More than 1,000 Socialist candidates were elected to public office in the first two decades of the 20th century. They included two members of Congress, dozens of state legislators, and more than 130 mayors. These interactive maps identify 353 cities and towns that elected Socialist Party candidates, showing the offices held and identifying important office holders. Most of the information comes from The Socialist Party of America: A Complete History by Jack Ross supplement with contributions by Errol Wayne Stevens based on his dissertation: "Heartland Socialism: The Socialist Party of America in Four Midwestern Communities, 1898-1920," Indiana University, 1978. We have also added population and economic information about town and cities, allowing you to filter by population level as well as by state. Sources are explained below. The maps are hosted by Tableau Public and may take a few seconds to respond. If slow, refresh the page. Here are other Socialist Party maps.
Move between five maps and charts by selecting tabs below
Sources: Jack Ross, The Socialist Party of America: A Complete History (University of Nebraska Press, 2015); N.W. Ayer & Son's American Newspaper Annual and Directory (Philadelphia: 1912, 1913, 1914, 1916, 1917-18, 1920); Errol Wayne Stevens, "Heartland Socialism: The Socialist Party of America in Four Midwestern Communities, 1898-1920," (Ph.D. dissertation: Indiana University, 1978).James Weinstein, The Decline of Socialistm in America, 1912-1925.
This combination of interactive maps and charts track Socialist Party membership by state during the party's heyday from 1904 to 1919 and then from 1923 to 1940. Party membership reached a high of 113,000 in 1912. Advance the slide to see changing membership by year. Interactive controls allow you to compare particular states.
The SP secured over a million votes for congressional candidates in 1912 and large totals in other races as late as 1938. Here are seven maps and charts showing vote totals for Socialist Party candidates in each presidential, gubernatorial, and congressional election for each county and state.
This interactive map identifies 380 newspapers linked to the Socialist Party, providing detail about editors, circulation, and about the towns and cities where they were published.
This interactive map shows 353 cities and towns that elected Socialist Party candidates to public office, including mayors, congressmen, legislators, and many other offices, more than 1,000 in all.
These maps and charts zero in on regions and subregions, displaying county by county electoral support for socialist candidates for the Northeast, Midwest, Northwest, Southwest, and subregions of the South. They make it possible to follow hotspots of party support from election to election.
