1816 United States presidential election in Ohio

A presidential election was held in Ohio on November 1, 1816 as part of the 1816 United States presidential election.^[1] The Democratic-Republican ticket of the U.S. secretary of state James Monroe and the governor of New York Daniel D. Tompkins defeated the Federalist ticket.^[2] The Federalist Party failed to nominate a candidate.^[3] In the national election, Monroe easily defeated the senior U.S. senator from New York Rufus King, who received 34 votes from unpledged electors despite not being a candidate.^[4]

General election

Summary

Ohio chose eight electors on a statewide general ticket. Original returns for the election have been lost. Contemporary newspapers state the Democratic-Republican candidates ran unopposed without providing exact figures.^[5] Beginning in 1891, the Ohio secretary of state included a table of past election returns in his Annual Report that records 3,326 votes for Monroe and 563 votes for King;^[6] these figures have been republished in subsequent editions of Ohio Election Statistics down to the present day. Although the Annual Report is notably imprecise, lacks county data, and omits the names and votes received by electors pledged to each ticket, it remains the most important source for the statewide popular vote in Ohio in 1816.^[7] Michael J. Dubin reprints the figures from the Annual Report for 1816 in his comprehensive study of the popular vote in presidential elections prior to 1860.^[2] Phil Lampi's A New Nation Votes project locates partial returns from two counties, but no statewide figures.^[8] This table follows the scholarly consensus to defer to the figures in Ohio Election Statistics, as corrected in the 1985–86 edition.

1816 United States presidential election in Ohio^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic-Republican	James Monroe Daniel D. Tompkins	3,326	84.87
	Federalist	Unpledged electors	593	15.13
Total votes			3,919	100.00

Results

1816 United States presidential election in Ohio^[b]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Democratic-Republican	Benjamin Hough	53
	Democratic-Republican	John Patterson	53
	Democratic-Republican	Abraham Shepherd	53
	Democratic-Republican	John G. Young	53
	Democratic-Republican	Aaron Wheeler	52
	Democratic-Republican	William Skinner	50
	Democratic-Republican	Othniel Looker	49
	Democratic-Republican	Joseph Vance	33
	Democratic-Republican	James Curry	20
	None	John H. Patch	12
	None	Reason Bell	6
	None	Jesup N. Couch	6
	None	Calvin Pease	6
	None	Benjamin Tappan	6
	None	Abraham Skinner	5
	None	Philemon Beecher	4
	None	Bezaleel Wells	4
	None	Francis Freeman	3
	None	Ethan Allen Brown	1
	None	William Patterson	1
	None	Thomas Worthington	1
Total			≥53

Results by county

County	James Monroe Democratic-Republican		Others		Margin		Total	Cit.
County	Votes	Percent	Votes	Percent	Votes	Percent	Total	Cit.
Adams	**		**		**		**
Ashtabula	**		**		**		**
Athens	**		**		**		**
Belmont	**		**		**		**
Butler	**		**		**		**
Champaign	**		**		**		**
Clermont	**		**		**		**
Clinton	**		**		**		**
Columbiana	**		**		**		**
Coshocton	8	100.00	—		8	100.00	8	^[8]
Cuyahoga	**		**		**		**
Delaware	**		**		**		**
Fairfield	**		**		**		**
Fayette	**		**		**		**
Franklin	**		**		**		**
Gallia	**		**		**		**
Geauga	**		**		**		**
Greene	**		**		**		**
Guernsey	**		**		**		**
Hamilton	**		**		**		**
Harrison	**		**		**		**
Highland	**		**		**		**
Huron	**		**		**		**
Jackson	**		**		**		**
Jefferson	**		**		**		**
Knox	**		**		**		**
Licking	**		**		**		**
Madison	**		**		**		**
Miami	**		**		**		**
Monroe	**		**		**		**
Montgomery	**		**		**		**
Muskingum	**		**		**		**
Pickaway	**		**		**		**
Pike	**		**		**		**
Portage	**		**		**		**
Preble	**		**		**		**
Richland	**		**		**		**
Ross	**		**		**		**
Scioto	**		**		**		**
Stark	**		**		**		**
Trumbull	12	66.67	6	33.33	6	33.34	18	^[8]
Tuscarawas	**		**		**		**
Warren	33	100.00	—		33	100.00	33	^[9]
Washington	**		**		**		**
Wayne	**		**		**		**
TOTAL	53	89.83	6	10.17	47	79.66	59

Electoral college

1816 United States Electoral College vote in Ohio^[4]
For President				For Vice President
Candidate	Party	Home state	Electoral vote	Candidate	Party	Home state	Electoral vote
James Monroe	Democratic-Republican	Virginia	8	Daniel D. Tompkins	Democratic-Republican	New York	8
Total			8	Total			8

References

^ No candidate formally nominated
^ Incomplete results based on partial returns from Coshocton, Trumbull,^[8] and Warren^[9] counties

^ State of Ohio (1816). Laws of Ohio [...]. n.p. p. 298.
^ ^a ^b ^c Dubin, Michael J. (2002). United States Presidential Elections, 1788–1860: The Official Results by County and State. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. p. 22.
^ Turner, Lynn W. (2002). "Elections of 1816 and 1820". In Schlesinger, Arthur M. Jr.; Israel, Fred L. (eds.). History of American Presidential Elections, 1789–2001. Vol. 1. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers. p. 307.
^ ^a ^b "1816 Electoral College Results". National Archives. Retrieved February 22, 2025.
^ "In the state of Ohio [...]". Daily National Intelligencer. November 18, 1816.
^ State of Ohio (1891). Annual Report of the Secretary of State to the Governor of the State of Ohio [...]. Columbus. p. 215.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^ Ratcliffe, Donald (1992). "The Mystery of Ohio's Missing Presidential Election Returns, 1804–1848". Archival Issues. 17 (2): 138–39.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Lampi, Philip J. "Ohio 1816 Electoral College". A New Nation Votes. American Antiquarian Society. Retrieved April 11, 2025.
^ ^a ^b The History of Warren County, Ohio [...]. Chicago. 1882. p. 592.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

[1] No candidate formally nominated

[11] Incomplete results based on partial returns from Coshocton, Trumbull,^[8] and Warren^[9] counties

[2] State of Ohio (1816). Laws of Ohio [...]. n.p. p. 298.

[Dubin-3] Dubin, Michael J. (2002). United States Presidential Elections, 1788–1860: The Official Results by County and State. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. p. 22.

[4] Turner, Lynn W. (2002). "Elections of 1816 and 1820". In Schlesinger, Arthur M. Jr.; Israel, Fred L. (eds.). History of American Presidential Elections, 1789–2001. Vol. 1. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers. p. 307.

[National-Archives-5] "1816 Electoral College Results". National Archives. Retrieved February 22, 2025.

[6] "In the state of Ohio [...]". Daily National Intelligencer. November 18, 1816.

[7] State of Ohio (1891). Annual Report of the Secretary of State to the Governor of the State of Ohio [...]. Columbus. p. 215.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

[8] Ratcliffe, Donald (1992). "The Mystery of Ohio's Missing Presidential Election Returns, 1804–1848". Archival Issues. 17 (2): 138–39.

[Lampi-9] Lampi, Philip J. "Ohio 1816 Electoral College". A New Nation Votes. American Antiquarian Society. Retrieved April 11, 2025.

[Warren-10] The History of Warren County, Ohio [...]. Chicago. 1882. p. 592.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

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