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Presidential elections in Missouri
Map of the United States with Missouri highlighted
Number of elections51
Voted Democratic30
Voted Republican19
Voted Democratic-Republican2
Voted other0
Voted for winning candidate37
Voted for losing candidate14

The tables below list the United States presidential elections in Missouri, ordered by year. Since 1904, Missouri has voted for the eventual winner of the presidential election with only four exceptions: 1956, 2008, 2012, and 2020. Missouri was historically viewed as a bellwether state, but the consecutive votes against the winning candidate in 2008 and 2012 introduced doubts about its continued status as a bellwether, and an 18.5-point Republican victory in 2016 indicated that it had become a safe red state.

Winners of the state are in bold. The shading refers to the state winner, and not the national winner.

Elections from 1864 to present

Year Winner (nationally) Votes Percent Runner-up (nationally) Votes Percent Other national
candidates [a]
Votes Percent Electoral
Votes
Notes
2020 [1] Joe Biden 1,253,014 41.41 Donald Trump 1,718,736 56.80 10
2016 [2] Donald Trump [b] 1,594,511 56.38 Hillary Clinton 1,071,068 37.87 - 10
2012 [3] Barack Obama 1,223,796 44.38 Mitt Romney 1,482,440 53.76 - 10
2008 [4] Barack Obama 1,441,911 49.29 John McCain 1,445,814 49.43 - 11
2004 [5] George W. Bush 1,455,713 53.30 John Kerry 1,259,171 46.1 - 11
2000 [6] George W. Bush [b] 1,189,924 50.42 Al Gore 1,111,138 47.08 - 11
1996 [7] Bill Clinton 1,025,935 47.54 Bob Dole 890,016 41.24 Ross Perot 217,188 10.06 11
1992 Bill Clinton 1,053,873 44.07 George H. W. Bush 811,159 33.92 Ross Perot 518,741 21.69 11
1988 George H. W. Bush 1,084,953 51.83 Michael Dukakis 1,001,619 47.85 - 11
1984 Ronald Reagan 1,274,188 60.02 Walter Mondale 848,583 39.98 - 11
1980 Ronald Reagan 1,074,181 51.16 Jimmy Carter 931,182 44.35 John B. Anderson 77,920 3.71 12
1976 Jimmy Carter 998,387 51.1 Gerald Ford 927,443 47.47 - 12
1972 Richard Nixon 1,154,058 62.29 George McGovern 698,531 37.71 - 12
1968 Richard Nixon 811,932 44.87 Hubert Humphrey 791,444 43.74 George Wallace 206,126 11.39 12
1964 Lyndon B. Johnson 1,164,344 64.05 Barry Goldwater 653,535 35.95 - 12
1960 John F. Kennedy 972,201 50.26 Richard Nixon 962,221 49.74 - 13
1956 Dwight D. Eisenhower 914,289 49.89 Adlai Stevenson II 918,273 50.11 T. Coleman Andrews/
Unpledged Electors [c]
- 13
1952 Dwight D. Eisenhower 959,429 50.71 Adlai Stevenson II 929,830 49.14 - 13
1948 Harry S. Truman 917,315 58.11 Thomas E. Dewey 655,039 41.49 Strom Thurmond 42 0.003 15
1944 Franklin D. Roosevelt 807,804 51.37 Thomas E. Dewey 761,524 48.43 - 15
1940 Franklin D. Roosevelt 958,476 52.27 Wendell Willkie 871,009 47.5 - 15
1936 Franklin D. Roosevelt 1,111,043 60.76 Alf Landon 697,891 38.16 - 15
1932 Franklin D. Roosevelt 1,025,406 63.69 Herbert Hoover 564,713 35.08 - 15
1928 Herbert Hoover 834,080 55.58 Al Smith 662,562 44.15 - 18
1924 Calvin Coolidge 648,486 49.58 John W. Davis 572,753 43.79 Robert M. La Follette 84,160 6.43 18
1920 Warren G. Harding 727,162 54.56 James M. Cox 574,799 43.13 Parley P. Christensen 3,291 0.25 18
1916 Woodrow Wilson 398,032 50.59 Charles E. Hughes 369,339 46.94 - 18
1912 Woodrow Wilson 330,746 47.35 Theodore Roosevelt 124,375 17.8 William H. Taft 207,821 29.75 18
1908 William H. Taft 347,203 48.5 William Jennings Bryan 346,574 48.41 - 18
1904 Theodore Roosevelt 321,449 49.93 Alton B. Parker 296,312 46.02 - 18
1900 William McKinley 314,092 45.94 William Jennings Bryan 351,922 51.48 - 17
1896 William McKinley 304,940 45.25 William Jennings Bryan 363,667 53.96 - 17
1892 Grover Cleveland 268,400 49.56 Benjamin Harrison 227,646 42.03 James B. Weaver 41,204 7.61 17
1888 Benjamin Harrison [b] 236,252 45.31 Grover Cleveland 261,943 50.24 - 16
1884 Grover Cleveland 236,023 53.49 James G. Blaine 203,081 46.02 - 16
1880 James A. Garfield 153,647 38.67 Winfield S. Hancock 208,600 52.51 James B. Weaver 35,042 8.82 15
1876 Rutherford B. Hayes 145,027 41.36 Samuel J. Tilden 202,086 57.64 - 15
1872 Ulysses S. Grant 119,196 43.65 Horace Greeley 151,434 55.46 - 15
1868 Ulysses S. Grant 86,860 57 Horatio Seymour 65,628 43 - 11
1864 Abraham Lincoln 72,750 69.7 George B. McClellan 31,596 30.3 - 11

Election of 1860

The election of 1860 was a complex realigning election in which the breakdown of the previous two-party alignment culminated in four parties each competing for influence in different parts of the country. The result of the election, with the victory of an ardent opponent of slavery, spurred the secession of eleven states and brought about the American Civil War.

Year Winner (nationally) Votes Percent Runner-up (nationally) Votes Percent Runner-up (nationally) Votes Percent Runner-up (nationally) Votes Percent Electoral
Votes
1860 Abraham Lincoln 17,028 10.3 Stephen A. Douglas 58,801 35.5 John C. Breckinridge 31,362 18.9 John Bell 58,372 35.3 9

Elections from 1828 to 1856

Year Winner (nationally) Votes Percent Runner-up (nationally) Votes Percent Other national
candidates [a]
Votes Percent Electoral
Votes
Notes
1856 James Buchanan 57,964 54.43 John C. Frémont no ballots Millard Fillmore 48,522 45.57 9
1852 Franklin Pierce 38,817 56.42 Winfield Scott 29,984 43.58 John P. Hale no ballots 9
1848 Zachary Taylor 32,671 44.91 Lewis Cass 40,077 55.09 Martin Van Buren no ballots 7
1844 James K. Polk 41,322 56.98 Henry Clay 31,200 43.02 - 7
1840 William Henry Harrison 22,954 43.37 Martin Van Buren 29,969 56.63 - 4
1836 Martin Van Buren 10,995 59.98 Hugh Lawson White 7,337 40.02 various [d] no ballots - 4
1832 Andrew Jackson 5,192 100 Henry Clay no ballots William Wirt no ballots 4
1828 Andrew Jackson 8,232 70.64 John Quincy Adams 3,422 29.36 - 3

Election of 1824

The election of 1824 was a complex realigning election following the collapse of the prevailing Democratic-Republican Party, resulting in four different candidates each claiming to carry the banner of the party, and competing for influence in different parts of the country. The election was the only one in history to be decided by the House of Representatives under the provisions of the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution after no candidate secured a majority of the electoral vote. It was also the only presidential election in which the candidate who received a plurality of electoral votes ( Andrew Jackson) did not become president, a source of great bitterness for Jackson and his supporters, who proclaimed the election of Adams a corrupt bargain.

Year Winner (nationally) Votes Percent Runner-up (nationally) Votes Percent Runner-up (nationally) Votes Percent Runner-up (nationally) Votes Percent Electoral
Votes
1824 Andrew Jackson 1,166 33.97 John Quincy Adams 159 4.63 Henry Clay 2,042 59.50 William H. Crawford 32 0.93 3

Election of 1820

In the election of 1820, incumbent President James Monroe ran effectively unopposed, winning all electoral votes except one vote in New Hampshire. The popular vote was primarily directed to filling the office of Vice President.

Missouri's participation in the election was a point of political dispute. On March 9, 1820, Congress had passed a law directing Missouri to hold a convention to form a constitution and a state government. This law stated that "the said state, when formed, shall be admitted into the Union, upon an equal footing with the original states, in all respects whatsoever." [8] However, when Congress reconvened in November 1820, the admission of Missouri became an issue of contention. Proponents claimed that Missouri had fulfilled the conditions of the law and therefore was a state; detractors contended that certain provisions of the Missouri Constitution violated the United States Constitution.

By the time Congress was due to meet to count the electoral votes from the election, this dispute had lasted over two months. The counting raised a ticklish problem: if Congress counted Missouri's votes, that would count as recognition that Missouri was a state; on the other hand, if Congress failed to count Missouri's vote, it would count as recognition that Missouri was not a state. Knowing ahead of time that Monroe had won in a landslide and that Missouri's vote would therefore make no difference in the final result, the Senate passed a resolution on February 13, 1821, stating that if a protest were made, there would be no consideration of the matter unless the vote of Missouri would change who would become president. Instead, the President of the Senate would announce the final tally twice, once with Missouri included and once with it excluded. [9]

The next day this resolution was introduced in the full House. After a lively debate, it was passed. Nonetheless, during the counting of the electoral votes on February 14, 1821, an objection was raised to the votes from Missouri by Representative Arthur Livermore of New Hampshire. He argued that since Missouri had not yet officially become a state, it had no right to cast any electoral votes. Immediately, Representative John Floyd of Virginia argued that Missouri's votes must be counted. Chaos ensued, and order was restored only with the counting of the vote as per the resolution and then adjournment for the day. [10]

Popular candidates

Excluding two-campaign two-term presidents, including candidates who eventually lost

  • Franklin Roosevelt - 4 times (4 terms)
  • Grover Cleveland - 3 times (2 terms)
  • Martin Van Buren - 2 times (1 term)
  • William Jennings Bryan - 2 times (0 terms)

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b For purposes of these lists, other national candidates are defined as those who won at least one electoral vote, or won at least ten percent of the vote in multiple states.
  2. ^ a b c Won the electoral college while losing the popular vote
  3. ^ Was allied with a slate of unpledged electors in Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina
  4. ^ Three other candidates ran and received electoral votes nationally as part of the unsuccessful Whig strategy to defeat Martin Van Buren by running four candidates with local appeal in different regions of the country. The others were William Henry Harrison, Daniel Webster, and Willie Person Mangum. None of these candidates appeared on the ballot in Missouri.

References

  1. ^ "Presidential Election Results: Biden Wins". The New York Times. 3 November 2020. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
  2. ^ 2016 official Federal Election Commission report.
  3. ^ 2012 official Federal Election Commission report.
  4. ^ 2008 official Federal Election Commission report.
  5. ^ "Federal Elections 2004: Election Results for the U.S. President, the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives" (PDF). Federal Elections Commission. May 2005.
  6. ^ "2000 Presidential Election Statistics". Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
  7. ^ "1996 Presidential Election Statistics". Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
  8. ^ United States Congress (1820). United States Statutes at Large. Act of March 6, ch. 23, vol. 3. pp. 545–548. Retrieved August 9, 2006.
  9. ^ United States Congress (1821). Senate Journal. 16th Congress, 2nd Session, February 13. pp. 187–188. Retrieved July 29, 2006.
  10. ^ Annals of Congress. 16th Congress, 2nd Session, February 14, 1821. Gales and Seaton. 1856. pp. 1147–1165. Retrieved July 29, 2006.{{ cite book}}: CS1 maint: others ( link)

External links