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1932 United States presidential election in New York

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1932 United States presidential election in New York

← 1928 November 8, 1932 1936 →
Turnout66.1%[1] Decrease 2.2 pp
 
Nominee Franklin D. Roosevelt Herbert Hoover
Party Democratic Republican
Home state New York California
Running mate John Nance Garner Charles Curtis
Electoral vote 47 0
Popular vote 2,534,959 1,937,963
Percentage 54.07% 41.33%

County Results

President before election

Herbert Hoover
Republican

Elected President

Franklin D. Roosevelt
Democratic

The 1932 United States presidential election in New York took place on November 8, 1932. All contemporary 48 states were part of the 1932 United States presidential election. Voters chose 47 electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president.

New York was won by Democratic Governor of New York Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was challenging embattled incumbent Republican President Herbert Hoover. Roosevelt ran with Speaker of the House John Nance Garner of Texas, and Hoover ran with incumbent Vice President Charles Curtis of Kansas. With the incumbent Republican president greatly weakened by his failures to adequately address the Great Depression, the New York Governor easily carried his home state amid a nationwide Democratic landslide. Franklin Roosevelt took 54.07% of the vote in New York State versus Herbert Hoover's 41.33%, a margin of 12.74%. Socialist candidate Norman Thomas finished a distant third, with 3.78%. Despite being Roosevelt's home state – and although he won the state comfortably – in the context of the 1932 nationwide Democratic landslide, New York weighed in for this election as 5% more Republican than the national average.[2]

1932 was the first time a Democrat had won New York's electoral votes since 1912, when Republican vote-splitting for the third party candidacy of Theodore Roosevelt had allowed Democrat Woodrow Wilson to win the state with a plurality of only 41% of the vote. Franklin Roosevelt's 54.07% made him the first Democratic presidential candidate to win an absolute majority of the vote in New York State since Samuel J. Tilden in 1876. Roosevelt's 12.74% victory margin over Hoover was the widest victory margin ever for a Democratic presidential candidate in New York State up to that point, although it would be surpassed just 4 years later by Roosevelt's own 20-point re-election victory in 1936.

Roosevelt's support in the state did not appear spontaneously in 1932; his winning strategy in New York State was primarily to build upon the Democratic coalition fellow New Yorker Al Smith had organized behind him in the 1928 election. Smith had narrowly lost the state amid a nationwide Republican landslide, but had dramatically improved upon how Democrats before him had done, and laid the groundwork for turning the state Democratic in 1932 and beyond. In 1920 and 1924, Republicans had swept every county in New York State and Democrats took less than 30% of the vote. In 1928, Smith came within 2 points of winning the state by sweeping all five boroughs of heavily populated New York City, winning Albany County, home to the state capital of Albany, along with neighboring Rensselaer County, and winning two counties in northern New York along the Saint Lawrence River, Clinton County and Franklin County. FDR turned a 2-point statewide Democratic defeat in 1928 into a 13-point victory in 1932 primarily by pushing up turnout and victory margins in Smith's 1928 counties, as the county map remained almost entirely the same. Only one county in New York State changed hands from Hoover in 1928 to Roosevelt in 1932, rural Sullivan County, which voted Democratic for the first time since 1912.

Results

[edit]
1932 United States presidential election in New York
Party Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Democratic Franklin D. Roosevelt 2,534,959 54.07% 47
Republican Herbert Hoover (incumbent) 1,937,963 41.33% 0
Socialist Norman Thomas 177,397 3.78% 0
Communist William Z. Foster 27,956 0.60% 0
Socialist Labor Verne L. Reynolds 10,339 0.22% 0
Totals 4,688,614 100.0% 47

New York City results

[edit]
1932 Presidential Election in New York City Manhattan The Bronx Brooklyn Queens Staten Island Total
Democratic Franklin D. Roosevelt 378,077 281,330 514,172 244,740 36,857 1,455,176 66.37%
66.89% 70.35% 66.86% 61.47% 61.08%
Republican Herbert Hoover 157,014 76,587 192,536 136,641 21,278 584,056 26.64%
27.78% 19.15% 25.04% 34.32% 35.26%
Socialist Norman Thomas 23,946 31,247 50,509 14,854 2,009 122,565 5.59%
4.24% 7.81% 6.57% 3.73% 3.33%
Communist William Z. Foster 4,843 8,829 9,287 1,143 112 24,214 1.10%
0.86% 2.21% 1.21% 0.29% 0.19%
Socialist Labor Verne L. Reynolds 1,325 1,926 2,504 763 89 6,607 0.30%
0.23% 0.48% 0.33% 0.19% 0.15%
TOTAL 565,205 399,919 769,008 398,141 60,345 2,192,618 100.00%

Results by county

[edit]
County Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Democratic
Herbert Clark Hoover
Republican
Norman Mattoon Thomas
Socialist
William Z. Foster[3]
Communist
Verne L. Reynolds[3]
Socialist Labor
Margin Total votes cast[4]
# % # % # % # % # % # %
Albany 73,194 60.61% 46,244 38.29% 1,181 0.98% 48 0.04% 92 0.08% 26,950 22.32% 120,759
Allegany 4,961 27.91% 12,348 69.46% 427 2.40% 12 0.07% 29 0.16% -7,387 -41.55% 17,777
Bronx 281,330 70.35% 76,587 19.15% 31,247 7.81% 8,829 2.21% 1,926 0.48% 204,743 51.20% 399,919
Broome 22,802 40.36% 32,751 57.97% 673 1.19% 215 0.38% 53 0.09% -9,949 -17.61% 56,494
Cattaraugus 11,467 37.25% 18,071 58.70% 1,176 3.82% 15 0.05% 57 0.19% -6,604 -21.45% 30,786
Cayuga 12,989 41.84% 17,280 55.66% 713 2.30% 31 0.10% 30 0.10% -4,291 -13.82% 31,043
Chautauqua 16,914 33.64% 30,479 60.62% 2,385 4.74% 242 0.48% 255 0.51% -13,565 -26.98% 50,275
Chemung 13,825 39.78% 20,152 57.99% 740 2.13% 21 0.06% 12 0.03% -6,327 -18.21% 34,750
Chenango 5,953 33.60% 11,566 65.27% 185 1.04% 5 0.03% 10 0.06% -5,613 -31.68% 17,719
Clinton 11,027 56.94% 8,263 42.67% 68 0.35% 2 0.01% 5 0.03% 2,764 14.27% 19,365
Columbia 9,083 43.39% 11,667 55.74% 155 0.74% 24 0.11% 2 0.01% -2,584 -12.35% 20,931
Cortland 4,425 30.34% 9,859 67.60% 284 1.95% 4 0.03% 13 0.09% -5,434 -37.26% 14,585
Delaware 6,723 33.65% 13,050 65.32% 194 0.97% 6 0.03% 7 0.04% -6,327 -31.67% 19,980
Dutchess 20,374 43.47% 25,757 54.95% 634 1.35% 59 0.13% 47 0.10% -5,383 -11.48% 46,871
Erie 131,012 46.31% 141,059 49.86% 9,485 3.35% 677 0.24% 697 0.25% -10,047 -3.55% 282,930
Essex 5,597 35.46% 10,062 63.74% 113 0.72% 4 0.03% 10 0.06% -4,465 -28.28% 15,786
Franklin 10,318 51.96% 9,422 47.45% 106 0.53% 2 0.01% 9 0.05% 896 4.51% 19,857
Fulton 5,678 27.05% 14,984 71.39% 249 1.19% 41 0.20% 36 0.17% -9,306 -44.34% 20,988
Genesee 6,152 33.55% 11,881 64.80% 280 1.53% 11 0.06% 11 0.06% -5,729 -31.25% 18,335
Greene 6,794 47.64% 7,334 51.43% 123 0.86% 5 0.04% 5 0.04% -540 -3.79% 14,261
Hamilton 1,107 40.58% 1,603 58.76% 18 0.66% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% -496 -18.18% 2,728
Herkimer 11,194 41.78% 15,158 56.58% 394 1.47% 22 0.08% 22 0.08% -3,964 -14.80% 26,790
Jefferson 13,478 36.70% 22,760 61.98% 451 1.23% 7 0.02% 28 0.08% -9,282 -25.28% 36,724
Kings 514,172 66.86% 192,536 25.04% 50,509 6.57% 9,287 1.21% 2,504 0.33% 321,636 41.82% 769,008
Lewis 4,086 39.20% 6,258 60.03% 70 0.67% 6 0.06% 4 0.04% -2,172 -20.84% 10,424
Livingston 6,529 36.50% 11,114 62.13% 226 1.26% 5 0.03% 14 0.08% -4,585 -25.63% 17,888
Madison 6,896 35.78% 11,931 61.91% 413 2.14% 8 0.04% 24 0.12% -5,035 -26.13% 19,272
Monroe 83,208 44.75% 95,964 51.60% 5,950 3.20% 651 0.35% 187 0.10% -12,756 -6.86% 185,960
Montgomery 11,700 44.87% 14,104 54.09% 131 0.50% 25 0.10% 116 0.44% -2,404 -9.22% 26,076
Nassau 61,752 42.85% 78,544 54.51% 3,521 2.44% 181 0.13% 102 0.07% -16,792 -11.65% 144,100
New York 378,077 66.89% 157,014 27.78% 23,946 4.24% 4,843 0.86% 1,325 0.23% 221,063 39.11% 565,205
Niagara 20,765 39.26% 30,852 58.33% 1,117 2.11% 75 0.14% 82 0.16% -10,087 -19.07% 52,891
Oneida 38,413 47.34% 41,193 50.76% 1,318 1.62% 62 0.08% 162 0.20% -2,780 -3.43% 81,148
Onondaga 62,227 46.71% 66,363 49.81% 4,158 3.12% 213 0.16% 258 0.19% -4,136 -3.10% 133,219
Ontario 9,273 36.62% 15,624 61.71% 398 1.57% 9 0.04% 16 0.06% -6,351 -25.08% 25,320
Orange 22,971 42.21% 30,687 56.39% 703 1.29% 28 0.05% 34 0.06% -7,716 -14.18% 54,423
Orleans 4,303 30.05% 9,735 67.98% 222 1.55% 5 0.03% 56 0.39% -5,432 -37.93% 14,321
Oswego 13,314 41.35% 18,322 56.90% 520 1.61% 18 0.06% 27 0.08% -5,008 -15.55% 32,201
Otsego 8,114 34.88% 14,904 64.06% 233 1.00% 2 0.01% 12 0.05% -6,790 -29.19% 23,265
Putnam 3,730 43.82% 4,633 54.43% 137 1.61% 6 0.07% 6 0.07% -903 -10.61% 8,512
Queens 244,740 61.47% 136,641 34.32% 14,854 3.73% 1,143 0.29% 763 0.19% 108,099 27.15% 398,141
Rensselaer 32,783 51.05% 30,606 47.66% 662 1.03% 61 0.09% 105 0.16% 2,177 3.39% 64,217
Richmond 36,857 61.08% 21,278 35.26% 2,009 3.33% 112 0.19% 89 0.15% 15,579 25.82% 60,345
Rockland 13,347 47.70% 13,963 49.90% 599 2.14% 34 0.12% 39 0.14% -616 -2.20% 27,982
Saratoga 13,053 41.34% 17,990 56.97% 488 1.55% 16 0.05% 31 0.10% -4,937 -15.63% 31,578
Schenectady 22,230 41.65% 28,187 52.81% 2,630 4.93% 140 0.26% 184 0.34% -5,957 -11.16% 53,371
Schoharie 4,684 45.40% 5,513 53.43% 109 1.06% 4 0.04% 8 0.08% -829 -8.03% 10,318
Schuyler 2,255 32.77% 4,491 65.27% 81 1.18% 18 0.26% 36 0.52% -2,236 -32.50% 6,881
Seneca 4,764 41.48% 6,502 56.61% 167 1.45% 12 0.10% 41 0.36% -1,738 -15.13% 11,486
St. Lawrence 12,687 35.56% 22,650 63.48% 204 0.57% 39 0.11% 100 0.28% -9,963 -27.92% 35,680
Steuben 13,219 35.77% 22,986 62.19% 687 1.86% 12 0.03% 55 0.15% -9,767 -26.43% 36,959
Suffolk 30,799 42.46% 40,247 55.49% 1,365 1.88% 69 0.10% 48 0.07% -9,448 -13.03% 72,528
Sullivan 9,656 52.15% 8,294 44.79% 435 2.35% 110 0.59% 22 0.12% 1,362 7.36% 18,517
Tioga 4,067 32.99% 8,047 65.27% 181 1.47% 16 0.13% 17 0.14% -3,980 -32.28% 12,328
Tompkins 6,180 32.67% 12,185 64.42% 496 2.62% 32 0.17% 23 0.12% -6,005 -31.75% 18,916
Ulster 18,092 45.55% 21,002 52.87% 566 1.42% 38 0.10% 23 0.06% -2,910 -7.33% 39,721
Warren 6,661 36.22% 11,585 62.99% 133 0.72% 4 0.02% 9 0.05% -4,924 -26.77% 18,392
Washington 7,512 33.86% 14,478 65.26% 144 0.65% 6 0.03% 44 0.20% -6,966 -31.40% 22,184
Wayne 7,122 31.41% 15,031 66.29% 341 1.50% 28 0.12% 153 0.67% -7,909 -34.88% 22,675
Westchester 101,435 45.94% 112,747 51.07% 6,023 2.73% 352 0.16% 231 0.10% -11,312 -5.12% 220,788
Wyoming 4,490 31.76% 9,377 66.33% 255 1.80% 3 0.02% 12 0.08% -4,887 -34.57% 14,137
Yates 2,399 27.95% 6,048 70.46% 115 1.34% 1 0.01% 21 0.24% -3,649 -42.51% 8,584
Totals 2,534,959 54.07% 1,937,963 41.33% 177,397 3.78% 27,956 0.60% 10,339 0.22% 596,996 12.73% 4,688,614

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

[edit]

Analysis

[edit]

The most vital component to Roosevelt's victory in New York State was his overwhelming landslide in the massively populated 5 boroughs of New York City. Roosevelt took over 70% of the vote in the Bronx, and over 60% in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island. Up to this point, 1932 was the strongest victory ever for a Democrat in the city, although Roosevelt would outperform himself with an even stronger performance in the city in 1936. FDR built on the urban, ethnic coalition that had delivered the city to Al Smith 4 years earlier, and with the rise of the New Deal Coalition, New York would be solidified as one of the most Democratic cities in the United States. Just as Al Smith's 1928 counties remained loyal to the Democrats in 1932, most of upstate New York which had gone Republican in 1928 remained loyal to Herbert Hoover in 1932, albeit with reduced margins. Albany County, home to the state capital of Albany, provided Roosevelt's strongest victory outside of New York City, giving him over 60% of the vote.

This was the second of three straight elections in which Democrats swept all five boroughs of New York City. Hoover only received at least forty percent of the vote in seven of the state assembly districts within New York City and only won a majority of the vote in one, the 15th district. His vote total in New York City declined from 36.71% in 1928, to 26.62% in 1932. Rensselaer County would not vote Democratic again until 1964.[5] Roosevelt received 387,000 votes from Jews in New York City while Hoover received 95,000-105,000 votes and Thomas received 50,000-60,000 votes, which accounted for half of Thomas' 122,565 votes from New York City.[5]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Bicentennial Edition: Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to 1970, part 2, p. 1072.
  2. ^ "1932 Presidential General Election Results – New York". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved July 25, 2013.
  3. ^ a b "NY US President Race, November 08, 1932". Our Campaigns.
  4. ^ New York, ‘Vote, New York State, By Counties, November 8, 1932 For President and Vice President,’ The New York Red Book 1933 (Albany, 1933)
  5. ^ a b Mann, Arthur (1965). La Guardia Comes To Power 1933. J. B. Lippincott & Co.