votes in California due to a letter written by Senator James G. Blaine, Garfield's primary supporter, before the election that allegedly favored Chinese immigration. Many in the western states were against Chinese immigration, claiming that the Chinese were limiting the growth of the Pacific coast.[4]

Garfield won the presidency without simultaneously winning California. No Republican presidential candidate managed to reproduce this feat until George W. Bush in 2000, 120 years later.

Maps

References

  1. ↑ Spofford, Ainsworth R. An American Almanac and Treasury of Facts, Statistical, Financial, and Political, for the year 1882, p. 267
  2. ↑ Presidential Elections, 1789-2008: County, State, and National Mapping of Election Data, Donald R. Deskins, Jr., Hanes Walton, Jr., and Sherman C. Puckett, pg. 222-223
  3. ↑ "1880 Presidential General Election Data - National". Retrieved May 7, 2013. This link states the following, but doesn't identify even one source: "Below is a list of source from each state from which the 1880 Presidential Election popular vote data was collected"
  4. ↑ American Tariff League (May 30, 1919). The Tariff review, Volumes 63-64. p. 344. Retrieved May 23, 2010.
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