1928 United States presidential election in Florida

none June 2025 September 2023 1928 United States presidential election 1928 United States presidential election in Florida Florida 1900 presidential no 1924 United States presidential election in Florida 1924 November 6, 1928 1932 United States presidential election in Florida 1932 200x200px Herbert Hoover - NARA - 532049.jpg Herbert Hoover Republican Party (United States) California Charles Curtis 6 144,168 56.83% 1928 United States presidential election in Florida results map by county.svg x400px County results Hoover #f2b3be 40–50% #e27f90 50–60% #cc2f4a 60–70% #d40000 70–80% Smith #d3e7ff 30–40% #86b6f2 50–60% #4389e3 60–70% #1666cb 70–80% #0645B4 80–90% President Calvin Coolidge Republican Party (United States) Herbert Hoover Republican Party (United States) Al Smith Unsuccessful 1928.jpg Democratic Party (United States) Joseph Taylor Robinson New York 101,764 40.12% 0 The 1928 United States presidential election in Florida was held on November 6, 1928, as part of the 1928 United States presidential election held throughout all contemporary forty-eight states. Florida voters chose six electors, or representatives to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president. Ever since the disfranchisement of blacks at the beginning of the 1890s, Florida had been a one-party state ruled by the Democratic Party. The disfranchisement of blacks and poor whites by poll taxes in 1889Silbey, Joel H.; Bogue, Allan G. The History of American Electoral Behavior, p. 210 140087114X had left the Republican Party – between 1872 and 1888 dependent upon black votes – virtually extinct. With the single exception of William Howard Taft's win in Calhoun County in 1908Robinson, Edgar Eugene. The Presidential Vote; 1896–1932 (second edition), Stanford University Press, 1947, pp. 156–157 the Democratic Party won every county in Florida in every presidential election from 1892In the 1892 presidential election, Republican Benjamin Harrison was not on the ballot; the party backed Populist James B. Weaver. until 1916. Only twice – and never for more than one term – did any Republican serve in either house of the state legislature between 1896 and 1928. Despite this Democratic dominance and the restrictions on the franchise of the poorer classes due to the poll tax, significant socialist movements were to develop and persist in TampaFord, Edward J. Life on the Campaign Trail: a Political Anthropology of Local Politics (thesis), University of South Florida, 2008, pp. 114–118 and to a lesser extent over other parts of the state, especially against the powerful Ku Klux Klan.Gregory, Raymond F. Norman Thomas: The Great Dissenter, pp. 150–151 0875866239 There was also a powerful Prohibitionist movement in older North Florida, which saw the Prohibition Party even win the governorship for one term under the notorious anti-Catholic minister Sidney J. Catts, who was later to be a major foe of Al Smith.Okaloosa News-Journal, July 6, 1928 The 1920 presidential election saw Warren Harding, aided substantially by isolationist sentiment in the region,Phillips, Kevin. The Emerging Republican Majority, pp. 210–211, 261 9780691163246 gain more support in the former Confederacy than any Republican since black disfranchisement, and in the process win three Florida counties. Calvin Coolidge in 1924 was to do no more than maintain these gains, but did show that the presidential GOP vote from transplanted Northerners was equal to or greater than the traditional Unionist GOP vote (which Florida entirely lacked) of Texas, Arkansas, Alabama or Georgia. During the months between the beginning of the campaign and the actual vote, a number of newspapers – including the Orlando Sentinel and the St. Petersburg Times – utilized voting machines to take a sample ballot.Hughes, Melvin Edward, Jr. The 1928 Presidential Election in Florida (thesis), Florida State University, 1976, pp. 150, 152 All these polls, in spite of the fact that the newspapers in question favored Smith, gave large majorities to Hoover, in the case of the Times by over two-to-one. Despite these polls, Smith campaigners took a long time to realize the danger that he would not carry the traditional "Solid South".Hughes, The 1928 Presidential Election in Florida, p. 153 After a heated campaign in which he had played little part, Herbert Hoover won Florida against Al Smith by 42,404 votes or by a margin of 16.71 percentage points.https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?year=1928&fips=12&f=1&off=0&elect=0 1928 Presidential General Election Results – Florida Leip David Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections 2017-06-02 Vis-à-vis the 1924 election, swings of up to 100 percentage points occurred in the western Panhandle pineywoods, where opposition to Smith's Catholic religion reached the fanatical,Phillips; The Emerging Republican Majority, pp. 212, 214 and Hoover also gained from increased Republican voting by northern migrants in Miami, Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, Sarasota and Jacksonville, along with the growth of an urban middle class in those cities. This was the first time since 1876 that the state voted Republican. The 1928 US presidential election would be the first time that Florida would become a crucial bellwether state in presidential elections: from 1928 and on, the winner of the presidential election has carried the state in every election except in 1960, in 1992, and in 2020.Paulson Darryl 4 November 2016 A quick history of Florida's presidential politics, from Whigs to wigged out http://www.tampabay.com/news/perspective/a-quick-history-of-floridas-presidential-politics-from-whigs-to-wigged-out/2301426&c=7781867173824040747&mkt=en-us Tampa Bay Times 7 July 2019 July 2024 medicmedic In contrast, the counties of the central and eastern Panhandle remained loyal to Smith, who still carried ten counties in this region, all over thirty-five percent nonvoting African-American, by three-to-one or larger majorities, because they saw party regularity as essential to preserving white supremacy against African Americans.Key, V.O. junior; Southern Politics in State and Nation; p. 328 087049435X However, unlike Alabama and Georgia, Florida lacked the strength to counter anti-Catholic voting – which was indeed stronger than in most other parts of the white South – with the result that Hoover gained his largest margin among the five Confederate states he carried. Results Herbert Hoover Republican 144,168"differs" This total differs from that in America at the Polls but is suspect due to an improbably large third-party vote in Alachua County. California 56.83% 6 Charles Curtis Kansas Al Smith Democrat 101,764 New York 40.12% 0 Joseph Taylor Robinson Arkansas Norman Thomas Socialist New York 4,036"differs" 1.59% 0 James Maurer Pennsylvania William Z. Foster Communist Illinois 3,704"differs" 1.46% 0 Benjamin Gitlow New York — Write-ins — 2 0.00% 0 — — 253,674 100.00% 6 266 Results by county County Herbert Clark HooverRepublican Alfred Emmanuel SmithDemocratic Various candidatesOther parties Margin Total votes castScammon, Richard M. (compiler) America at the Polls: A Handbook of Presidential Election Statistics 1920–1964, pp. 85–86 0405077114 # % # % # % # % Alachua 1,824 45.51% 1,965 49.03% 219 5.46% -141 -3.52% 4,008 Baker 676 72.38% 242 25.91% 16 1.71% 434 46.47% 934 Bay 974 44.27% 1,190 54.09% 36 1.64% -216 -9.82% 2,200 Bradford 534 43.73% 679 55.61% 8 0.66% -145 -11.88% 1,221 Brevard 1,830 62.12% 1,063 36.08% 53 1.80% 767 26.04% 2,946 Broward 2,889 63.63% 1,564 34.45% 87 1.92% 1,325 29.19% 4,540 Calhoun 409 35.02% 727 62.24% 32 2.74% -318 -27.23% 1,168 Charlotte 593 55.73% 441 41.45% 30 2.82% 152 14.29% 1,064 Citrus 505 37.77% 816 61.03% 16 1.20% -311 -23.26% 1,337 Clay 1,088 72.05% 394 26.09% 28 1.85% 694 45.96% 1,510 Collier 151 37.01% 256 62.75% 1 0.25% -105 -25.74% 408 Columbia 418 24.36% 1,276 74.36% 22 1.28% -858 -50.00% 1,716 Dade 15,860 60.15% 10,136 38.44% 372 1.41% 5,724 21.71% 26,368 De Soto 1,382 64.04% 748 34.66% 28 1.30% 634 29.38% 2,158 Dixie 463 57.52% 342 42.48% 0 0.00% 121 15.03% 805 Duval 16,919 63.39% 9,316 34.91% 454 1.70% 7,603 28.49% 26,689 Escambia 4,443 53.32% 3,772 45.27% 118 1.42% 671 8.05% 8,333 Flagler 325 58.14% 219 39.18% 15 2.68% 106 18.96% 559 Franklin 334 44.30% 417 55.31% 3 0.40% -83 -11.01% 754 Gadsden 346 22.31% 1,184 76.34% 21 1.35% -838 -54.03% 1,551 Gilchrist 125 22.73% 392 71.27% 33 6.00% -267 -48.55% 550 Glades 331 53.73% 281 45.62% 4 0.65% 50 8.12% 616 Gulf 156 34.98% 275 61.66% 15 3.36% -119 -26.68% 446 Hamilton 167 16.83% 741 74.70% 84 8.47% -574 -57.86% 992 Hardee 2,087 70.06% 826 27.73% 66 2.22% 1,261 42.33% 2,979 Hendry 337 54.18% 266 42.77% 19 3.05% 71 11.41% 622 Hernando 661 47.79% 701 50.69% 21 1.52% -40 -2.89% 1,383 Highlands 1,393 66.52% 669 31.95% 32 1.53% 724 34.57% 2,094 Hillsborough 11,703 52.98% 9,993 45.24% 392 1.77% 1,710 7.74% 22,088 Holmes 2,260 74.44% 735 24.21% 41 1.35% 1,525 50.23% 3,036 Indian River 847 55.61% 657 43.14% 19 1.25% 190 12.48% 1,523 Jackson 1,398 35.43% 2,516 63.76% 32 0.81% -1,118 -28.33% 3,946 Jefferson 235 20.22% 919 79.09% 8 0.69% -684 -58.86% 1,162 Lafayette 135 23.48% 435 75.65% 5 0.87% -300 -52.17% 575 Lake 3,383 68.08% 1,474 29.66% 112 2.25% 1,909 38.42% 4,969 Lee 2,058 63.17% 1,154 35.42% 46 1.41% 904 27.75% 3,258 Leon 630 24.72% 1,888 74.07% 31 1.22% -1,258 -49.35% 2,549 Levy 711 46.23% 797 51.82% 30 1.95% -86 -5.59% 1,538 Liberty 147 39.20% 226 60.27% 2 0.53% -79 -21.07% 375 Madison 266 25.70% 769 74.30% 0 0.00% -503 -48.60% 1,035 Manatee 2,705 63.87% 1,472 34.76% 58 1.37% 1,233 29.11% 4,235 Marion 1,927 49.75% 1,863 48.10% 83 2.14% 64 1.65% 3,873 Martin 703 58.05% 474 39.14% 34 2.81% 229 18.91% 1,211 Monroe 1,142 36.93% 1,899 61.42% 51 1.65% -757 -24.48% 3,092 Nassau 863 65.13% 445 33.58% 17 1.28% 418 31.55% 1,325 Okaloosa 1,385 72.70% 503 26.40% 17 0.89% 882 46.30% 1,905 Okeechobee 657 68.87% 287 30.08% 10 1.05% 370 38.78% 954 Orange 6,524 70.04% 2,616 28.08% 175 1.88% 3,908 41.95% 9,315 Osceola 1,760 60.25% 1,127 38.58% 34 1.16% 633 21.67% 2,921 Palm Beach 5,298 64.23% 2,652 32.15% 298 3.61% 2,646 32.08% 8,248 Pasco 1,591 54.26% 1,308 44.61% 33 1.13% 283 9.65% 2,932 Pinellas 10,545 74.52% 3,439 24.30% 167 1.18% 7,106 50.22% 14,151 Polk 7,460 60.23% 4,576 36.94% 350 2.83% 2,884 23.28% 12,386 Putnam 2,105 63.01% 1,156 34.60% 80 2.39% 949 28.40% 3,341 St. John's 1,939 36.65% 3,307 62.50% 45 0.85% -1,368 -25.86% 5,291 St. Lucie 983 55.88% 741 42.13% 35 1.99% 242 13.76% 1,759 Santa Rosa 1,628 73.97% 541 24.58% 32 1.45% 1,087 49.39% 2,201 Sarasota 1,603 56.46% 1,181 41.60% 55 1.94% 422 14.86% 2,839 Seminole 1,788 58.89% 1,187 39.10% 61 2.01% 601 19.80% 3,036 Sumter 1,152 55.60% 909 43.87% 11 0.53% 243 11.73% 2,072 Suwannee 606 31.68% 1,286 67.22% 21 1.10% -680 -35.55% 1,913 Taylor 465 38.05% 739 60.47% 18 1.47% -274 -22.42% 1,222 Union 177 25.69% 503 73.00% 9 1.31% -326 -47.31% 689 Volusia 6,648 67.78% 3,043 31.03% 117 1.19% 3,605 36.76% 9,808 Wakulla 66 12.18% 470 86.72% 6 1.11% -404 -74.54% 542 Walton 1,475 61.36% 908 37.77% 21 0.87% 567 23.59% 2,404 Washington 1,672 69.72% 671 27.98% 55 2.29% 1,001 41.74% 2,398Totals145,86057.87%101,76440.37%4,4441.76%44,09617.49%252,068 Analysis With all other prominent Democrats sitting the election out,Warren, Kenneth F. Encyclopedia of U.S. campaigns, elections, and electoral behavior: A–M, Volume 1, p. 620 1412954894 the party nominated Alfred E. Smith, four-term Governor of New York as its nominee for 1928, with little opposition. There was nonetheless almost no pro-Smith sympathy in Florida, which as part of the "Solid South" had been a major force in his 1924 defeat.Doherty, Herbert J., Jr. "Florida and the Presidential Election of 1928", The Florida Historical Quarterly, vol. 26, no. 2 (October 1947), pp. 174–186 This defeat was related to four characteristics of Smith that made him anything but an ideal candidate for Southern Democrats: he was a devout Catholic, opposed to Prohibition, linked with New York City's Tammany Hall political machine, and the son of Irish and Italian immigrants. His Wall Street connections also had Smith viewed by poorer Southern whites as a "Gold Democrat".Hughes, The 1928 Presidential Election in Florida, p. 211 While it is generally thought that the South would have accepted a man possessing one of those characteristics,Kennedy, David M.; Cohen, Lizabeth. The American Pageant, Volume 2, p. 739 1111831432 the combination proved a bitter dose for many of Florida's loyal Democrats. Many Florida Protestants believed Smith's election would endanger religious liberty and would lead to the Pope controlling the White House. More critically, the Southern Baptist Convention similarly said that We enter into a sacred covenant and solemn pledge that we will support for the office of President, or any other office, only such men as stand for our present order of prohibition.Maxwell, Angie; Shields, Todd G. (eds.) Unlocking V.O. Key Jr.: "Southern Politics" for the Twenty-First Century, pp. 17–18 1557289611 Much of this anti-Smith political program was led by the Jacksonville Baptist Association, joined by the Indian River Missionary Baptist Association, Seminole Baptist Association, Peace River Baptist Association, Alachua Baptist Association, and the Florida Baptist Association in issuing similar resolutions at their 1928 annual meetings.Indian River Missionary Baptist Association, 1928, pp. 31–32; Fifteenth Annual Session Seminole Baptist Association, 1928, p. 22; Fifty-Third Session of Peace River Baptist Association, 1928, pp. 24–25; Alachua Baptist Association, 1928; p. 26; Proceedings of the Eighty-Sixth Annual Session of the Florida Baptist Association, 1928, p. 34 The Methodist Episcopal Church took the same view,Journal of the Florida Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, 1928 (Tampa, 1928), p. 41 and it was Bishop James Cannon who stood behind militant "drys" to organize the "Anti-Smith Democrats" in Asheville, North Carolina, pledging to keep the country dry against Smith's support of modifying the Volstead Act. The leader of the defense of Smith was Senator Duncan Upshaw Fletcher who argued that Smith was a "throroughgoing Democrat" and that the Republican Party was the party who had, in typical "Solid South" style, denounced the Southern people as rebels and traitors.Miami Herald, October 11, 1928. Echoing this, several Florida judges said it would be better to have a Catholic with some religion in the White House than a Republican with none. Smith's strongest supporter, Chief Justice William H. Ellis, also argued that the GOP was hypocritical in its support for Prohibition,Hughes, The 1928 Presidential Election in Florida, p. 131 and that because religious tests for elective office were forbidden by the Constitution, Smith would be unable to fill these offices with only Catholics. For Ellis, the election of Smith was the only way the Democratic Party could maintain itself. The Suwanee Democrat, indeed, argued that Hoover's Quaker faith meant he could not be elected PresidentHughes, The 1928 Presidential Election in Florida, p. 151 because it believed that Hoover's religious beliefs both would not permit him to fight for his country, and would stipulate racial equality in a state whose electorate was all-white.Suwanee Democrat, September 28, 1928, p. 1. Notes References Florida Category:1928 Florida elections 1928