Summary
This data collection contains a set of index numbers that can be used as measures of party strength at the polls and changes in party strength since 1872, the year of the second presidential election after the end of the Civil War. The file consists of statewide percentages of the actual vote won by Democratic, Republican, and other candidates/parties for the offices of president, governor, United States House of Representatives, and, beginning in 1914, the two Senate seats allocated to each state. The percentages for the Senate seats are designated according to the Senate class (I, II, or III) to which the particular race refers. Data are also presented for the presidential, gubernatorial, and senatorial vote percentages in biennial form, as achieved by averaging the percentages from the previous and following election. Sets of composite percentages are included as well: one set of composite numbers combines the data for all four offices, a second set combines the data for the three offices other than president, and a third set combines the data for senators and representatives in Congress. Biennial office data and composite data are also included for aggregate groupings of states. Regional data are provided for states grouped as Northeast, Middle West, South, and West. In addition, states are grouped based on party competitiveness between 1896 and 1930 as either predominantly Republican, predominantly Democratic, or competitive. Biennial office data and composite indices are also included for the nation as a whole.Cf: http://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR06895.v1