1908 United States presidential election in Maryland

The 1908 United States presidential election in Maryland took place on November 3, 1908. All contemporary 46 states were part of the 1908 United States presidential election. State voters chose eight electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president.

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1908 United States presidential election in Maryland

← 1904 November 3, 1908 1912 →

Nominee William Jennings Bryan William Howard Taft Party Democratic Republican Home state Nebraska Ohio Running mate John W. Kern James S. Sherman Electoral vote 6[lower-alpha 1] 2[lower-alpha 1] Popular vote 115,908 116,513 Percentage 48.59% 48.85%

County Results Bryan   40-50%   50-60%   60-70% Taft   40-50%   50-60%   60-70%

President before election Theodore Roosevelt Republican Elected President William Howard Taft Republican

Elections in Maryland
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After having trended heavily Republican during Bryan's previous two elections in 1896 and 1900, Maryland would become exceedingly close in 1904 with Alton B. Parker taking 7 of 8 electoral votes despite the highest Theodore Roosevelt elector beating any of Parker's by 51 votes. Large-scale immigration and efforts to reduce the solidly Republican Black vote were opposed for this election by dislike of Bryan's populism in this urbanizing state.[1] At first, the latter trend appeared to be strong, and by the middle of September Taft's campaign managers thought Maryland was safe in his pocket,[2] although Bryan had campaigned in the state a few days previously.[3] This trend continued into early October as Roosevelt's war on Samuel Gompers was believed a major aid to Taft.[4] However, a new poll in the second week of October suggested the state could go to Bryan by 15,000 votes.[5] By election day, it was clear that Maryland would be almost as close as the 1904 election had proved.[6]

Maryland was won by the Democratic nominees, former Representative William Jennings Bryan of Nebraska and his running mate John W. Kern of Indiana, although the highest elector for Republican candidates William Howard Taft and James S. Sherman gained 605 more votes than the highest Bryan elector. This difference was supposedly due to the “Wilson Law” designed to make it easier for Democrats to cast ballots for both Presidential electors and Congress by a simple turning down of a single fold in the ballot paper.[7]

In this election, Maryland voted 8.28% more Democratic than the nation at-large.[8]