1908 United States presidential election in Arkansas

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

Since 1890, Arkansas had been a classic Jim Crow Southern state in which most blacks and poor whites had been disfranchised by poll taxes. This would confine significant Republican Party politics to the two Unionist Ozark counties of Newton and Searcy that remained controlled by the GOP at a local level throughout the “Solid South” era.See Because the coinage of silver had been the dominant political issue apart from black disfranchisement ever since the poll tax was passed, the state would powerfully back “free silver” Democrat William Jennings Bryan in 1896. However, in the following elections disfranchisement affected poor whites more than blacks, with the result that the Republican Party became somewhat more competitive despite being still associated with Reconstruction. Bryan would later win Arkansas again in 1900. The GOP was helped in the earlier 1900s elections by the view that 1904 Democratic nominee Alton B. Parker had betrayed Bryan with his support for the gold standard.Bemko. From the new freedom to the New Deal (Thesis), p. 15

By October polls made it clear that Arkansas would stay firmly with the “Solid South”, and this is what was observed: indeed Bryan improved on Parker's 1904 margin, winning the state against William Howard Taft by a margin of 20.01% (up from Parker's 15.1% in 1904) despite the dislike of Bryan's retreat from free silver.

Results 1908 United States presidential election in ArkansasPartyCandidateVotesPercentageElectoral votes Democratic William Jennings Bryan 87,015 57.31% 9 Republican William Howard Taft 56,624 37.30% 0 Social Democratic Eugene V. Debs 5,842 3.85% 0 Prohibition Eugene W. Chafin 1,026 0.68% 0 Populist Thomas E. Watson 1,026 0.68% 0 Independence Thomas L. Hisgen 289 0.19% 0 Totals 151,822 100.00% 9 Voter turnout 40%

Results by county +1908 United States presidential election in Arkansas by county (.xlsx file for €30 including full minor party figures)County William Jennings BryanDemocratic William Howard TaftRepublican Eugene Victor DebsSocialist Various candidatesOther parties Margin Total votes cast # % # % # % # % # % Arkansas 937 56.04% 672 40.19% 42 2.51% 21 1.26% 265 15.85% 1,672 Ashley 1,100 55.25% 821 41.24% 45 2.26% 25 1.26% 279 14.01% 1,991 Baxter 607 62.19% 300 30.74% 64 6.56% 5 0.51% 307 31.45% 976 Benton 3,067 63.82% 1,527 31.77% 155 3.23% 57 1.19% 1,540 32.04% 4,806 Boone 1,149 60.25% 681 35.71% 64 3.36% 13 0.68% 468 24.54% 1,907 Bradley 906 71.96% 316 25.10% 30 2.38% 7 0.56% 590 46.86% 1,259 Calhoun 554 69.34% 234 29.29% 8 1.00% 3 0.38% 320 40.05% 799 Carroll 1,295 53.25% 1,051 43.22% 72 2.96% 14 0.58% 244 10.03% 2,432 Chicot 438 40.29% 644 59.25% 2 0.18% 3 0.28% -206 -18.95% 1,087 Clark 1,206 52.07% 1,007 43.48% 27 1.17% 76 3.28% 199 8.59% 2,316 Clay 1,527 56.35% 1,069 39.45% 106 3.91% 8 0.30% 458 16.90% 2,710 Cleburne 506 54.47% 294 31.65% 55 5.92% 74 7.97% 212 22.82% 929 Cleveland 771 61.48% 426 33.97% 39 3.11% 18 1.44% 345 27.51% 1,254 Columbia 1,613 65.57% 817 33.21% 9 0.37% 21 0.85% 796 32.36% 2,460 Conway 2,533 74.43% 818 24.04% 45 1.32% 7 0.21% 1,715 50.40% 3,403 Craighead 1,653 64.47% 711 27.73% 165 6.44% 35 1.37% 942 36.74% 2,564 Crawford 1,261 47.07% 1,339 49.98% 67 2.50% 12 0.45% -78 -2.91% 2,679 Crittenden 428 52.20% 382 46.59% 6 0.73% 4 0.49% 46 5.61% 820 Cross 705 55.38% 507 39.83% 59 4.63% 2 0.16% 198 15.55% 1,273 Dallas 721 50.17% 636 44.26% 33 2.30% 47 3.27% 85 5.92% 1,437 Desha 518 65.40% 263 33.21% 6 0.76% 5 0.63% 255 32.20% 792 Drew 1,123 60.44% 679 36.54% 40 2.15% 16 0.86% 444 23.90% 1,858 Faulkner 1,771 67.01% 740 28.00% 93 3.52% 39 1.48% 1,031 39.01% 2,643 Franklin 1,311 63.58% 565 27.40% 119 5.77% 67 3.25% 746 36.18% 2,062 Fulton 741 62.69% 366 30.96% 63 5.33% 12 1.02% 375 31.73% 1,182 Garland 1,340 52.04% 1,105 42.91% 105 4.08% 25 0.97% 235 9.13% 2,575 Grant 524 74.64% 160 22.79% 16 2.28% 2 0.28% 364 51.85% 702 Greene 1,606 71.60% 549 24.48% 82 3.66% 6 0.27% 1,057 47.12% 2,243 Hempstead 1,779 55.09% 1,346 41.68% 27 0.84% 77 2.38% 433 13.41% 3,229 Hot Spring 833 53.19% 686 43.81% 23 1.47% 24 1.53% 147 9.39% 1,566 Howard 967 55.86% 610 35.24% 83 4.79% 71 4.10% 357 20.62% 1,731 Independence 1,529 57.61% 948 35.72% 109 4.11% 68 2.56% 581 21.89% 2,654 Izard 873 64.00% 392 28.74% 53 3.89% 46 3.37% 481 35.26% 1,364 Jackson 1,055 51.77% 864 42.39% 101 4.96% 18 0.88% 191 9.37% 2,038 Jefferson 1,585 50.72% 1,386 44.35% 125 4.00% 29 0.93% 199 6.37% 3,125 Johnson 1,164 62.35% 544 29.14% 140 7.50% 19 1.02% 620 33.21% 1,867 Lafayette 739 56.37% 552 42.11% 4 0.31% 16 1.22% 187 14.26% 1,311 Lawrence 1,188 64.78% 583 31.79% 59 3.22% 4 0.22% 605 32.99% 1,834 Lee 1,182 75.33% 354 22.56% 29 1.85% 4 0.25% 828 52.77% 1,569 Lincoln 389 66.95% 159 27.37% 16 2.75% 17 2.93% 230 39.59% 581 Little River 660 53.35% 435 35.17% 105 8.49% 37 2.99% 225 18.19% 1,237 Logan 1,716 57.62% 1,151 38.65% 88 2.96% 23 0.77% 565 18.97% 2,978 Lonoke 1,385 67.33% 592 28.78% 30 1.46% 50 2.43% 793 38.55% 2,057 Madison 1,441 47.01% 1,541 50.28% 69 2.25% 14 0.46% -100 -3.26% 3,065 Marion 705 60.83% 370 31.92% 81 6.99% 3 0.26% 335 28.90% 1,159 Miller 1,035 56.19% 722 39.20% 36 1.95% 49 2.66% 313 16.99% 1,842 Mississippi 930 41.10% 1,167 51.57% 155 6.85% 11 0.49% -237 -10.47% 2,263 Monroe 912 46.01% 1,022 51.56% 41 2.07% 7 0.35% -110 -5.55% 1,982 Montgomery 553 46.59% 522 43.98% 87 7.33% 25 2.11% 31 2.61% 1,187 Nevada 890 45.32% 784 39.92% 47 2.39% 243 12.37% 106 5.40% 1,964 Newton 377 37.74% 582 58.26% 36 3.60% 4 0.40% -205 -20.52% 999 Ouachita 1,166 43.20% 1,505 55.76% 14 0.52% 14 0.52% -339 -12.56% 2,699 Perry 608 54.14% 445 39.63% 65 5.79% 5 0.45% 163 14.51% 1,123 Phillips 1,194 74.91% 393 24.65% 3 0.19% 4 0.25% 801 50.25% 1,594 Pike 568 47.22% 601 49.96% 21 1.75% 13 1.08% -33 -2.74% 1,203 Poinsett 843 64.11% 462 35.13% 2 0.15% 8 0.61% 381 28.97% 1,315 Polk 824 49.70% 628 37.88% 165 9.95% 41 2.47% 196 11.82% 1,658 Pope 1,664 64.75% 811 31.56% 78 3.04% 17 0.66% 853 33.19% 2,570 Prairie 1,103 55.88% 812 41.13% 41 2.08% 18 0.91% 291 14.74% 1,974 Pulaski 3,893 50.33% 3,533 45.68% 228 2.95% 81 1.05% 360 4.65% 7,735 Randolph 1,348 70.35% 517 26.98% 28 1.46% 23 1.20% 831 43.37% 1,916 Saline 899 66.94% 369 27.48% 53 3.95% 22 1.64% 530 39.46% 1,343 Scott 893 55.92% 481 30.12% 175 10.96% 48 3.01% 412 25.80% 1,597 Searcy 597 42.89% 636 45.69% 141 10.13% 18 1.29% -39 -2.80% 1,392 Sebastian 3,035 52.90% 2,050 35.73% 620 10.81% 32 0.56% 985 17.17% 5,737 Sevier 1,073 57.75% 526 28.31% 199 10.71% 60 3.23% 547 29.44% 1,858 Sharp 940 69.89% 317 23.57% 78 5.80% 10 0.74% 623 46.32% 1,345 St. Francis 619 41.91% 755 51.12% 80 5.42% 23 1.56% -136 -9.21% 1,477 Stone 496 61.92% 267 33.33% 34 4.24% 4 0.50% 229 28.59% 801 Union 1,407 71.60% 535 27.23% 11 0.56% 12 0.61% 872 44.38% 1,965 Van Buren 797 50.64% 667 42.38% 39 2.48% 71 4.51% 130 8.26% 1,574 Washington 2,748 58.36% 1,704 36.19% 185 3.93% 72 1.53% 1,044 22.17% 4,709 White 1,718 57.88% 887 29.89% 176 5.93% 187 6.30% 831 28.00% 2,968 Woodruff 1,046 56.18% 752 40.39% 51 2.74% 13 0.70% 294 15.79% 1,862 Yell 1,743 58.16% 1,040 34.70% 194 6.47% 20 0.67% 703 23.46% 2,997Totals87,02057.31%56,68437.33%5,8423.85%2,2991.51%30,33619.98%151,845

See also United States presidential elections in Arkansas

References