The 1916 United States presidential election in California took place on November 7, 1916 as part of the 1916 United States presidential election. State voters chose 13 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
California narrowly voted for the Democratic incumbent, Woodrow Wilson, over the Republican nominee, Associate Justice Charles Evans Hughes.
Although very close, this was not as close as the previous election or the critical 1892 election in California, and was only the third-closest state in a thrilling election behind New Hampshire and Minnesota. As of 2024, no subsequent presidential election in California has been decided by a smaller margin, although California was decided by less than one point in 1948 and 1960. This was the closest result where California's electoral votes were not split.
Following on from breaking half-a-dozen county droughts in 1912, Wilson became the first Democrat to carry Placer County, Plumas County, and Santa Barbara County, since Stephen A. Douglas in 1860, and the first to carry the counties of Contra Costa and Santa Cruz since James Buchanan in 1856.Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004, pp. 153-155 If Hughes had won California, he would have won the Electoral College despite losing the national popular vote by three points. This is the last election in which a Republican candidate carried Los Angeles County but failed to carry the state of California. Had Hughes carried the state, he would have been elected with 267 electoral votes to Wilson's 264.
Results + General Election ResultsParty Pledged to Elector Votes Democratic Party Woodrow Wilson Francis J. Heney466,289 Democratic Party Woodrow Wilson Edward L. Doheny465,936 Democratic Party Woodrow Wilson Jo V. Snyder465,092 Democratic Party Woodrow Wilson Irving C. Ackerman464,926 Democratic Party Woodrow Wilson L. F. Puter464,824 Democratic Party Woodrow Wilson John F. Barry464,808 Democratic Party Woodrow Wilson Oscar Hocks464,731 Democratic Party Woodrow Wilson James F. Peck464,680 Democratic Party Woodrow Wilson Lorin A. Handley464,515 Democratic Party Woodrow Wilson R. F. Del Valle464,477 Democratic Party Woodrow Wilson Virginia M. Spinks464,233 Democratic Party Woodrow Wilson Mary Marshall Wiley464,206 Democratic Party Woodrow Wilson Carrie L. Tyler463,709 Republican Party Charles Evans Hughes J. F. Carlston462,516 Republican Party Charles Evans Hughes John A. Britton462,004 Republican Party Charles Evans Hughes T. S. Montgomery461,828 Republican Party Charles Evans Hughes Willis H. Booth461,826 Republican Party Charles Evans Hughes W. F. Chandler461,610 Republican Party Charles Evans Hughes Albert E. Boynton461,588 Republican Party Charles Evans Hughes J. C. Needham461,505 Republican Party Charles Evans Hughes Joseph Scott461,354 Republican Party Charles Evans Hughes Rudolph J. Taussig461,301 Republican Party Charles Evans Hughes Louise Harvey Clarke460,941 Republican Party Charles Evans Hughes Mary Roberts Coolidge460,908 Republican Party Charles Evans Hughes A. J. Wallace460,826 Republican Party Charles Evans Hughes J. P. Baumgartner460,821 Socialist Party Allan L. Benson Scott Anderson42,898 Socialist Party Allan L. Benson Joseph Bredsteen42,562 Socialist Party Allan L. Benson M. P. Christensen42,412 Socialist Party Allan L. Benson Mollie Bloom Flagg42,394 Socialist Party Allan L. Benson W. Scott Lewis42,354 Socialist Party Allan L. Benson Ethel Lynn42,330 Socialist Party Allan L. Benson Arnold R. Holston42,327 Socialist Party Allan L. Benson C. W. Kingsley42,320 Socialist Party Allan L. Benson Noble A. Richardson42,312 Socialist Party Allan L. Benson Harry M. McKee42,273 Socialist Party Allan L. Benson Ben F. Wilson42,263 Socialist Party Allan L. Benson George W. Woodbey42,232 Socialist Party Allan L. Benson A. E. Briggs42,178 Prohibition Party J. Franklin Hanly Annie E. K. Bidwell27,713 Prohibition Party J. Franklin Hanly Horace A. Johnson27,408 Prohibition Party J. Franklin Hanly Fred F. Wheeler27,208 Prohibition Party J. Franklin Hanly Robert Rogers27,156 Prohibition Party J. Franklin Hanly Elam Biggs27,116 Prohibition Party J. Franklin Hanly Minnie Goldthwaite27,082 Prohibition Party J. Franklin Hanly C. C. Selecman27,067 Prohibition Party J. Franklin Hanly Wiley J. Phillips27,050 Prohibition Party J. Franklin Hanly A. K. Nash27,027 Prohibition Party J. Franklin Hanly Ada E. Ferris27,017 Prohibition Party J. Franklin Hanly Walter O. Woolever27,013 Prohibition Party J. Franklin Hanly Thomas K. Beard26,980 Prohibition Party J. Franklin Hanly C. S. Corkhill26,894 Write-in Scattering187Votes cast 999,603
Results by county County Woodrow WilsonDemocratic Charles Evans HughesRepublican Allan L. BensonSocialist J. Franklin HanlyProhibition ScatteringWrite-in Margin Total votes cast # % # % # % # % # % # %Alameda43,74842.84%51,41750.34%5,4225.31%1,5441.51%00.00%-7,669-7.51%102,131Alpine2327.71%6072.29%00.00%00.00%00.00%-37-44.58%83Amador1,76656.28%1,20938.53%1253.98%381.21%00.00%55717.75%3,138Butte4,88850.55%3,95640.91%4364.51%3894.02%00.00%9329.64%9,669Calaveras1,52453.06%1,17540.91%1354.70%381.32%00.00%34912.15%2,872Colusa1,99862.89%1,01131.82%1233.87%451.42%00.00%98731.07%3,177Contra Costa6,09246.82%5,73144.05%8866.81%3022.32%00.00%3612.77%13,011Del Norte47141.35%49943.81%14412.64%252.19%00.00%-28-2.46%1,139El Dorado1,75557.67%1,06835.10%1876.15%331.08%00.00%68722.58%3,043Fresno14,24149.95%11,70741.07%1,6485.78%9123.20%00.00%2,5348.89%28,508Glenn1,79753.87%1,34240.23%1013.03%942.82%20.06%45513.64%3,336Humboldt4,10336.27%5,78651.14%1,0639.40%3613.19%00.00%-1,683-14.88%11,313Imperial3,27349.15%2,69440.46%3635.45%3294.94%00.00%5798.69%6,659Inyo96647.92%84641.96%1527.54%522.58%00.00%1205.95%2,016Kern9,56659.86%5,61135.11%5533.46%2511.57%00.00%3,95524.75%15,981Kings2,90551.86%2,22139.65%2564.57%2203.93%00.00%68412.21%5,602Lake1,16452.13%79135.42%1828.15%964.30%00.00%37316.70%2,233Lassen1,32355.75%87736.96%1436.03%301.26%00.00%44618.79%2,373Los Angeles114,07042.58%135,55450.59%8,0763.01%10,0613.76%1600.06%-21,484-8.02%267,921Madera1,88054.01%1,32338.01%1835.26%862.56%60.17%55716.00%3,481Marin3,78943.82%4,32850.05%4244.90%1061.23%00.00%-539-6.23%8,647Mariposa80258.24%45132.75%956.90%292.11%00.00%35125.49%1,377Mendocino3,37145.14%3,49446.79%4536.07%1502.01%00.00%-123-1.65%7,468Merced2,63750.36%2,13240.72%2855.44%1823.48%00.00%5059.64%5,236Modoc1,22258.25%76836.61%793.77%291.38%00.00%45421.64%2,098Mono15848.47%13742.02%267.98%51.53%00.00%216.44%326Monterey3,87848.28%3,59944.81%3644.53%1912.38%00.00%2793.47%8,032Napa3,08841.39%3,91452.46%3044.07%1552.08%00.00%-826-11.07%7,461Nevada2,54856.58%1,58635.22%2796.20%902.00%00.00%96221.36%4,503Orange6,47434.54%10,60956.59%6433.43%1,0205.44%00.00%-4,135-22.06%18,746Placer3,37558.28%1,95433.74%3145.42%1482.56%00.00%1,42124.54%5,791Plumas1,02556.50%66336.55%1025.62%241.32%00.00%36219.96%1,814Riverside4,56133.44%7,45254.64%7905.79%8366.13%00.00%-2,891-21.20%13,639Sacramento14,53854.63%10,69640.19%8333.13%5462.05%00.00%3,84214.44%26,613San Benito1,68851.80%1,44044.19%912.79%401.23%00.00%2487.61%3,259San Bernardino9,39839.92%11,93250.68%8053.42%1,4105.99%00.00%-2,534-10.76%23,545San Diego16,81546.02%16,97846.47%1,6124.41%1,1323.10%00.00%-163-0.45%36,537San Francisco78,22552.45%63,09342.30%6,4234.31%1,4040.94%70.00%15,13210.15%149,152San Joaquin11,45455.44%7,86138.05%7893.82%5572.70%00.00%3,59317.39%20,661San Luis Obispo3,53949.85%2,85440.20%5477.71%1592.24%00.00%6859.65%7,099San Mateo4,48543.08%5,20750.01%5405.19%1791.72%00.00%-722-6.93%10,411Santa Barbara5,19849.65%4,45342.54%4704.49%3473.31%10.01%7457.12%10,469Santa Clara14,18543.40%16,59250.77%1,0063.08%8872.71%110.03%-2,407-7.37%32,681Santa Cruz4,51147.76%4,22844.76%3834.05%3243.43%00.00%2833.00%9,446Shasta2,82852.39%2,00837.20%4498.32%1132.09%00.00%82015.19%5,398Sierra59458.35%36035.36%555.40%90.88%00.00%23422.99%1,018Siskiyou3,44757.15%2,05934.13%4176.91%1091.81%00.00%1,38823.01%6,032Solano5,67858.37%3,53636.35%3223.31%1921.97%00.00%2,14222.02%9,728Sonoma8,37743.35%9,73350.37%9214.77%2931.52%00.00%-1,356-7.02%19,324Stanislaus5,49046.98%4,40137.66%7296.24%1,0679.13%00.00%1,0899.32%11,687Sutter1,54353.52%1,21142.00%802.77%491.70%00.00%33211.52%2,883Tehama2,53452.92%1,73936.32%3346.98%1813.78%00.00%79516.60%4,788Trinity66154.81%42435.16%1048.62%171.41%00.00%23719.65%1,206Tulare7,29946.87%6,84543.96%8955.75%5333.42%00.00%4542.92%15,572Tuolumne1,58454.21%1,05736.17%2378.11%441.51%00.00%52718.04%2,922Ventura2,83539.30%3,98055.18%2603.60%1381.91%00.00%-1,145-15.87%7,213Yolo2,92253.12%2,33442.43%1673.04%781.42%00.00%58810.69%5,501Yuba1,98054.49%1,53042.10%932.56%310.85%00.00%45012.38%3,634Total 466,28946.65%462,51646.27%42,8984.29%27,7132.77%1870.02%3,7730.38%999,603
Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic Contra Costa Imperial Placer Plumas San Luis Obispo Santa Barbara Santa Cruz Stanislaus
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican Marin Mendocino Napa San Diego San Mateo Sonoma Ventura
Notes
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