1937 Virginia gubernatorial election

none related races 1937 United States gubernatorial elections January 2025 September 2023 1937 Virginia gubernatorial election Virginia presidential no 1933 Virginia gubernatorial election 1933 1941 Virginia gubernatorial election 1941 November 2, 1937 1931 File:James H Price 1922 square.jpg 150x150px James H. Price Democratic Party (United States) 124,145 82.8% File:J Powell Royall 1912.jpg J. Powell Royall Republican Party (United States) 23,670 15.8% 1937 Virginia gubernatorial election results map by county.svg 300px County and independent city resultsPrice: #7996e2 50–60% #6674de 60–70% #584cde 70–80% #3933e5 80–90% #0d056c >90%Royall: #e27f7f 50–60% Governor George C. Peery Democratic Party (United States) James H. Price Democratic Party (United States) The 1937 Virginia gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 1937. Incumbent Governor George C. Peery, a Byrd Democrat,The Organization in Control: George Campbell Peery, Governor of Virginia, 1934-1938 Joseph A. Fry The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 82 3 July 1974 306-330 Virginia Historical Society was unable to seek re-election due to term limits. James Hubert Price, incumbent lieutenant governor and former member of the Virginia House of Delegates, was nominated by the Democratic Party to run against the Republican nominee, former state senator John Powell Royall. Background The 1900s had seen Virginia, like all former Confederate States, almost completely disenfranchise its black and poor white populations through the use of a cumulative poll tax and literacy tests.Kousser J. Morgan The Shaping of Southern Politics: Suffrage Restriction and the Establishment of the One-Party South, 1880-1910 1974 Yale University Press 178–181 0-300-01696-4 So severe was the disenfranchising effect of the new 1902 Constitution that it has been calculated that a third of those who voted were state employees and officeholders. This limited electorate meant Virginian politics was controlled by political machines based in Southside Virginia – firstly one led by Thomas Staples Martin and after he died the Byrd Organization. Progressive "antiorganization" factions were rendered impotent by the inability of almost all their potential electorate to vote.Key Valdimer Orlando Southern Politics in State and Nation 1949 20–25 Unlike the Deep South, historical fusion with the “Readjuster” Democrats,Heersink Boris Jenkins Jeffrey A. Republican Party Politics and the American South, 1865-1968 March 19, 2020 217–221 Cambridge University Press 978-1107158436 defection of substantial proportions of the Northeast-aligned white electorate of the Shenandoah Valley and Southwest Virginia over free silver,August 1938 Moger Allen The Rift in Virginia Democracy in 1896 https://archive.org/details/sim_journal-of-southern-history_1938-08_4_3/page/294 The Journal of Southern History 4 3 295–317 10.2307/2191291 2191291 and an early move towards a "lily white" Jim Crow party meant Republicans retained a small but permanent number of legislative seats and local offices in the western part of the state.Kevin Phillips (political commentator) Phillips Kevin P. The Emerging Republican Majority 193, 219 1969 Arlington House 0870000586 However, in many areas – like in Tennessee during the same era – the parties avoided competition by an agreed division over local offices, and in gubernatorial elections the Republican vote after Byrd came to power became mostly in the nature of a protest, with turnout in most elections higher in the Democratic primary than the general election.Heinemann Ronald Rozell Mark Milliken John G. The New Dominion: The Twentieth-Century Elections That Shaped Modern Virginia August 4, 2023 University of Virginia Press Charlottesville 9780813949727 Prelude to Revolution: The Rise and Fall of the Byrd Organization, 1925–49 New Deal challenge In the first term after FDR's landslide 1932 election triumph, the now-established Byrd Organization had maintained firm control under Governor Peery, while Senator Byrd was already opposing many New Deal measures.Vipperman Carl J. 1963 The Coattail Campaign: James H. Price and the Election of 1937 in Virginia Essays in History 8 47-61 https://doi.org/10.25894/eih.344 Governor Peery would aim to combat the Depression using the traditional method of cutting spending, and opposed Roosevelt's Federal Emergency Relief Administration.November 1996 Honors 59 Stephanie Barker Longwood College Harry Byrd: Conservative Leader of Virginia As early as June 1935, Lieutenant Governor Price announced he would be seeking the governorship in 1937.Chapter I: Into the Fray – The 1936 Presidential Election 2006 R. Walton Moore and Virginia Politics, 1933-1941 Daniel Gregory Tulli Graduate Virginia Commonwealth University https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1714&&context=etd%2F&&sei-redir=1&referer=https%253A%252F%252Fscholar.google.com%252Fscholar%253Fhl%253Den%2526as_sdt%253D0%25252C5%2526q%253Dpeery%252Bbyrd%252Borganization%2526btnG%253D#search=%22peery%20byrd%20organization%22 During most of 1936, Price would travel throughout the state seeking support,14 Chapter 1: Entrenched Against Change Spring 1987 Virginia in Transition: The 1961 Democratic Primary Thomas Carter Evans Old Dominion University Master of Arts and by the time of the 1936 presidential election, it was clear that the Byrd Organization, who had supported FDR for re-election despite opposing the policies and philosophy of the New Deal, would not oppose Price,Hall Alvin L. July 1974 Politics and Patronage: Virginia's Senators and the Roosevelt Purges of 1938 The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 82 3 Virginia Historical Society 331–350 who was seen as "anti-organization" despite saying he supported Byrd's conservative economic policies. R. Walton Moore and Virginia Politics, 1933-1941 Chapter II: 1936-1939 – Aiding the 'Antis' Tulli Graduate 2006 Until Vivian L. Page withdrew from the lieutenant gubernatorial primary late in April,Page Announces Candidate for Governor Today: Norfolk Senator To Oppose James H. Price in Democratic Primary – Charges Price No Longer Neutral: His Answer to Candidate's Praise of Daniel in Hopewwell Speech Suffolk News-Herald 1 April 23, 1937 Price had no opponent in the primary. Page would campaign against Price on the basis that the latter was trying to "buy" votes,Page Charges Price Trying to 'Buy' Vote Richmond Times-Dispatch July 31, 1937 4 and to mislead the voters at a time when internal polling predicted a landslide for Price.Pollard Predicts Landslide for Price: Daniel's Manager Confident Senator Will Defeat Hold – Exchanges of Charges Mark Final Day before Voters Settle Issue on Aug. 3 Bristol Herald-Courier July 25, 1937 1 Second Section As it turned out, the primary was a landslide for Price, who defeated Page by a margin of more than six-to-one, and in the general election Price defeated Republican J. Powell Royall by nearly so large a margin in a rematch of the 1933 lieutenant gubernatorial contest. Royall's performance is the worst by a Republican gubernatorial candidate in Virginia, losing all but two counties or cites, and this is the last time Floyd County has backed a Democrat for Governor. Democratic primary Candidates James H. Price, Lieutenant Governor since 1930 and former State Delegate from Richmond Vivian L. Page, State Senator from Norfolk 1937 Virginia Democratic gubernatorial primaryhttps://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=351599 Our Campaigns VA Governor D Primary – August 03, 1937 Democratic Party (United States) James H. Price 166,319 86.05% Democratic Party (United States) Vivian L. Page 26,955 13.95% 139,364 72.11% 193,274 Democratic Party (United States) General election Candidates James H. Price, former State Delegate from Richmond (Democratic) J. Powell Royall, former State Senator from Tazewell County (Republican) Donald Burke (Communist) James A. Edgerton, Alexandria poet and perennial candidate (Prohibition) Results 1937 Virginia gubernatorial electionhttp://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=239649 Our Campaigns VA Governor Race – November 02, 1937 Democratic Party (United States) James H. Price 124,145 82.78% +9.04% Republican Party (United States) J. Powell Royall 23,670 15.78% -8.46% Communist Party USA Donald Burke 1,164 0.78% Prohibition Party James A. Edgerton 990 0.66% -0.01% 100,475 67.00% +23.50% 149,969 -9.96% Democratic Party (United States) Results by county or independent city +1937 Virginia gubernatorial election by county or independent city James Hubert PriceDemocratic John Powell RoyallRepublican Donald BurkeCommunist James Arthur EdgertonProhibition Margin Total votes cast # % # % # % # % # % Accomack County 729 91.47% 64 8.03% 1 0.13% 3 0.38% 665 83.44% 797 Albemarle County 814 93.56% 47 5.40% 5 0.57% 4 0.46% 767 88.16% 870 Alleghany County 765 68.98% 322 29.04% 12 1.08% 10 0.90% 443 39.95% 1,109 Amelia County 349 88.35% 42 10.63% 0 0.00% 4 1.01% 307 77.72% 395 Amherst County 630 97.22% 12 1.85% 3 0.46% 3 0.46% 618 95.37% 648 Appomattox County 1,024 96.06% 36 3.38% 2 0.19% 4 0.38% 988 92.68% 1,066 Arlington County 1,978 82.66% 355 14.83% 25 1.04% 35 1.46% 1,623 67.82% 2,393 Augusta County 1,302 84.16% 213 13.77% 10 0.65% 22 1.42% 1,089 70.39% 1,547 Bath County 290 76.72% 85 22.49% 0 0.00% 3 0.79% 205 54.23% 378 Bedford County 708 86.87% 85 10.43% 4 0.49% 18 2.21% 623 76.44% 815 Bland County 497 62.75% 290 36.62% 3 0.38% 2 0.25% 207 26.14% 792 Botetourt County 908 68.17% 409 30.71% 8 0.60% 7 0.53% 499 37.46% 1,332 Brunswick County 497 99.40% 2 0.40% 0 0.00% 1 0.20% 495 99.00% 500 Buchanan County 1,063 74.75% 339 23.84% 15 1.05% 5 0.35% 724 50.91% 1,422 Buckingham County 399 93.01% 23 5.36% 1 0.23% 6 1.40% 376 87.65% 429 Campbell County 574 90.54% 49 7.73% 6 0.95% 5 0.79% 525 82.81% 634 Caroline County 397 94.08% 21 4.98% 0 0.00% 4 0.95% 376 89.10% 422 Carroll County 1,050 42.39% 1,377 55.59% 35 1.41% 15 0.61% -327 -13.20% 2,477 Charles City County 125 94.70% 5 3.79% 1 0.76% 1 0.76% 120 90.91% 132 Charlotte County 585 96.06% 22 3.61% 2 0.33% 0 0.00% 563 92.45% 609 Chesterfield County 2,487 94.89% 101 3.85% 18 0.69% 15 0.57% 2,386 91.03% 2,621 Clarke County 358 94.71% 17 4.50% 2 0.53% 1 0.26% 341 90.21% 378 Craig County 272 74.52% 90 24.66% 2 0.55% 1 0.27% 182 49.86% 365 Culpeper County 486 92.05% 39 7.39% 1 0.19% 2 0.38% 447 84.66% 528 Cumberland County 235 93.25% 13 5.16% 1 0.40% 3 1.19% 222 88.10% 252 Dickenson County 1,207 71.80% 442 26.29% 26 1.55% 6 0.36% 765 45.51% 1,681 Dinwiddie County 1,228 97.93% 16 1.28% 5 0.40% 5 0.40% 1,212 96.65% 1,254 Elizabeth City County 2,103 96.42% 64 2.93% 10 0.46% 4 0.18% 2,039 93.49% 2,181 Essex County 255 91.40% 23 8.24% 1 0.36% 0 0.00% 232 83.15% 279 Fairfax County 1,233 85.15% 187 12.91% 14 0.97% 14 0.97% 1,046 72.24% 1,448 Fauquier County 770 91.34% 68 8.07% 2 0.24% 3 0.36% 702 83.27% 843 Floyd County 297 51.65% 261 45.39% 11 1.91% 6 1.04% 36 6.26% 575 Fluvanna County 407 92.50% 30 6.82% 1 0.23% 2 0.45% 377 85.68% 440 Franklin County 1,142 88.66% 133 10.33% 8 0.62% 5 0.39% 1,009 78.34% 1,288 Frederick County 386 81.95% 81 17.20% 2 0.42% 2 0.42% 305 64.76% 471 Giles County 892 75.34% 279 23.56% 9 0.76% 4 0.34% 613 51.77% 1,184 Gloucester County 501 93.64% 32 5.98% 1 0.19% 1 0.19% 469 87.66% 535 Goochland County 329 93.73% 18 5.13% 1 0.28% 3 0.85% 311 88.60% 351 Grayson County 1,965 46.98% 2,170 51.88% 18 0.43% 30 0.72% -205 -4.90% 4,183 Greene County 131 70.81% 50 27.03% 0 0.00% 4 2.16% 81 43.78% 185 Greensville County 267 94.68% 13 4.61% 1 0.35% 1 0.35% 254 90.07% 282 Halifax County 1,368 98.13% 22 1.58% 1 0.07% 3 0.22% 1,346 96.56% 1,394 Hanover County 638 94.24% 34 5.02% 1 0.15% 4 0.59% 604 89.22% 677 Henrico County 2,664 93.02% 150 5.24% 36 1.26% 14 0.49% 2,514 87.78% 2,864 Henry County 546 86.12% 74 11.67% 9 1.42% 5 0.79% 472 74.45% 634 Highland County 261 65.74% 126 31.74% 7 1.76% 3 0.76% 135 34.01% 397 Isle of Wight County 443 96.10% 16 3.47% 0 0.00% 2 0.43% 427 92.62% 461 James City County 132 97.78% 3 2.22% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 129 95.56% 135 King and Queen County 165 97.06% 4 2.35% 0 0.00% 1 0.59% 161 94.71% 170 King George County 135 81.33% 26 15.66% 2 1.20% 3 1.81% 109 65.66% 166 King William County 321 93.86% 15 4.39% 2 0.58% 4 1.17% 306 89.47% 342 Lancaster County 339 86.48% 48 12.24% 3 0.77% 2 0.51% 291 74.23% 392 Lee County 2,681 83.65% 450 14.04% 55 1.72% 19 0.59% 2,231 69.61% 3,205 Loudoun County 861 88.22% 107 10.96% 2 0.20% 6 0.61% 754 77.25% 976 Louisa County 671 92.55% 48 6.62% 2 0.28% 4 0.55% 623 85.93% 725 Lunenburg County 489 96.64% 12 2.37% 0 0.00% 5 0.99% 477 94.27% 506 Madison County 334 75.57% 99 22.40% 4 0.90% 5 1.13% 235 53.17% 442 Mathews County 318 87.36% 42 11.54% 1 0.27% 3 0.82% 276 75.82% 364 Mecklenburg County 825 97.40% 20 2.36% 1 0.12% 1 0.12% 805 95.04% 847 Middlesex County 300 96.46% 9 2.89% 0 0.00% 2 0.64% 291 93.57% 311 Montgomery County 1,153 67.43% 513 30.00% 27 1.58% 17 0.99% 640 37.43% 1,710 Nansemond County 475 98.34% 7 1.45% 1 0.21% 0 0.00% 468 96.89% 483 Nelson County 549 94.66% 27 4.66% 1 0.17% 3 0.52% 522 90.00% 580 New Kent County 164 90.61% 17 9.39% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 147 81.22% 181 Norfolk County 1,861 96.93% 45 2.34% 6 0.31% 8 0.42% 1,816 94.58% 1,920 Northampton County 434 95.38% 18 3.96% 0 0.00% 3 0.66% 416 91.43% 455 Northumberland County 246 95.35% 12 4.65% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 234 90.70% 258 Nottoway County 534 95.53% 16 2.86% 1 0.18% 8 1.43% 518 92.67% 559 Orange County 503 94.73% 27 5.08% 0 0.00% 1 0.19% 476 89.64% 531 Page County 1,521 76.09% 422 21.11% 47 2.35% 9 0.45% 1,099 54.98% 1,999 Patrick County 832 89.56% 91 9.80% 4 0.43% 2 0.22% 741 79.76% 929 Pittsylvania County 1,498 89.92% 155 9.30% 7 0.42% 6 0.36% 1,343 80.61% 1,666 Powhatan County 233 93.95% 14 5.65% 1 0.40% 0 0.00% 219 88.31% 248 Prince Edward County 478 94.09% 27 5.31% 0 0.00% 3 0.59% 451 88.78% 508 Prince George County 226 93.00% 8 3.29% 8 3.29% 1 0.41% 218 89.71% 243 Prince William County 628 89.59% 69 9.84% 1 0.14% 3 0.43% 559 79.74% 701 Princess Anne County 989 95.10% 45 4.33% 4 0.38% 2 0.19% 944 90.77% 1,040 Pulaski County 1,170 81.14% 259 17.96% 12 0.83% 1 0.07% 911 63.18% 1,442 Rappahannock County 307 95.94% 12 3.75% 1 0.31% 0 0.00% 295 92.19% 320 Richmond County 167 89.30% 15 8.02% 2 1.07% 3 1.60% 152 81.28% 187 Roanoke County 1,013 78.04% 261 20.11% 7 0.54% 17 1.31% 752 57.94% 1,298 Rockbridge County 855 82.77% 169 16.36% 4 0.39% 5 0.48% 686 66.41% 1,033 Rockingham County 2,093 57.42% 1,459 40.03% 21 0.58% 72 1.98% 634 17.39% 3,645 Russell County 1,944 81.10% 442 18.44% 4 0.17% 7 0.29% 1,502 62.66% 2,397 Scott County 1,772 59.09% 1,088 36.28% 99 3.30% 40 1.33% 684 22.81% 2,999 Shenandoah County 1,669 51.37% 1,558 47.95% 10 0.31% 12 0.37% 111 3.42% 3,249 Smyth County 1,926 60.64% 1,204 37.91% 22 0.69% 24 0.76% 722 22.73% 3,176 Southampton County 612 96.99% 18 2.85% 0 0.00% 1 0.16% 594 94.14% 631 Spotsylvania County 335 88.39% 40 10.55% 0 0.00% 4 1.06% 295 77.84% 379 Stafford County 409 75.60% 123 22.74% 4 0.74% 5 0.92% 286 52.87% 541 Surry County 341 96.88% 9 2.56% 2 0.57% 0 0.00% 332 94.32% 352 Sussex County 395 96.81% 11 2.70% 0 0.00% 2 0.49% 384 94.12% 408 Tazewell County 1,669 58.03% 1,188 41.31% 10 0.35% 9 0.31% 481 16.72% 2,876 Warren County 554 89.21% 58 9.34% 4 0.64% 5 0.81% 496 79.87% 621 Warwick County 636 92.04% 47 6.80% 4 0.58% 4 0.58% 589 85.24% 691 Washington County 1,451 76.05% 432 22.64% 12 0.63% 13 0.68% 1,019 53.41% 1,908 Westmoreland County 325 91.29% 27 7.58% 1 0.28% 3 0.84% 298 83.71% 356 Wise County 3,711 89.92% 374 9.06% 33 0.80% 9 0.22% 3,337 80.86% 4,127 Wythe County 1,396 58.80% 950 40.02% 19 0.80% 9 0.38% 446 18.79% 2,374 York County 254 93.73% 13 4.80% 1 0.37% 3 1.11% 241 88.93% 271 Alexandria City 1,366 93.88% 65 4.47% 7 0.48% 17 1.17% 1,301 89.42% 1,455 Bristol City 954 92.53% 70 6.79% 5 0.48% 2 0.19% 884 85.74% 1,031 Buena Vista City 140 88.05% 16 10.06% 0 0.00% 3 1.89% 124 77.99% 159 Charlottesville City 620 93.37% 38 5.72% 5 0.75% 1 0.15% 582 87.65% 664 Clifton Forge City 1,316 85.07% 202 13.06% 14 0.90% 15 0.97% 1,114 72.01% 1,547 Danville City 1,314 96.55% 36 2.65% 6 0.44% 5 0.37% 1,278 93.90% 1,361 Fredericksburg City 991 93.58% 65 6.14% 2 0.19% 1 0.09% 926 87.44% 1,059 Hampton City 831 96.29% 28 3.24% 2 0.23% 2 0.23% 803 93.05% 863 Harrisonburg City 1,358 70.55% 533 27.69% 16 0.83% 18 0.94% 825 42.86% 1,925 Hopewell City 927 93.64% 37 3.74% 18 1.82% 8 0.81% 890 89.90% 990 Lynchburg City 931 90.48% 85 8.26% 7 0.68% 6 0.58% 846 82.22% 1,029 Martinsville City 860 89.77% 86 8.98% 6 0.63% 6 0.63% 774 80.79% 958 Newport News City 3,652 93.40% 193 4.94% 40 1.02% 25 0.64% 3,459 88.47% 3,910 Norfolk City 6,721 93.48% 365 5.08% 61 0.85% 43 0.60% 6,356 88.40% 7,190 Petersburg City 693 97.47% 13 1.83% 4 0.56% 1 0.14% 680 95.64% 711 Portsmouth City 2,673 94.05% 121 4.26% 33 1.16% 15 0.53% 2,552 89.80% 2,842 Radford City 654 78.80% 155 18.67% 9 1.08% 12 1.45% 499 60.12% 830 Richmond City 8,992 96.46% 240 2.57% 68 0.73% 22 0.24% 8,752 93.89% 9,322 Roanoke City 3,620 83.68% 602 13.92% 57 1.32% 47 1.09% 3,018 69.76% 4,326 South Norfolk City 492 92.66% 23 4.33% 12 2.26% 4 0.75% 469 88.32% 531 Staunton City 739 90.79% 63 7.74% 4 0.49% 8 0.98% 676 83.05% 814 Suffolk City 700 96.42% 24 3.31% 1 0.14% 1 0.14% 676 93.11% 726 Williamsburg City 148 98.01% 3 1.99% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 145 96.03% 151 Winchester City 999 88.10% 107 9.44% 14 1.23% 14 1.23% 892 78.66% 1,134Totals124,14582.78%23,67015.78%1,1640.78%9900.66%100,47567.00%149,969 Counties and independent cities that flipped from Republican to Democratic Floyd References collapsed Gubernatorial 1937 Virginia Category:November 1937 in the United States