1912 United States elections

The 1912 United States elections elected the members of the 63rd United States Congress, occurring during the Fourth Party System. Amidst a division between incumbent Republican President William Howard Taft and former Republican President Theodore Roosevelt, the Democratic Party won the Presidency and both chambers of Congress, the first time they accomplished that feat since the 1892 elections.

1912 United States elections

← 1910          1911          1912          1913          1914 → Presidential election year
Election day	November 5
Incumbent president	William Howard Taft (Republican)
Next Congress	63rd
Presidential election
Partisan control	Democratic gain
Popular vote margin	Democratic +14.4%
Electoral vote
Woodrow Wilson (D)	435
Theodore Roosevelt (P)	88
William Howard Taft (R)	8
1912 presidential election results. Red denotes states won by Taft, blue denotes states won by Wilson, and light green denotes states won by Roosevelt. Numbers indicate the electoral votes won by each candidate.
Senate elections
Overall control	Democratic gain
Seats contested	32 of 96 seats[1]
Net seat change	Democratic +4[2]
1912 Senate results   Democratic gain   Democratic hold   Republican gain   Republican hold
House elections
Overall control	Democratic Hold
Seats contested	All 435 voting members
Net seat change	Democratic +62[2]
Gubernatorial elections
Seats contested	33
Net seat change	Democratic +4
1912 gubernatorial election results   Democratic gain   Democratic hold   Republican gain   Republican hold

In the Presidential election, Democratic Governor Woodrow Wilson of New Jersey defeated Republican President William Howard Taft and former president and Progressive Party nominee Theodore Roosevelt.[3] Socialist union leader Eugene Debs, running his fourth campaign, took six percent of the vote.[3] At the 1912 Democratic National Convention, Wilson took the nomination on the 46th ballot, defeating Speaker Champ Clark and several other candidates. Roosevelt left the Republican Party after an unsuccessful challenge to Taft at the 1912 Republican National Convention. Though Wilson carried just over 40% of the popular vote, he dominated the electoral college and won a greater share of the electoral vote than any candidate since Ulysses S. Grant in 1872. Wilson's election made him the first Democratic president since Grover Cleveland. Roosevelt's candidacy finished second in the popular vote and the electoral college, the only time a third party candidate accomplished either feat.

Following the 1910 census, 41 seats were added to the House, setting the House at its current number of 435 seats.[4] Democrats made major gains in the House, further strengthening their majority, while the new Progressive Party won ten seats.[5]

In the last Senate election before the ratification of the 17th Amendment, Democrats made moderate gains and won control of the chamber for the first time since the 1892 election.[6]