Of the Roosevelt delegates, 344 refused to vote so they would not be committed to the Republican ticket.[265][266] Black delegates from the South played a key role: they voted heavily for Taft and put him over the top.[267] La Follette hoped that a deadlocked convention would result in his own nomination, and refused to release his delegates to support Roosevelt.[265]

Roosevelt denounces the election
According to Lewis L. Gould, in 1912    Roosevelt saw Taft as the agent of "the forces of reaction and of political crookedness".... Roosevelt had become the most dangerous man in American history, said Taft, "because of his hold upon the less intelligent voters and the discontented."The Republican National Committee, dominated by the Taft forces, awarded 235 delegates to the president and 19 to Roosevelt, thereby ensuring Taft's renomination. Roosevelt believed himself entitled to 72 delegates from Arizona, California, Texas and Washington that had been given to Taft. 