1916 Republican Party presidential primaries

1916 Republican Party presidential primaries

← 1912 March 7 to June 6, 1916 1920 →

987 delegates to the 1916 Republican National Convention
494 (majority) votes needed to win
 
Candidate Charles Evans Hughes John W. Weeks Elihu Root
Home state New York Massachusetts New York
Delegate count 253.5[c] 105[d] 103[e]
Contests won 2
Popular vote 80,737
Percentage 4.2%

 
Candidate Albert B. Cummins Theodore E. Burton Charles W. Fairbanks
Home state Iowa Ohio Indiana
Delegate count 85 77.5 74.5
Contests won 5 2 1
Popular vote 191,950 122,165 176,078
Percentage 10.0% 6.4% 9.2%

 
Candidate Theodore Roosevelt Robert M. La Follette
Home state New York Wisconsin
Delegate count 65 25
Contests won 1 2
Popular vote 80,019 133,426
Percentage 4.2% 6.9%

     Hughes      Weeks      Root      Cummins      Burton
     Fairbanks      Roosevelt      La Follette      Various[a][b]

Previous Republican nominee

William Howard Taft

Republican nominee

Charles Evans Hughes

From March 7 to June 6, through a series of primaries and caucuses, voters of the Republican Party elected delegates to the 1916 Republican National Convention, held June 7 to June 10, 1916, in Chicago, Illinois to choose the party's nominee for President of the United States. The delegate election process was inconclusive, with a majority of delegates not pledged to any candidate and a small plurality supporting Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Charles Evans Hughes. Hughes eventually secured the nomination at the convention on the third ballot.[1]

Several more conservative or progressive candidates received a large share of elected delegates. Conservatives split between Senator John W. Weeks, Senator Elihu Root, and former Vice President Charles W. Fairbanks. Progressives rallied behind Senator Albert Cummins, who dominated the primaries, Senator Robert M. La Follette, and former President Theodore Roosevelt, who returned to the party after fatally splitting it in the 1912 election. Neither faction consolidated behind any one candidate, and the moderate Hughes, acceptable to all parties, prevailed.


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  1. ^ Kalb, Deborah (2016-02-19). Guide to U.S. Elections - Google Books. CQ Press. ISBN 9781483380353. Retrieved 2016-02-19.