Ohio had been a Republican state since 1856, but broke tradition due to the strong performance by the Progressive Party (also known as the Bull Moose Party) led by Theodore Roosevelt, which ultimately split the Republican vote. Theodore Roosevelt was able to gain 22.16 percent of the popular vote - though trailed the Republican Party nominee William Howard Taft, an Ohio native, who won 26.82% of the popular vote, and Wilson of the Democratic Party who won 40.96% of the popular vote. It marked Ohio's shift from a reliably Republican state to a bellwether state, as it would vote for the winning candidate in every presidential election thereafter except 1944, 1960, and 2020.