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The American Political Almanac
RECONSTRUCTION & THE GILDED AGETHE SYSTEM OF 1896THE NEW DEAL ORDERTHE LONG REALIGNMENTPOLARIZED ERA1868RRRRD1888RDRRR1908RDDRR1928RDDDD1948DRRDD1968RRDRR1988RDDRR2008DDRD2024R
Eugene V. Debs

Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Third party · 1855–1926

Eugene V. Debs

member of the Indiana House of Representatives · municipal clerk

Eugene Victor Debs was an American socialist activist and trade unionist. He was one of the founding members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and a five-time candidate of the Socialist Party of America for President of the United States; through his presidential candidacies as well as his work with labor movements, Debs eventually became one of the best-known socialists living in the United States.

On the Ballot

4 presidential runs
1904Lost3.0% of the vote · 0 EV · v. Theodore Roosevelt

Strongest counties, 1904

Countythird-party sharevotes
Johnson, GA53.1%674
Jefferson, GA49.7%992
Jackson, GA45.9%2,698
Oconee, GA45.9%549
Douglas, GA43.6%644

Weakest counties, 1904

Countythird-party sharevotes
Chicot, AR0.0%1,045
Lee, AR0.0%3,251
Dougherty, GA0.0%520
Letcher, KY0.0%1,365
Assumption, LA0.0%752

County returns lump all third-party tickets together — these are the counties where the combined third-party vote ran strongest, a proxy for the 1904 insurgency.

1908Lost2.8% of the vote · 0 EV · v. William Howard Taft

Strongest counties, 1908

Countythird-party sharevotes
McDuffie, GA64.3%510
Johnson, GA54.7%655
Warren, GA44.8%587
Colquitt, GA39.1%846
Lee, FL36.6%533

Weakest counties, 1908

Countythird-party sharevotes
Autauga, AL0.0%752
Bullock, AL0.0%792
Wilcox, AL0.0%1,029
Fannin, GA0.0%1,101
Menifee, KY0.0%1,284

County returns lump all third-party tickets together — these are the counties where the combined third-party vote ran strongest, a proxy for the 1908 insurgency.

1912Lost6.0% of the vote · 0 EV · v. Woodrow Wilson

Strongest counties, 1912

Countythird-party sharevotes
Scott, TN82.8%1,645
Campbell, SD80.4%766
Clearwater, MN77.3%1,095
Avery, NC72.8%1,307
Lincoln, SD71.5%2,521

Weakest counties, 1912

Countythird-party sharevotes
Hampton, SC0.0%631
Marlboro, SC0.0%719
Bamberg, SC0.2%620
Starr, TX0.2%928
Darlington, SC0.2%885

County returns lump all third-party tickets together — these are the counties where the combined third-party vote ran strongest, a proxy for the 1912 insurgency.

1920Lost3.4% of the vote · 0 EV · v. Warren G. Harding

Strongest counties, 1920

Countythird-party sharevotes
Lamoille, VT83.8%2,803
Grand Isle, VT72.5%1,287
Bennington, VT72.3%5,836
Austin, TX61.8%2,894
Bay, FL58.2%2,055

Weakest counties, 1920

Countythird-party sharevotes
Conecuh, AL0.0%1,504
Dallas, AL0.0%2,780
Lowndes, AL0.0%733
Marengo, AL0.0%1,412
Winston, AL0.0%3,344

County returns lump all third-party tickets together — these are the counties where the combined third-party vote ran strongest, a proxy for the 1920 insurgency.