The 1884 United States presidential election in Michigan took place on November 4, 1884, as part of the 1884 United States presidential election. Voters chose 13 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
Benjamin Butler received the nominations of both the Greenback and Anti-Monopoly parties in Michigan. Butler initially hoped to organize fusion tickets with the minority party in each state in the election, a strategy designed to capitalize on the cross-partisan popularity of many elements of the candidate's program. The Greenbacks succeeded in negotiating fusion arrangements with the Democratic Party in Michigan, wherein they were balloted separately but shared 12 of the state's 13 electors. The fusion electors agreed to divide their votes between Butler and Democratic candidate Grover Cleveland in proportion to the statewide popular vote for each candidate, had their combined vote been sufficient to achieve a plurality in the state.
Michigan was won by the Republican nominee James G. Blaine over Cleveland and Butler in a close race by only 3,308 votes, a margin of less than 1%.
Barry and Newaygo counties have voted Democratic only once since this election, in 1964.
Results + General Election ResultsMichigan State Archives, Statement of Votes given in the State of Michigan, for thirteen Electors of President and Vice President of the United States for the State of Michigan, at the General Election held in the said State, on Tuesday, the Fourth day of November, in the year one thousand eight hundred and eighty fourParty Pledged to Elector Votes Republican Party James G. Blaine Dwight Cutler192,669 Republican Party James G. Blaine James McMillan192,641 Republican Party James G. Blaine George H. French192,625 Republican Party James G. Blaine Lorenzo A. Barker192,623 Republican Party James G. Blaine Charles W. Wells192,621 Republican Party James G. Blaine Josephus Smith192,618 Republican Party James G. Blaine George W. Jenks192,613 Republican Party James G. Blaine Seth McLean192,613 Republican Party James G. Blaine Joseph B. Moore192,597 Republican Party James G. Blaine William S. Wilcox192,565 Republican Party James G. Blaine John Duncan192,522 Republican Party James G. Blaine J. Eastman Johnson192,336 Republican Party James G. Blaine George G. Steketee192,128 Fusion Grover Cleveland Andrew Harshaw189,361 Fusion Grover Cleveland Herman Goeschel189,294 Fusion Grover Cleveland Aaron S. Dykeman189,290 Fusion Grover Cleveland Wildman Mills189,244 Fusion Grover Cleveland Frederick H. Carnahan189,152 Fusion Grover Cleveland John R. Savage188,654 Fusion Grover Cleveland Hiram O. Rose188,574 Fusion Grover Cleveland Alfred L. Millard188,554 Fusion Grover Cleveland William D. Thompson188,554 Fusion Grover Cleveland Alexander K. Kelsey188,479 Fusion Grover Cleveland William B. Moran187,924 Fusion Grover Cleveland John J. Watkins186,927 Democratic Party Grover Cleveland Jonathan W. Flanders149,835 Greenback Party Benjamin Butler Moses W. Field41,490 Prohibition Party John St. John John Russell18,403 Prohibition Party John St. John Oscar M. Brownson18,403 Prohibition Party John St. John Thomas A. Granger18,403 Prohibition Party John St. John Emory A. Richards18,402 Prohibition Party John St. John Samuel Dickey18,400 Prohibition Party John St. John Brent Harding18,400 Prohibition Party John St. John Darius H. Stone18,400 Prohibition Party John St. John Henry Davis18,398 Prohibition Party John St. John Frank B. Cressey18,389 Prohibition Party John St. John Guernsey P. Waring18,376 Prohibition Party John St. John Benjah W. Warren18,104 Prohibition Party John St. John George Atchison17,982 Prohibition Party John St. John Moses Mix17,740 Straight Butler Benjamin Butler Charles Benton753 Straight Butler Benjamin Butler Charles Benton746 Straight Butler Benjamin Butler Charles H. Stone716 Straight Butler Benjamin Butler Charles H. Williams706 Straight Butler Benjamin Butler John D. Cotharin550 Straight Butler Benjamin Butler Jonathan P. Hinshaw540 Write-in Scattering40 Blank46Votes cast 401,272
Results by county The fusion between the Democrats and Greenbackers presents difficulties when interpreting the results. On one hand, it would be easy to use the votes for Flanders and Field separately for Cleveland and Butler, respectively. This does cause Butler to appear to have run ahead of both Cleveland and Blaine in Arenac County, for instance. However, splitting the Cleveland and Butler votes in this manner masks how close the election actually was; the Republican electors only narrowly ran ahead of the 12 Fusion electors by about 3,300 votes. Using Flanders' figures for Cleveland makes it falsely appear that Blaine easily won the state by double digits. Additionally, the combined total for Flanders and Field exceeds that of the highest fusion elector (Harshaw), although it is still less than that of the lowest Republican elector (Steketee). The 1885 Michigan Manual lists the county results for all three of Harshaw, Flanders, and Field, with a note implying that the results for the latter two are to be interpreted separately from the rest. Based on the split between Democratic and Greenbacker vote, had the Fusion ticket been elected, the electoral votes from Michigan likely would have been nine for Cleveland, three for Butler, and one for Blaine. County James G. BlaineRepublican Grover ClevelandFusion John St. JohnProhibition Benjamin ButlerGreenback Margin Total votes cast # % # % # % # % # %Alcona54561.51%33938.26%10.11%10.11%20623.25%886Allegan4,08048.27%3,44540.75%92710.97%10.01%6357.51%8,453Alpena92743.87%1,12753.34%592.79%00.00%-200-9.47%2,113Antrim1,06658.44%72139.53%372.03%00.00%34518.91%1,824Arenac32331.95%60760.04%444.35%373.66%-284-28.09%1,011Baraga39656.33%30743.67%00.00%00.00%8912.66%703Barry2,69944.71%2,93748.65%4016.64%00.00%-238-3.94%6,037Bay2,91635.15%4,96359.83%1611.94%2553.07%-2,047-24.68%8,295Benzie55654.89%38037.51%777.60%00.00%17617.37%1,013Berrien4,44548.02%4,45848.16%3453.73%00.00%-13-0.14%9,256Branch3,67152.08%2,95841.96%4195.94%10.01%71310.11%7,049Calhoun5,11351.20%4,30943.15%5645.65%00.00%8048.05%9,986Cass2,76448.25%2,74447.90%2163.77%50.09%200.35%5,729Charlevoix1,04354.21%82542.88%562.91%00.00%21811.33%1,924Cheboygan77745.33%89752.33%402.33%00.00%-120-7.00%1,714Chippewa68651.12%63547.32%211.56%00.00%513.80%1,342Clare62246.21%68550.89%342.53%50.37%-63-4.68%1,346Clinton2,78244.03%3,22050.96%3154.98%20.03%-438-6.93%6,319Crawford30456.72%22341.60%91.68%00.00%8115.11%536Delta1,20166.13%60933.54%60.33%00.00%59232.60%1,816Eaton4,10649.37%3,71744.69%4945.94%00.00%3894.68%8,317Emmet77943.79%89550.31%1055.90%00.00%-116-6.52%1,779Genesee4,32848.14%3,65740.68%1,00511.18%00.00%6717.46%8,990Gladwin28855.49%21341.04%00.00%183.47%7514.45%519Grand Traverse1,64564.59%80831.72%943.69%00.00%83732.86%2,547Gratiot2,67646.99%2,73648.04%2834.97%00.00%-60-1.05%5,695Hillsdale4,31552.80%3,22239.43%6297.70%60.07%1,09313.37%8,172Houghton2,38357.90%1,69441.16%390.95%00.00%68916.74%4,116Huron1,35539.48%1,89855.30%1795.22%00.00%-543-15.82%3,432Ingham3,70942.36%4,56252.11%4725.39%120.14%-853-9.74%8,755Ionia3,55245.10%3,81448.43%5036.39%70.09%-262-3.33%7,876Iosco1,01652.83%86444.93%432.24%00.00%1527.90%1,923Isabella1,61748.78%1,61048.57%832.50%50.15%70.21%3,315Jackson4,80443.86%5,45249.78%6455.89%510.47%-648-5.92%10,952Kalamazoo4,51551.78%3,75043.00%4555.22%00.00%7658.77%8,720Kalkaska63060.93%36935.69%353.38%00.00%26125.24%1,034Kent9,00745.74%9,63948.95%1,0405.28%50.03%-632-3.21%19,691Keweenaw62074.43%20124.13%121.44%00.00%41950.30%833Lake95155.42%65638.23%1096.35%00.00%29517.19%1,716Lapeer3,06250.15%2,74144.89%2764.52%270.44%3215.26%6,106Leelanau81157.80%57140.70%211.50%00.00%24017.11%1,403Lenawee5,82746.63%5,57244.59%1,0978.78%10.01%2552.04%12,497Livingston2,59744.72%2,93850.59%2724.68%00.00%-341-5.87%5,807Mackinac47946.06%55853.65%30.29%00.00%-79-7.60%1,040Macomb2,78242.98%3,46453.51%2233.45%40.06%-682-10.54%6,473Manistee1,30538.46%1,92656.76%1624.77%00.00%-621-18.30%3,393Manitou1810.84%14889.16%00.00%00.00%-130-78.31%166Marquette4,23073.49%1,47825.68%480.83%00.00%2,75247.81%5,756Mason1,29950.49%1,21747.30%572.22%00.00%823.19%2,573Mecosta2,36553.76%1,84741.99%1874.25%00.00%51811.78%4,399Menominee2,61473.12%93626.18%250.70%00.00%1,67846.94%3,575Midland1,07153.36%88344.00%442.19%90.45%1889.37%2,007Missaukee47054.09%37342.92%262.99%00.00%9711.16%869Monroe3,02541.89%3,92054.29%2243.10%510.71%-895-12.39%7,221Montcalm3,85749.32%3,78848.43%1732.21%30.04%690.88%7,821Montmorency9338.91%13757.32%93.77%00.00%-44-18.41%239Muskegon3,48349.79%3,17145.33%3174.53%250.36%3124.46%6,996Newaygo1,97146.65%2,05148.54%2034.80%00.00%-80-1.89%4,225Oakland4,84245.03%5,38650.09%5224.85%30.03%-544-5.06%10,753Oceana1,63751.04%1,21337.82%35711.13%00.00%42413.22%3,207Ogemaw47849.48%47248.86%161.66%00.00%60.62%966Ontonagon30153.94%23341.76%244.30%00.00%6812.19%558Osceola1,49758.43%79230.91%27310.66%00.00%70527.52%2,562Oscoda19968.62%8730.00%41.38%00.00%11238.62%290Otsego48552.95%41044.76%212.29%00.00%758.19%916Ottawa3,75853.25%3,04943.21%2313.27%50.07%70910.05%7,057Presque Isle39463.65%22536.35%00.00%00.00%16927.30%619Roscommon42748.80%43549.71%20.23%111.26%-8-0.91%875Saginaw5,93944.68%7,04753.02%2051.54%1000.75%-1,108-8.34%13,291Sanilac1,92348.88%1,81746.19%1654.19%120.31%1062.69%3,934Schoolcraft51862.48%28934.86%222.65%00.00%22927.62%829Shiawassee2,70541.71%3,14148.43%6239.61%170.26%-436-6.72%6,486St. Clair4,01743.99%4,66851.12%3483.81%530.58%-651-7.13%9,132St. Joseph3,26146.89%3,55451.11%1331.91%60.09%-293-4.21%6,954Tuscola2,91449.73%2,62444.78%3225.49%00.00%2904.95%5,860Van Buren4,21956.11%2,93339.01%3614.80%60.08%1,28617.10%7,519Washtenaw4,04940.53%5,31553.20%6176.18%90.09%-1,266-12.67%9,990Wayne17,31544.46%20,93053.74%7031.80%00.00%-3,615-9.28%38,948Wexford1,22054.81%87639.35%1305.84%00.00%34415.45%2,226Total192,66948.01%189,36147.19%18,4034.59%7530.19%3,3080.82%401,272
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican Baraga Gladwin
Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic
Alpena Barry Bay Berrien Cheboygan Clare Clinton Emmet Gratiot Huron Ingham Ionia Jackson Kent Livingston Manistee Newaygo Oakland Shiawassee St. Clair St. Joseph Wayne
See also United States presidential elections in Michigan
Notes
References