1908 United States presidential election in Kansas
The 1908 United States presidential election in Kansas was held on November 3, 1908 as part of the 1908 United States presidential election. Kansas voters chose ten electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
In its first thirty years as a state Kansas had been powerfully Republican, but with the Populist movement and major agricultural crises the state turned to James B. Weaver in 1892 and William Jennings Bryan in 1896; however, President William McKinley won a rematch with Bryan in 1900. With the return to a conservative “Gold Democrat” candidate in 1904, Kansas reverted to rock-solid Republican as Alton Brooks Parker failed to carry a single county in the state against Theodore Roosevelt.
For 1908, William Jennings Bryan – the only Democrat so far to win the state in a Presidential election – was nominated for a third time. However, at the beginning of October predictions suggested that not enough of the Bryan voters who deserted Parker would return to enable the “Commoner” to emulate his success of 1896. Bryan did tour Kansas late in his campaign at the beginning of November, but the fact that Kansas’ local Republicans were supportive of Taft's plan to guarantee bank deposits for all customers via the state treasurer meant that the state was always in Taft's hands. The GOP nominee would ultimately carry Kansas by 9.60%, an improvement of over 2% upon McKinley's 1900 result and of 13.26% upon the Republican result from 1896.Full results
Results by county
