1880  1884 Presidential Election Returns  1888

President Chester A. Arthur had taken office upon the assasination of James A. Garfield. In the 1884 election cycle, the issue of character was first and foremost in the minds of the voters. Republicans had nominated Maine Senator James G. Blaine, passing up President Arthur due to anger over his civil service reforms. He was marred by scandal in which it was thought that Blaine had sold his influence in Congress and accepted ethically dubious money. This was found in the Mulligan Letters, which indicated that he had accepted bribes. On the other hand, New York Governor Grover Cleveland, who was nominated by the Democrats, was known to ethically good by many who perceived that he helped to clean up corruption. A good example was Cleveland's effort to clean up Tammany Hall. But then it was discovered that Cleveland illegitimately fathered a child. Cleveland admitted to the scandal and came clean. But the attacks on the characters of the candidates kept coming. In the end, it was a very close election. Cleveland carried New York by just a tiny fraction of the vote, and it decided the election in his favor. The next election with a state this close would come in 2000! UNITED STATES VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Cleveland/Hendricks 4,914,482 49 219 Blaine/Logan + 4,856,903 48 182 St. John/Daniel 147,482 2 0 Butler/West 134,294 1 0 All Other Candidates 3,576 0 0 ALABAMA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Blaine/Logan + 59,444 39 0 Cleveland/Hendricks 92,736 60 10 ARKANSAS VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Blaine/Logan + 51,198 39 0 Cleveland/Hendricks 72,734 58 7 CALIFORNIA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Blaine/Logan + 102,369 52 8 Cleveland/Hendricks 89,288 45 0 COLORADO VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Blaine/Logan + 36,084 54 3 Cleveland/Hendricks 27,723 42 0 CONNECTICUT VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Blaine/Logan + 65,898 48 0 Cleveland/Hendricks 67,182 49 6 DELAWARE VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Blaine/Logan + 12,953 43 0 Cleveland/Hendricks 16,957 57 3 FLORIDA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Blaine/Logan + 28,031 47 0 Cleveland/Hendricks 31,769 53 4 GEORGIA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Blaine/Logan + 48,603 34 0 Cleveland/Hendricks 94,667 66 12 ILLINOIS VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Blaine/Logan + 337,469 50 22 Cleveland/Hendricks 312,351 46 0 INDIANA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Blaine/Logan + 238,489 48 0 Cleveland/Hendricks 245,005 49 15 IOWA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Blaine/Logan + 197,089 52 13 Cleveland/Hendricks 177,316 47 0 KANSAS VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Blaine/Logan + 154,406 58 9 Cleveland/Hendricks 90,132 34 0 Butler/West 16,346 6 0 KENTUCKY VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Blaine/Logan + 118,690 43 0 Cleveland/Hendricks 152,961 55 13 LOUISIANA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Blaine/Logan + 46,347 42 0 Cleveland/Hendricks 62,594 57 8 MAINE VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Blaine/Logan + 72,217 55 6 Cleveland/Hendricks 52,153 40 0 MARYLAND VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Blaine/Logan + 85,748 46 0 Cleveland/Hendricks 96,866 52 8 MASSACHUSETTS VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Blaine/Logan + 146,724 48 14 Cleveland/Hendricks 122,352 40 0 Butler/West 24,382 8 0 MICHIGAN VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Blaine/Logan + 192,669 48 13 Cleveland/Hendricks 189,361 47 0 St. John/Daniel 18,403 5 0 MINNESOTA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Blaine/Logan + 111,685 59 7 Cleveland/Hendricks 70,065 37 0 MISSISSIPPI VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Blaine/Logan + 43,035 36 0 Cleveland/Hendricks 77,653 64 9 MISSOURI VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Blaine/Logan + 203,081 46 0 Cleveland/Hendricks 236,023 53 17 NEBRASKA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Blaine/Logan + 76,912 57 5 Cleveland/Hendricks 54,391 41 0 NEVADA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Blaine/Logan + 7,193 56 3 Cleveland/Hendricks 5,578 44 0 NEW HAMPSHIRE VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Blaine/Logan + 43,254 51 4 Cleveland/Hendricks 39,198 46 0 NEW JERSEY VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Blaine/Logan + 123,440 47 0 Cleveland/Hendricks 127,798 49 9 NEW YORK VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Blaine/Logan + 562,005 48 0 Cleveland/Hendricks 563,154 48 36 NORTH CAROLINA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Blaine/Logan + 125,021 47 0 Cleveland/Hendricks 142,905 53 11 OHIO VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Blaine/Logan + 400,082 51 23 Cleveland/Hendricks 368,280 47 0 OREGON VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Blaine/Logan + 26,860 51 3 Cleveland/Hendricks 24,604 47 0 PENNSYLVANIA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Blaine/Logan + 478,804 53 30 Cleveland/Hendricks 392,785 43 0 RHODE ISLAND VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Blaine/Logan + 19,030 58 4 Cleveland/Hendricks 12,391 38 0 SOUTH CAROLINA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Blaine/Logan + 21,730 23 0 Cleveland/Hendricks 69,845 75 9 TENNESSEE VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Blaine/Logan + 124,101 48 0 Cleveland/Hendricks 133,770 51 12 TEXAS VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Blaine/Logan + 93,141 29 0 Cleveland/Hendricks 225,309 69 13 VERMONT VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Blaine/Logan + 39,514 67 4 Cleveland/Hendricks 17,331 29 0 VIRGINIA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Blaine/Logan + 139,356 49 0 Cleveland/Hendricks 145,491 51 12 WEST VIRGINIA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Blaine/Logan + 63,096 48 0 Cleveland/Hendricks 67,311 51 6 WISCONSIN VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Blaine/Logan + 161,135 50 11 Cleveland/Hendricks 146,453 46 0 SYMBOLS KEY Republican Democratic Prohibition Socialist Socialist Labor Greenback Populist Other Winner * Incumbent + Incumbent Party