(Thread) Interesting factoids about presidential elections.

[morgankingsley]

If Trump lost Florida, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsalvania, he would have been the third person to lose with more states

[morgankingsley]

All twelve counties outside Maine that voted for Perot in 1992 (including Morris County, Kansas) voted for Dole four years later.
All three Perot counties in Maine, however, voted for Clinton in 1996.

THAT IS TRIPPY

[morgankingsley]

Nixon's margin in Mississippi 1972 was bigger percent wise than McGovern had in dc.

[morgankingsley]

In each of 1980, 1984, and 1988, the GOP carried all nine US Census Bureau regions of the country (New England, Mid Atlantic, South Atlantic, East South Central, West South Central, East North Central, West North Central, Mountain, and Pacific).

In other words, the Dems did not carry a single one of the nine regions in the entire decade of the 1980s.

Going back to 1912, the only other times one party has carried all nine regions were 1932 and 1936 (Dem) and 1972 (GOP).

Did Wilson carry all 9 in 1912?

Which one did Dukakis come closest to getting in 1988

[morgankingsley]

Now that we are deep on the topic of regions, which states count as which in terms of region

[morgankingsley]

I didn't even know Nixon was inagurated on a Monday. Interesting

One more question about the regions: Was there any region Mondale got at least 45 percent in 1984?

[morgankingsley]

The 2012 election is the only election since 1980 in which the republican lost the election by less than 5 percent in the pv as well as lose the election while getting at least 200 electoral votes

[morgankingsley]

Woodrow Wilson in 1912 had the largest percent popular vote margin of any candidate who did not earn a majority of the popular vote. At the time in 1912, it was the third largest since 1824

[morgankingsley]

I know there is a separate thread about this fact and that it was probably mentioned once or twice already, but I like this fact so whatever. 1976 was the last time the democrat won more counties and 1896 was the last time the democrat won more counties but the republican won anyways

[morgankingsley]

Coolidge only won 6 more counties than LaFollete in Minnesota, and a swing of 54 votes would have given LaFollette more counties than Coolidge in Minnesota (44 LaFollete to 43 Coolidge) despite losing by nearly 10 percent statewide

[morgankingsley]

1976 was the first time in American history where both candidates eventually would become the longest lived president in the history of the United States. Gerald Ford held the record from November 2006 to November 2017. Jimmy Carter got the record in March 22 2019. Only once has this happened since, in 1980, which also involved Carter

[morgankingsley]

Despite winning every county in Massachusetts in 2000, Al Gore is the only democrat since 1996 to not get at least 60 percent of the vote in the state

Speaking of Massachusetts, it is also one of only six states that neither McCain nor Obama won in the primaries.

And one more about Massachusetts. In both 1980 and 1984, it was the closest state that Ronald Reagan won, and on both elections, would have turned to Mondale and Carter with ease had he been a worse campaigner

[morgankingsley]

If Virginia and West Virginia never split, Trump's raw vote margin in West Virginia would have been enough to overcome the margin of defeat in Virginia, granting Trump the 13 electoral votes of Virginia

[morgankingsley]

If Virginia and West Virginia never split, Trump's raw vote margin in West Virginia would have been enough to overcome the margin of defeat in Virginia, granting Trump the 13 electoral votes of Virginia

West Virginia would have handed Virginia to Mitt Romney in 2012 as well, if I am not mistaken. Ironically, Bill Clinton would have won the unified state in 1996, because of his strength in West Virginia (which he won 52-37% over Bob Dole that year). Dole won Virginia itself 47-45%. Jimmy Carter also would have won the unified Virginia in 1976.

You are right, it would tip Virginia to Romney. Interesting how there are four times when Virginia is tipped because of West, but I don't know of a single time west gets tipped because of regular virginia

[morgankingsley]

Buren in 1848 and Perot in 1992 are the only two cases I can think of where a candidate won no states but got over ten percent of the vote, although Douglas got extremely close to doing so in 1860

[morgankingsley]

A loss of about 14000 votes in Hawaii and Ohio would have made Jimmy Carter the second candidate in history to obtain a absolute majority of the popular vote and still lose. The first being in 1876, one hundred years prior, with a fellow democrat, who won a majority of the southern states as well, with one state deciding his defeat compared to two with Carter, and both having the major state that decided their elections being decided by less than one percent, and in both elections, Ohio was one of the two closest states.

If something this similar happens again in 2076, then I will coin this as the "76 curse" along with my "Massachusetts curse" where a Massachusetts candidate challenges the incumbent party and loses (which if it happens this year with Warren will be the fourth time in 32 years)

*Also just realized in both years, the republican got 48 percent

[morgankingsley]

Also I realized something kind of mindblowing to myself but probably eye rolling to anybody else: How rare it used to be for two consecutive term presidencies.

We have Washington, jefferson, Madison, Monroe and Jackson. Five of our first seven

Then we had Lincoln get a second term, but died, so doesnt count

Grant served two full terms, the first time in 40 years

Then hayes, Garfield and Arthur happened

You get Cleveland, Harrison, and Cleveland. So he served two full terms but not consecutive, so doesnt count

McKinley and Roosevely combined served three terms, but both only served one term and several months, so doesnt count, even when McKinley was elected twice

Wilson was elected twice, and served both, so he counts, first time in 40 years

Harding died, Coolidge got one term plus several months, Hoover got one term, Roosevelt got three and several months, and Truman got one and several months

Eisenhower was elected twice, and served both, so hes our first two term in again 40 years, that's three presidents in 120 years who served exactly two full terms

Kennedy died three years in, Johnson served five years, Nixon was elected twice but didnt serve both, Ford wasn't elected, and Carter only once

Then we have Reagan, who was the first to serve two full terms in 28 years, so that's four out of 148 years

then we finally got a streak going with Clinton, Bush, Obama, and maybe even trump.

So out of our 45 presidencies, only 12 were two full consecutive terms, which is less than thirty percent, and eight of which have been either crammed at the start or the end of our current history, with only four extra thrown in between

[morgankingsley]

Until 2016, Henry Wallace was the only person to get in fourth place and still get over a million votes

[morgankingsley]

I always was intriguied by the fact that Obama was the first president since FDR to do worse in both popular and electoral vote in his re-election, while also being the first since Reagan to win a majority both times

[morgankingsley]

Also if Trump wins election this year, and loses the popular vote, he will be the first president to ever win two terms despite never winning the popular vote

[morgankingsley]

If carter won in 1980, he would have had a extremely high chance of being the only president to win the popular vote the first time but not the second

[morgankingsley]

Donald Trump in 2016 was the first person to win the presidency, but lose their home state since Woodrow Wilson, exactly one hundred years prior

[morgankingsley]

Hillary Clinton has the most votes for a candidate who did not win the electoral vote

Coincidentally, Donald trump from the same election has also the most raw votes for a candidate who did not win the popular vote

[morgankingsley]

Donald Trump and Joe Biden are the only two people to hit the 70 million mark

[morgankingsley]

Jo jorgeson got third place in every single state in the entire country