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1892 United States presidential election in Colorado

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1892 United States presidential election in Colorado

← 1888 November 8, 1892 1896 →
 
Nominee James B. Weaver Benjamin Harrison
Party Populist Republican
Alliance Democratic
Home state Iowa Indiana
Running mate James G. Field Whitelaw Reid
Electoral vote 4 0
Popular vote 53,584 38,620
Percentage 57.07% 41.13%

County Results

President before election

Benjamin Harrison
Republican

Elected President

Grover Cleveland
Democratic

The 1892 United States presidential election in Colorado took place on November 8, 1892. All contemporary 44 states were part of the 1892 United States presidential election. Colorado voters chose four electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president.

In its early days as a state, Colorado had, like the Plains States to its east, been solidly Republican. Despite widespread criticism of the national party for its monetary policy, the Republicans continuously controlled the legislature and held the governorship for five of seven terms.[1] Because Colorado was the leading silver-producing state in the nation, the policies of the federal government since President Hayes were deeply unpopular with both silver miners and mineowners. Crises emerging in Colorado's agricultural sector from low wheat prices[2] and a severe drought in 1888 and 1889,[3] combined with the state's underdevelopment to produce resentment of the Northeast,[4] where the Republican Party's power base was located.

Campaign

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On April 27, 1892, the Colorado Republican Party held their convention and passed a resolution demanding free silver. The party endorsed Benjamin Harrison as being "favorable to the white metal" at its second convention from September 8 to 9.[5]

The Colorado Democratic Party held its convention from September 12 to 13.[5]

The Populist Party's platform called for replacing the gold standard with the free coinage of silver at a 16:1 ratio with gold. This meant that outside the Hispanic south-central counties and some parts of the eastern High Plains, support for the Populist movement was extremely strong in the state, even among many conservatives who opposed the Populists’ economic philosophy but were concerned primarily about the silver issue.[6] In order to achieve success, the newly formed Populist Party would fuse with the minority Democratic Party,[3] although a proposed slate of electors pledged to national Democratic nominees Grover Cleveland and Adlai Stevenson I was not withdrawn with the instruction to support the Populist nominee James B. Weaver until the last week before the poll,[7] after a long struggle within the state Democratic Party.[8]

Polls on election day said Weaver was two-to-one on to carry Colorado,[9] and in the end Weaver and running mate James G. Field carried the state by 15.94 points over the Republican nominees, incumbent President Benjamin Harrison of Indiana and his running mate Whitelaw Reid of New York. Weaver dominated most of the state, especially the high mountains and West Slope.

Colorado was one of a handful of states, five in total, that did not feature former and future President Grover Cleveland on their ballots. As of the 2020 U.S. presidential election, this is the only time Colorado voted for a third-party candidate.

Results

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1892 United States presidential election in Colorado[10]
Party Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
People's/Democratic James Weaver 53,584 57.07% 4
Republican Benjamin Harrison (incumbent) 38,620 41.13% 0
Prohibition John Bidwell 1,687 1.80% 0
Totals 93,891 100.00% 4
Voter turnout

Results by county

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County Benjamin Harrison[11]
Republican
James Baird Weaver[12]
Populist/Democratic
John Bidwell[13]
Prohibition
Margin[a]
% # % # % # % #
Cheyenne 66.67% 102 33.33% 51 0.00% 0 33.33% 51
Lincoln 64.57% 113 34.86% 61 0.57% 1 29.71% 52
Washington 62.97% 250 34.01% 135 3.02% 12 28.97% 115
Costilla 63.45% 526 35.95% 298 0.60% 5 27.50% 228
Douglas 57.60% 360 41.76% 261 0.64% 4 15.84% 99
Huerfano 57.56% 750 41.83% 545 0.61% 8 15.73% 205
Conejos 56.88% 823 42.43% 614 0.69% 10 14.44% 209
Logan 56.00% 322 42.61% 245 1.39% 8 13.39% 77
Kit Carson 54.10% 277 44.73% 229 1.17% 6 9.38% 48
Kiowa 53.55% 151 45.74% 129 0.71% 2 7.80% 22
Phillips 49.17% 266 44.55% 241 6.28% 34 4.62% 25
Rio Grande 48.82% 539 49.00% 541 2.17% 24 -0.18% -2
Prowers 49.25% 229 49.89% 232 0.86% 4 -0.65% -3
Routt 49.17% 325 50.23% 332 0.61% 4 -1.06% -7
Arapahoe 48.11% 11,331 50.03% 11,783 1.86% 439 -1.92% -452
El Paso 47.39% 2,657 49.46% 2,773 3.16% 177 -2.07% -116
Baca 47.72% 157 50.46% 166 1.82% 6 -2.74% -9
Morgan 47.60% 208 51.49% 225 0.92% 4 -3.89% -17
Archuleta 47.98% 107 52.02% 116 0.00% 0 -4.04% -9
Garfield 47.00% 634 51.89% 700 1.11% 15 -4.89% -66
Pueblo 46.06% 2,404 52.40% 2,735 1.53% 80 -6.34% -331
Larimer 43.05% 975 51.08% 1,157 5.87% 133 -8.04% -182
Mesa 42.76% 529 50.85% 629 6.39% 79 -8.08% -100
Jefferson 42.86% 792 51.46% 951 5.68% 105 -8.60% -159
Sedgwick 44.86% 131 53.77% 157 1.37% 4 -8.90% -26
Elbert 45.22% 189 54.55% 228 0.24% 1 -9.33% -39
Grand 43.70% 104 55.88% 133 0.42% 1 -12.18% -29
Custer 43.27% 296 55.99% 383 0.73% 5 -12.72% -87
Otero 41.38% 480 55.60% 645 3.02% 35 -14.22% -165
Weld 41.10% 1,138 56.48% 1,564 2.42% 67 -15.38% -426
Las Animas 41.31% 1,276 58.14% 1,796 0.55% 17 -16.83% -520
Chaffee 40.12% 678 58.99% 997 0.89% 15 -18.88% -319
Fremont 39.13% 830 58.32% 1,237 2.55% 54 -19.19% -407
Bent 40.30% 162 59.70% 240 0.00% 0 -19.40% -78
Gunnison 38.71% 588 61.03% 927 0.26% 4 -22.32% -339
Boulder 36.42% 1,338 60.40% 2,219 3.18% 117 -23.98% -881
Park 36.92% 384 62.88% 654 0.19% 2 -25.96% -270
Saguache 36.51% 326 63.05% 563 0.45% 4 -26.54% -237
Rio Blanco 36.29% 127 62.86% 220 0.86% 3 -26.57% -93
Yuma 35.29% 198 62.75% 352 1.96% 11 -27.45% -154
Montrose 34.88% 301 63.62% 549 1.51% 13 -28.74% -248
Delta 33.05% 237 64.02% 459 2.93% 21 -30.96% -222
Gilpin 32.53% 431 64.23% 851 3.25% 43 -31.70% -420
La Plata 33.58% 545 65.43% 1,062 0.99% 16 -31.85% -517
Dolores 32.92% 294 67.08% 599 0.00% 0 -34.15% -305
Lake 30.68% 1,003 69.04% 2,257 0.28% 9 -38.36% -1,254
Eagle 29.22% 275 70.35% 662 0.43% 4 -41.13% -387
Montezuma 27.83% 140 72.17% 363 0.00% 0 -44.33% -223
Summit 25.60% 279 73.39% 800 1.01% 11 -47.80% -521
Hinsdale 25.81% 412 74.19% 1,184 0.00% 0 -48.37% -772
San Miguel 23.43% 272 75.54% 877 1.03% 12 -52.11% -605
Clear Creek 22.10% 494 77.40% 1,730 0.49% 11 -55.30% -1,236
Ouray 18.23% 324 81.20% 1,443 0.56% 10 -62.97% -1,119
San Juan 16.52% 96 83.30% 484 0.17% 1 -66.78% -388
Pitkin 13.69% 445 86.15% 2,800 0.15% 5 -72.46% -2,355

Notes

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  1. ^ Because Grover Cleveland was not on the ballot and no nominee was listed under the “Democratic” line, margin given is Harrison vote minus Weaver vote and percentage margin Harrison percentage minus Weaver percentage for all counties.

References

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  1. ^ Ubbelohde, Carl; Benson, Maxine and Smith, Duane A.; A Colorado History, pp. 206-207 ISBN 0871089424
  2. ^ Gormley, Ken (editor); The Presidents and the Constitution: A Living History, p. 299 ISBN 1479839906
  3. ^ a b Larson, Robert W.; ‘Populism in the Mountain West: A Mainstream Movement’; Western Historical Quarterly; Vol. 13, No. 2 (April 1982), pp. 143-164
  4. ^ Azari, Julia and Hetherington, Mark J.; ‘Back to the Future? What the Politics of the Late Nineteenth Century Can Tell Us about the 2016 Election’; The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science; Vol 667: Elections in America; (September 2016), pp. 92-109
  5. ^ a b Knoles 1971, p. 183.
  6. ^ White, Richard; It’s Your Misfortune and None of My Own: A New History of the American West, pp. 374-375 ISBN 0806125675
  7. ^ ‘The Democratic Plan’; Grand Junction News, November 5, 1892, p. 3
  8. ^ ‘Saturday’s Convention’; Grand Junction News, September 17, 1892, p. 4
  9. ^ ‘Confusion in Colorado: All Making Claims but the Betting Favors Weaver’; Los Angeles Times, November 8, 1892, p. 1
  10. ^ Dave Leip's U.S. Election Atlas; Presidential General Election Results – Colorado
  11. ^ Géoelections; Presidential election of 1892 Popular Vote (.xlsx file for €15)
  12. ^ Géoelections; Popular Vote for James B. Weaver (.xlsx file for €15)
  13. ^ Géoelections; Popular Vote for John Bidwell (.xlsx file for €15)

Works cited

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