The 1848 United States presidential election in Wisconsin was held on November 7, 1848, as part of the 1848 United States presidential election. It was the first presidential election held in Wisconsin since its admission to the Union on May 29, earlier the same year. Democratic candidate Lewis Cass won the state with 38% of the vote, carrying the state's 4 electoral votes.
With 26.41% of the popular vote, Wisconsin would prove to be Van Buren's third strongest state after Vermont and Massachusetts.
The 1848 election began a trend in Wisconsin where the state would vote the same as neighboring Iowa, as the two states have voted in lockstep with each other on all but 6 occasions - 1892, 1924, 1940, 1976, 2004, and 2020. This was the last time until 1988 that Wisconsin would back a losing Democrat in a presidential election.
Participating in its first presidential election, Portage County would ultimately be carried by the statewide winner in every election until 1916. Meanwhile, Winnebago County would not vote for the statewide loser again until 1924.
Results + General Election ResultsWisconsin Historical Society, Abstract of votes cast at an Election held in the State of Wisconsin, on Tuesday, the seventh day of November, in the year A.D. 1848Party Pledged to Elector Votes Democratic Party Lewis Cass Francis Huebschman14,924 Democratic Party Lewis Cass William Dinwiddie14,910 Democratic Party Lewis Cass David F. Maples14,886 Democratic Party Lewis Cass Samuel P. Nichols14,767 Whig Party Zachary Taylor James Maxwell13,642 Whig Party Zachary Taylor Rufus King13,642 Whig Party Zachary Taylor Jacob J. Enos13,634 Whig Party Zachary Taylor Harrison Reed13,632 Free Soil Party Martin Van Buren David Giddings10,261 Free Soil Party Martin Van Buren James D. Reymert10,257 Free Soil Party Martin Van Buren Erastus B. Wolcott10,257 Free Soil Party Martin Van Buren Edward A. Tappan10,254 Write-in Scattering32Votes cast 38,859
Results by county County Lewis CassDemocratic Zachary TaylorWhig Martin Van BurenFree Soil ScatteringWrite-in Margin Total votescast # % # % # % # % # %Brown30955.48%24844.52%00.00%00.00%6110.95%557Calumet7951.30%6542.21%106.49%00.00%149.09%154Columbia14523.62%30349.35%16627.04%00.00%-137-22.31%614Crawfor21563.99%10932.44%123.57%00.00%10631.55%336Dane75739.32%72437.61%44323.01%10.05%331.71%1,925Dodge79740.64%52726.87%63732.48%00.00%1608.16%1,961Fond du Lac48333.87%44631.28%49734.85%00.00%-14-0.98%1,426Grant1,14839.03%1,64956.07%1444.90%00.00%-501-17.04%2,941Green39133.79%47941.40%28724.81%00.00%-88-7.61%1,157Iowa84845.84%88447.78%1186.38%00.00%-36-1.95%1,850Jefferson84039.72%71333.71%56226.57%00.00%1276.00%2,115Lafayette1,10553.72%92144.77%311.51%00.00%1848.95%2,057Manitowoc15951.46%7624.60%7022.65%41.29%8326.86%309Marquette17430.96%21438.08%17430.96%00.00%-40-7.12%562Milwaukee2,15054.21%1,19030.01%62615.78%00.00%96024.21%3,966Portage22551.02%21648.98%00.00%00.00%92.04%441Racine64418.50%90425.96%1,93055.43%40.11%-1,026-29.47%3,482Rock49115.65%1,30041.43%1,33842.64%90.29%-38-1.21%3,138Sauk15833.91%14931.97%15934.12%00.00%-1-0.21%466Sheboygan44244.69%37237.61%17517.69%00.00%707.08%989St. Croix6757.26%3731.62%10.85%1210.26%3025.64%117Walworth55019.30%80428.21%1,49452.42%20.07%-690-24.21%2,850Washington1,72071.70%35514.80%32413.51%00.00%1,36556.90%2,399Waukesha96334.75%80629.09%1,00236.16%00.00%-39-1.41%2,771Winnebago22229.92%30040.43%22029.65%00.00%-78-10.51%742Total14,92438.41%13,64235.11%10,26126.41%320.08%1,2823.30%38,859
See also United States presidential elections in Wisconsin
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