University of Denver Spring 2026

Red and Blue America The 1880 presidential race between Republican James Garfield and Democrat Winfield Scott Hancock was among the most competitive elections in American history. Garfield’s slim majority was visualized and analyzed in this innovative electoral map, issued in 1883 by Superintendent of the Census Henry Gannett. As one of the first efforts to picture electoral returns at the local level, the map stunned viewers. (Note that while current conventions represent Democrats in blue and Republicans in red, here those colors are reversed.) Gannett relegated the electoral map to the small inset at the lower right, contrasting its clear outcome with the more nuanced results visible in the larger map of individual voting districts. For the first time, Americans were able to see the complexity of the political landscape.

“Popular Vote. Ratio of Predominant to Total Vote, by Counties. 1880.” In Henry Gannett and Fletcher W. Hewes, Scribner’s Statistical Atlas of the United States (New York: Scribner, 1883). 42 x 63 cm. Courtesy of Library of Congress.

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UNIVERSITY OF DENVER MAGAZINE | SPRING 2026