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1928 United States presidential election in Oklahoma

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1928 United States presidential election in Oklahoma

← 1924 November 6, 1928 1932 →
 
Nominee Herbert Hoover Al Smith
Party Republican Democratic
Home state California New York
Running mate Charles Curtis Joseph T. Robinson
Electoral vote 10 0
Popular vote 394,046 219,174
Percentage 63.72% 35.44%

County Results

President before election

Calvin Coolidge
Republican

Elected President

Herbert Hoover
Republican

The 1928 United States presidential election in Oklahoma took place on November 6, 1928, as part of the 1928 United States presidential election which was held throughout all contemporary 48 states. Voters chose ten representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president. In its early years, Oklahoma was a “Solid South” state whose founding fathers like "Alfalfa Bill" Murray and Charles N. Haskell had disfranchised most of its black population via literacy tests and grandfather clauses,[1] the latter of which would be declared unconstitutional in Guinn v. United States.[2] In 1920 this “Solid South” state, nonetheless, joined the Republican landslide of Warren G. Harding, electing a GOP senator and five congressmen,[3] but in 1922 the Democratic Party returned to their typical ascendancy as the state GOP became heatedly divided amongst themselves .[4]

Like many states in the Southern United States at the time, Oklahoma had some influence from the Ku Klux Klan, and was almost entirely part of the Southern Protestant “Bible Belt”,[5] the nomination of anti-Prohibition Catholic New York Governor Al Smith as the Democratic nominee was extremely controversial, with prominent former Senator Robert Latham Owen refusing steadfastly to endorse him,[6] despite nominating dry Southern Democrat Senator Joseph Taylor Robinson of Arkansas.

Early polls showed a massive trend away from Smith, with a September poll saying seventy-six thousand Oklahoma Democrats would vote for Republican nominees, former Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover of California and Senate Majority Leader Charles Curtis of Kansas,[7] and a mid-October poll saying Hoover would receive seventy percent of the vote in Oklahoma.[8] At the end of October, although the number of Oklahoma Democrats believed to be supporting Hoover had not fallen, and a finding that the Republicans had helped enroll one hundred and fifty thousand new voters, Hoover's margin was reduced to fifty thousand.[9]

As it turned out, the later poll was over-favourable to Smith. Hoover ultimately won the state by a margin of 28.28 percentage points. This was the first election since statehood when Oklahoma had voted more Republican than the nation at large, and the only one until 1960. In some previously Democratic counties in southwestern Oklahoma, Hoover gained vote shares more than thirty percent higher than Calvin Coolidge had in 1924, despite the fact that Smith visited the state in September and gave a major speech on the issue of religious tolerance.[10]

Hoover carried all but eleven of Oklahoma's 77 counties, with only culturally Southern Choctaw Country in the southeast (an area also known as "Little Dixie") remaining loyal to Smith – and even there Democratic margins were smaller than usual for the era. He was the only Republican until Richard Nixon’s 1972 landslide to carry the following counties: Carter, Cotton, Harmon, Jackson, Jefferson, Murray and Tillman.[11] Hoover was also the first Republican presidential candidate to win the following counties: Beckham, Cleveland, Grady, Hughes, McClain and Pontotoc.[11]

Results

[edit]
1928 United States presidential election in Oklahoma[12]
Party Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Republican Herbert Hoover 394,046 63.72% 10
Democratic Alfred E. Smith 219,174 35.44% 0
Socialist Norman Thomas 3,924 0.63% 0
Farmer Labor Frank Webb 1,283 0.21% 0
Totals 618,427 100.00% 10

Results by county

[edit]
County Herbert Clark Hoover
Republican
Alfred Emmanuel Smith
Democratic
Norman Mattoon Thomas
Socialist
Frank E. Webb
Farmer-Labor
Margin Total votes cast[13]
# % # % # % # % # %
Adair 2,867 59.35% 1,944 40.24% 14 0.29% 6 0.12% 923 19.11% 4,831
Alfalfa 4,224 77.98% 1,086 20.05% 83 1.53% 24 0.44% 3,138 57.93% 5,417
Atoka 1,572 42.94% 2,056 56.16% 24 0.66% 9 0.25% -484 -13.22% 3,661
Beaver 2,596 73.67% 887 25.17% 33 0.94% 8 0.23% 1,709 48.50% 3,524
Beckham 3,810 62.36% 2,201 36.02% 78 1.28% 21 0.34% 1,609 26.33% 6,110
Blaine 3,413 67.83% 1,543 30.66% 65 1.29% 11 0.22% 1,870 37.16% 5,032
Bryan 3,014 43.37% 3,885 55.90% 30 0.43% 21 0.30% -871 -12.53% 6,950
Caddo 7,313 64.27% 3,885 34.14% 123 1.08% 57 0.50% 3,428 30.13% 11,378
Canadian 5,011 63.63% 2,786 35.38% 54 0.69% 24 0.30% 2,225 28.25% 7,875
Carter 6,538 55.80% 5,086 43.41% 77 0.66% 15 0.13% 1,452 12.39% 11,716
Cherokee 2,963 54.49% 2,446 44.98% 16 0.29% 13 0.24% 517 9.51% 5,438
Choctaw 2,541 49.32% 2,581 50.10% 23 0.45% 7 0.14% -40 -0.78% 5,152
Cimarron 1,139 66.03% 566 32.81% 14 0.81% 6 0.35% 573 33.22% 1,725
Cleveland 3,738 61.35% 2,291 37.60% 50 0.82% 14 0.23% 1,447 23.75% 6,093
Coal 1,283 42.82% 1,681 56.11% 19 0.63% 13 0.43% -398 -13.28% 2,996
Comanche 5,069 62.45% 2,956 36.42% 70 0.86% 22 0.27% 2,113 26.03% 8,117
Cotton 2,419 59.76% 1,605 39.65% 19 0.47% 5 0.12% 814 20.11% 4,048
Craig 3,511 54.48% 2,897 44.96% 23 0.36% 13 0.20% 614 9.53% 6,444
Creek 12,254 67.92% 5,693 31.55% 67 0.37% 28 0.16% 6,561 36.37% 18,042
Custer 4,576 68.56% 1,995 29.89% 93 1.39% 10 0.15% 2,581 38.67% 6,674
Delaware 2,603 59.70% 1,706 39.13% 33 0.76% 18 0.41% 897 20.57% 4,360
Dewey 2,486 65.35% 1,175 30.89% 112 2.94% 31 0.81% 1,311 34.46% 3,804
Ellis 1,953 62.80% 1,122 36.08% 25 0.80% 10 0.32% 831 26.72% 3,110
Garfield 12,748 77.77% 3,503 21.37% 90 0.55% 51 0.31% 9,245 56.40% 16,392
Garvin 3,321 47.44% 3,589 51.26% 72 1.03% 19 0.27% -268 -3.83% 7,001
Grady 6,332 62.64% 3,667 36.27% 84 0.83% 26 0.26% 2,665 26.36% 10,109
Grant 4,371 74.30% 1,449 24.63% 47 0.80% 16 0.27% 2,922 49.67% 5,883
Greer 2,262 57.48% 1,645 41.80% 13 0.33% 15 0.38% 617 15.68% 3,935
Harmon 1,431 56.85% 1,060 42.11% 18 0.72% 8 0.32% 371 14.74% 2,517
Harper 1,844 66.45% 872 31.42% 47 1.69% 12 0.43% 972 35.03% 2,775
Haskell 2,580 53.95% 2,172 45.42% 13 0.27% 17 0.36% 408 8.53% 4,782
Hughes 3,937 55.18% 3,169 44.41% 23 0.32% 6 0.08% 768 10.76% 7,135
Jackson 3,440 57.72% 2,493 41.83% 21 0.35% 6 0.10% 947 15.89% 5,960
Jefferson 2,251 53.79% 1,916 45.78% 12 0.29% 6 0.14% 335 8.00% 4,185
Johnston 1,294 41.80% 1,766 57.04% 27 0.87% 9 0.29% -472 -15.25% 3,096
Kay 13,829 76.15% 4,196 23.10% 95 0.52% 41 0.23% 9,633 53.04% 18,161
Kingfisher 4,063 69.08% 1,780 30.26% 27 0.46% 12 0.20% 2,283 38.81% 5,882
Kiowa 4,116 63.54% 2,270 35.04% 66 1.02% 26 0.40% 1,846 28.50% 6,478
Latimer 1,368 45.77% 1,583 52.96% 21 0.70% 17 0.57% -215 -7.19% 2,989
Le Flore 5,168 52.48% 4,622 46.94% 37 0.38% 20 0.20% 546 5.54% 9,847
Lincoln 6,118 70.74% 2,405 27.81% 102 1.18% 24 0.28% 3,713 42.93% 8,649
Logan 6,277 72.72% 2,251 26.08% 74 0.86% 30 0.35% 4,026 46.64% 8,632
Love 843 39.93% 1,268 60.07% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% -425 -20.13% 2,111
Major 2,891 78.73% 674 18.36% 91 2.48% 16 0.44% 2,217 60.38% 3,672
Marshall 1,063 42.50% 1,358 54.30% 70 2.80% 10 0.40% -295 -11.80% 2,501
Mayes 3,004 57.61% 2,161 41.45% 40 0.77% 9 0.17% 843 16.17% 5,214
McClain 2,399 55.07% 1,913 43.92% 32 0.73% 12 0.28% 486 11.16% 4,356
McCurtain 1,915 39.79% 2,877 59.78% 17 0.35% 4 0.08% -962 -19.99% 4,813
McIntosh 2,742 56.88% 2,044 42.40% 28 0.58% 7 0.15% 698 14.48% 4,821
Murray 1,631 51.53% 1,498 47.33% 26 0.82% 10 0.32% 133 4.20% 3,165
Muskogee 9,972 60.92% 6,343 38.75% 37 0.23% 17 0.10% 3,629 22.17% 16,369
Noble 3,607 66.21% 1,777 32.62% 41 0.75% 23 0.42% 1,830 33.59% 5,448
Nowata 2,930 62.18% 1,763 37.42% 12 0.25% 7 0.15% 1,167 24.77% 4,712
Okfuskee 3,612 58.25% 2,513 40.53% 61 0.98% 15 0.24% 1,099 17.72% 6,201
Oklahoma 36,608 69.13% 16,073 30.35% 237 0.45% 35 0.07% 20,535 38.78% 52,953
Okmulgee 9,149 60.77% 5,834 38.75% 64 0.43% 9 0.06% 3,315 22.02% 15,056
Osage 10,555 67.52% 5,010 32.05% 57 0.36% 10 0.06% 5,545 35.47% 15,632
Ottawa 8,144 64.03% 4,488 35.28% 69 0.54% 19 0.15% 3,656 28.74% 12,720
Pawnee 4,489 68.82% 1,949 29.88% 66 1.01% 19 0.29% 2,540 38.94% 6,523
Payne 7,864 72.19% 2,904 26.66% 83 0.76% 42 0.39% 4,960 45.53% 10,893
Pittsburg 5,875 49.20% 5,960 49.91% 87 0.73% 20 0.17% -85 -0.71% 11,942
Pontotoc 3,356 50.87% 3,203 48.55% 26 0.39% 12 0.18% 153 2.32% 6,597
Pottawatomie 8,478 68.57% 3,797 30.71% 58 0.47% 31 0.25% 4,681 37.86% 12,364
Pushmataha 1,616 52.88% 1,384 45.29% 44 1.44% 12 0.39% 232 7.59% 3,056
Roger Mills 1,948 63.51% 986 32.15% 114 3.72% 19 0.62% 962 31.37% 3,067
Rogers 3,477 61.38% 2,147 37.90% 31 0.55% 10 0.18% 1,330 23.48% 5,665
Seminole 8,072 64.60% 4,423 35.40% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 3,649 29.20% 12,495
Sequoyah 3,296 55.04% 2,692 44.96% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 604 10.09% 5,988
Stephens 5,192 62.71% 2,982 36.02% 80 0.97% 25 0.30% 2,210 26.69% 8,279
Texas 2,890 69.16% 1,240 29.67% 33 0.79% 16 0.38% 1,650 39.48% 4,179
Tillman 3,331 60.60% 2,141 38.95% 17 0.31% 8 0.15% 1,190 21.65% 5,497
Tulsa 38,769 70.49% 16,062 29.20% 128 0.23% 39 0.07% 22,707 41.29% 54,998
Wagoner 2,726 60.62% 1,745 38.80% 19 0.42% 7 0.16% 981 21.81% 4,497
Washington 7,258 73.48% 2,563 25.95% 41 0.42% 15 0.15% 4,695 47.53% 9,877
Washita 3,572 63.28% 2,024 35.85% 35 0.62% 14 0.25% 1,548 27.42% 5,645
Woods 3,941 70.38% 1,550 27.68% 87 1.55% 22 0.39% 2,391 42.70% 5,600
Woodward 3,188 69.06% 1,347 29.18% 59 1.28% 22 0.48% 1,841 39.88% 4,616
Total 394,046 63.72% 219,174 35.44% 3,924 0.63% 1,283 0.21% 174,872 28.28% 618,427

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Ewing, Cortez Arthur Milton; An Introduction to the Government of Oklahoma (1939), p. 72. Published by Americanism Committee, American Legion, Department of Oklahoma
  2. ^ Fairclough, Adam (June 25, 2002). Better Day Coming: Blacks and Equality, 1890-2000. Penguin. p. 82. ISBN 0142001295.
  3. ^ Debo, Angie; And Still the Waters Run: The Betrayal of the Five Civilized Tribes, pp. 318-319 ISBN 9780691005782
  4. ^ Debo, And Still the Waters Run, p. 322
  5. ^ Phillips, Kevin P.; The Emerging Republican Majority, p. 317 ISBN 978-0-691-16324-6
  6. ^ Bateman, David A.; Katznelson, Ira; Lapinski, John S. (2018). Southern Nation: Congress and White Supremacy After Reconstruction. Princeton University Press. p. 375. ISBN 978-0691126494.
  7. ^ "76,000 Democrats Flock to Hoover: Anti-Smith faction in Oklahoma Signifies Intention to Vote Republican Ticket". The Evening Star. Washington, D.C. September 28, 1928. p. 4.
  8. ^ "Smith Cuts Down Hoover's Lead in Magazine Poll: With Nearly 2,000,000 Ballots in New York, Governor Reduces Hoover's Lead to 63%". Shreveport Journal. Shreveport, Louisiana. October 13, 1928. p. 11.
  9. ^ "Oklahoma Expects Vote of 650,000: 150,000 believed Added in Registration; State Is Still Viewed Hoover's". The Evening Star. Washington, D.C. October 28, 1982. p. 11.
  10. ^ Lichtman, Allan J. (1979). Prejudice and the Old Politics: The Presidential Election of 1928. University of North Carolina Press. p. 68. ISBN 0807813583.
  11. ^ a b Menendez, Albert J. (2005). The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004. McFarland. pp. 280–283. ISBN 0786422173.
  12. ^ "1928 Presidential General Election Results – Oklahoma". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved August 2, 2013.
  13. ^ "OK US Presidential Election Race, November 06, 1928". Our Campaigns.