1916 Republican Party presidential primaries

1916 Republican Party presidential primaries

← 1912 February 9 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%
First place by first-instance vote[a] First place by convention roll call[b]      Hughes      Weeks      Root      Cummins      Burton      Fairbanks      Roosevelt      La Follette      Various[a][b]
Previous Republican nominee William Howard Taft Republican nominee Charles Evans Hughes

From February 9 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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