4,158 votes to 1,247 for Albert L. Cole. In this campaign P. M. Magnusson, of St. Cloud, was the Democratic candidate for secretary of state.
William J. Bryan for president in 1908 received 3,835 votes, while 2,614 were cast for William II. Taft. Governor Johnson, as a successful third-term candidate for governor, received 4,879 votes as against 1,881 for Jacob Jacobson, the Republican candidate.
The year 1910 saw Stearns county again going Republican, giving A. O. Eberhart 3,124 votes to 2,297 for James A. Gray, the Democratic candidate. This result was due to the fact that the latter was running on a county option platform, which was not popular with the party in this county.
In 1912 the vote on president was divided among three candidates—Woodrow Wilson, 3,378; W. H. Taft, 1,155; Theodore Roosevelt, 1,762. The vote for governor was: Peter U. Ringdahl, 3,137; A. O. Eberhard, 1,759; P. V. Collins (Progressive), 600.
The six gubernatorial candidates in the field in 1914 received votes as follows: Winfield S. Hammond, Democrat, 5,280; William F. Lee, Republican, 1,811; Tom J. Lewis, Socialist, 149; Willis C. Calderwood, Prohibition, 226; Hugh T. Halbert, Progressive, 40; Herbert Johnson, Industrial Labor, 96. THe vote on congressman was: J. A. DuBois, Democrat, 4,777; Chas A. Lindbergh, Republican, 2,029; Thomas Sharkey, Progressive, 303; O. M. Thomason, Socialist, 234.
The total vote in Stearns county in 1858, when the county was divided into nine towns, was 734. The following table shows the votes cast during the succeeding years by the two leading parties, with the total vote and the majority:
Year | Democratic | Republican | Total | Majority |
1859 | 660 | 375 | 1035 | 285 |
1860 | 494 | 438 | 932 | 56 |
1861 | 655 | 411 | 1066 | 244 |
1862 | 573 | 285 | 858 | 288 |
1863 | 630 | 319 | 949 | 311 |
1864 | 917 | 427 | 1344 | 490 |
1865 | 812 | 335 | 1147 | 477 |
1866 | 925 | 600 | 1525 | 325 |
1867 | 1336 | 794 | 2130 | 542 |
1868 | 1524 | 1030 | 2554 | 494 |
1869 | 1430 | 612 | 2042 | 818 |
1870 | 1238 | 560 | 1798 | 678 |
1871 | 1728 | 523 | 2251 | 1205 |
1872 | 1924 | 1127 | 3051 | 797 |
1873 | 1564 | 733 | 2297 | 831 |
1874 | 1993 | 915 | 2908 | 1078 |
1875 | 1885 | 677 | 2562 | 1208 |
1876 | 2413 | 1117 | 3530 | 1296 |
1877 | 2041 | 1051 | 3092 | 990 |
1878 | 2214 | 856 | 3070 | 1358 |