1932 United States presidential election in Virginia
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Elections in Virginia |
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The 1932 United States presidential election in Virginia took place on November 8, 1932. Voters chose eleven representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
Like all former Confederate States, early twentieth-century Virginia almost completely disenfranchised its black and poor white populations through the use of a cumulative poll tax and literacy tests.[1] So severe was the disenfranchising effect of the new 1902 Constitution that it has been calculated that a third of the electorate during the first half of the twentieth century comprised state employees and officeholders.[1]
This limited electorate meant Virginian politics was controlled by political machines based in Southside Virginia—the 1920 would see the building of the Byrd Organization which would control the state's politics until the Voting Rights Act. Progressive “antiorganization” factions were rendered impotent by the inability of almost all their potential electorate to vote.[2] Unlike the Deep South, historical fusion with the “Readjuster” Democrats,[3] defection over free silver of substantial proportions of the Northeast-aligned white electorate of the Shenandoah Valley and Southwest Virginia,[4] and an early move towards a “lily white” Jim Crow party[3] meant that in general elections the Republicans retained around one-third of the small statewide electorate,[5] with the majority of GOP support located in the western part of the state. However—like in Tennessee during the same era—the parties avoided competition in many areas by an agreed division over local offices.[2]
1928 saw a substantial change, whereby a combination of anti-Catholicism in the Tidewater region and growing middle-class Republicanism in the cities saw Republican Herbert Hoover carry Virginia's electoral votes[6] and elect three Congressmen, including the local district of emerging machine leader Byrd.[7] However, a combination of record drought[8] and the economic catastrophe of the Great Depression meant that the trend towards the GOP would be short-lived.[9] The Depression had extremely severe effects in the South, which had the highest unemployment rate in the nation, and many Southerners blamed this on the North and on Wall Street, rejecting Hoover's claim that the Depression's causes were exogenous.[10]
For some time in 1932, Byrd was seen as a possible compromise candidate between Roosevelt and Al Smith for the Democratic presidential nomination;[11] however, Southern opposition to Smith meant that Byrd ultimately wavered on seeking the nomination and accepted Roosevelt,[12] as even delegates from such states as North Carolina rejected him for FDR.
Neither major party candidate campaigned in the state, and no polls were taken early in the campaign. when the state was finally polled in the middle of October, Roosevelt was clearly leading over Hoover by around five-to-two.[13] A later poll had Roosevelt winning by seventy thousand votes, despite overall being much more favourable to the incumbent president than most other polls.[14] As it turned out, the earlier poll was more accurate, with Roosevelt winning by over one hundred and fourteen thousand votes. Roosevelt ultimately won the national election with 57.41 percent of the vote.
Results
[edit]1932 United States presidential election in Virginia[15] | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Electoral votes | |
Democratic | Franklin D. Roosevelt | 203,979 | 68.46% | 11 | |
Republican | Herbert Hoover (inc.) | 89,637 | 30.09% | 0 | |
Socialist | Norman Thomas | 2,382 | 0.80% | 0 | |
Prohibition | William David Upshaw | 1,843 | 0.62% | 0 | |
Communist | William Z. Foster | 86 | 0.03% | 0 | |
Farmer-Labor | Jacob Coxey | 15 | 0.01% | 0 | |
Totals | 297,942 | 100.00% | 11 |
Results by county or independent city
[edit]1932 United States presidential election in Virginia by counties and independent cities[16] | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Franklin Delano Roosevelt Democratic |
Herbert Clark Hoover Republican |
Various candidates Other parties |
Margin | Total votes cast | |||||
# | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
Accomack County | 2,458 | 81.74% | 527 | 17.53% | 22 | 0.73% | 1,931 | 64.22% | 3,007 |
Albemarle County | 1,949 | 78.24% | 508 | 20.39% | 34 | 1.36% | 1,441 | 57.85% | 2,491 |
Alleghany County | 1,293 | 53.50% | 1,095 | 45.30% | 29 | 1.20% | 198 | 8.19% | 2,417 |
Amelia County | 701 | 82.08% | 142 | 16.63% | 11 | 1.29% | 559 | 65.46% | 854 |
Amherst County | 1,764 | 89.09% | 195 | 9.85% | 21 | 1.06% | 1,569 | 79.24% | 1,980 |
Appomattox County | 1,123 | 83.99% | 204 | 15.26% | 10 | 0.75% | 919 | 68.74% | 1,337 |
Arlington County | 3,285 | 52.69% | 2,806 | 45.01% | 143 | 2.29% | 479 | 7.68% | 6,234 |
Augusta County | 2,606 | 61.51% | 1,541 | 36.37% | 90 | 2.12% | 1,065 | 25.14% | 4,237 |
Bath County | 594 | 59.88% | 384 | 38.71% | 14 | 1.41% | 210 | 21.17% | 992 |
Bedford County | 2,321 | 81.99% | 469 | 16.57% | 41 | 1.45% | 1,852 | 65.42% | 2,831 |
Bland County | 783 | 57.74% | 556 | 41.00% | 17 | 1.25% | 227 | 16.74% | 1,356 |
Botetourt County | 1,808 | 59.12% | 1,209 | 39.54% | 41 | 1.34% | 599 | 19.59% | 3,058 |
Brunswick County | 1,361 | 95.58% | 52 | 3.65% | 11 | 0.77% | 1,309 | 91.92% | 1,424 |
Buchanan County | 1,372 | 65.24% | 727 | 34.57% | 4 | 0.19% | 645 | 30.67% | 2,103 |
Buckingham County | 870 | 79.82% | 204 | 18.72% | 16 | 1.47% | 666 | 61.10% | 1,090 |
Campbell County | 1,692 | 83.72% | 301 | 14.89% | 28 | 1.39% | 1,391 | 68.83% | 2,021 |
Caroline County | 1,076 | 78.89% | 270 | 19.79% | 18 | 1.32% | 806 | 59.09% | 1,364 |
Carroll County | 1,537 | 50.79% | 1,461 | 48.28% | 28 | 0.93% | 76 | 2.51% | 3,026 |
Charles City County | 245 | 73.13% | 85 | 25.37% | 5 | 1.49% | 160 | 47.76% | 335 |
Charlotte County | 1,300 | 88.02% | 169 | 11.44% | 8 | 0.54% | 1,131 | 76.57% | 1,477 |
Chesterfield County | 1,886 | 69.90% | 726 | 26.91% | 86 | 3.19% | 1,160 | 42.99% | 2,698 |
Clarke County | 841 | 86.43% | 124 | 12.74% | 8 | 0.82% | 717 | 73.69% | 973 |
Craig County | 649 | 67.18% | 302 | 31.26% | 15 | 1.55% | 347 | 35.92% | 966 |
Culpeper County | 1,349 | 75.70% | 417 | 23.40% | 16 | 0.90% | 932 | 52.30% | 1,782 |
Cumberland County | 511 | 84.05% | 84 | 13.82% | 13 | 2.14% | 427 | 70.23% | 608 |
Dickenson County | 2,635 | 67.95% | 1,228 | 31.67% | 15 | 0.39% | 1,407 | 36.28% | 3,878 |
Dinwiddie County | 1,028 | 90.18% | 104 | 9.12% | 8 | 0.70% | 924 | 81.05% | 1,140 |
Elizabeth City County | 1,226 | 62.58% | 700 | 35.73% | 33 | 1.68% | 526 | 26.85% | 1,959 |
Essex County | 420 | 80.15% | 101 | 19.27% | 3 | 0.57% | 319 | 60.88% | 524 |
Fairfax County | 2,714 | 65.33% | 1,368 | 32.93% | 72 | 1.73% | 1,346 | 32.40% | 4,154 |
Fauquier County | 1,999 | 83.43% | 379 | 15.82% | 18 | 0.75% | 1,620 | 67.61% | 2,396 |
Floyd County | 699 | 39.90% | 1,051 | 59.99% | 2 | 0.11% | -352 | -20.09% | 1,752 |
Fluvanna County | 579 | 75.39% | 176 | 22.92% | 13 | 1.69% | 403 | 52.47% | 768 |
Franklin County | 2,245 | 72.96% | 812 | 26.39% | 20 | 0.65% | 1,433 | 46.57% | 3,077 |
Frederick County | 1,536 | 76.19% | 456 | 22.62% | 24 | 1.19% | 1,080 | 53.57% | 2,016 |
Giles County | 1,754 | 62.60% | 1,016 | 36.26% | 32 | 1.14% | 738 | 26.34% | 2,802 |
Gloucester County | 916 | 75.64% | 280 | 23.12% | 15 | 1.24% | 636 | 52.52% | 1,211 |
Goochland County | 629 | 77.65% | 166 | 20.49% | 15 | 1.85% | 463 | 57.16% | 810 |
Grayson County | 2,306 | 58.26% | 1,624 | 41.03% | 28 | 0.71% | 682 | 17.23% | 3,958 |
Greene County | 394 | 60.43% | 258 | 39.57% | 0 | 0.00% | 136 | 20.86% | 652 |
Greensville County | 692 | 85.33% | 112 | 13.81% | 7 | 0.86% | 580 | 71.52% | 811 |
Halifax County | 3,583 | 91.85% | 275 | 7.05% | 43 | 1.10% | 3,308 | 84.80% | 3,901 |
Hanover County | 1,073 | 80.56% | 238 | 17.87% | 21 | 1.58% | 835 | 62.69% | 1,332 |
Henrico County | 2,458 | 63.43% | 1,291 | 33.32% | 126 | 3.25% | 1,167 | 30.12% | 3,875 |
Henry County | 1,146 | 76.25% | 342 | 22.75% | 15 | 1.00% | 804 | 53.49% | 1,503 |
Highland County | 464 | 55.37% | 355 | 42.36% | 19 | 2.27% | 109 | 13.01% | 838 |
Isle of Wight County | 982 | 77.02% | 284 | 22.27% | 9 | 0.71% | 698 | 54.75% | 1,275 |
James City County | 302 | 71.06% | 116 | 27.29% | 7 | 1.65% | 186 | 43.76% | 425 |
King and Queen County | 368 | 68.79% | 154 | 28.79% | 13 | 2.43% | 214 | 40.00% | 535 |
King George County | 475 | 69.65% | 203 | 29.77% | 4 | 0.59% | 272 | 39.88% | 682 |
King William County | 612 | 76.12% | 177 | 22.01% | 15 | 1.87% | 435 | 54.10% | 804 |
Lancaster County | 639 | 68.93% | 272 | 29.34% | 16 | 1.73% | 367 | 39.59% | 927 |
Lee County | 2,892 | 58.84% | 1,985 | 40.39% | 38 | 0.77% | 907 | 18.45% | 4,915 |
Loudoun County | 2,440 | 79.45% | 600 | 19.54% | 31 | 1.01% | 1,840 | 59.92% | 3,071 |
Louisa County | 879 | 68.62% | 366 | 28.57% | 36 | 2.81% | 513 | 40.05% | 1,281 |
Lunenburg County | 1,141 | 91.50% | 92 | 7.38% | 14 | 1.12% | 1,049 | 84.12% | 1,247 |
Madison County | 849 | 61.52% | 522 | 37.83% | 9 | 0.65% | 327 | 23.70% | 1,380 |
Mathews County | 652 | 56.50% | 488 | 42.29% | 14 | 1.21% | 164 | 14.21% | 1,154 |
Mecklenburg County | 2,188 | 88.30% | 275 | 11.10% | 15 | 0.61% | 1,913 | 77.20% | 2,478 |
Middlesex County | 595 | 80.19% | 127 | 17.12% | 20 | 2.70% | 468 | 63.07% | 742 |
Montgomery County | 1,805 | 53.01% | 1,522 | 44.70% | 78 | 2.29% | 283 | 8.31% | 3,405 |
Nansemond County | 1,264 | 86.22% | 196 | 13.37% | 6 | 0.41% | 1,068 | 72.85% | 1,466 |
Nelson County | 1,457 | 85.61% | 238 | 13.98% | 7 | 0.41% | 1,219 | 71.62% | 1,702 |
New Kent County | 286 | 70.44% | 115 | 28.33% | 5 | 1.23% | 171 | 42.12% | 406 |
Norfolk County | 2,926 | 72.09% | 1,072 | 26.41% | 61 | 1.50% | 1,854 | 45.68% | 4,059 |
Northampton County | 1,264 | 80.15% | 298 | 18.90% | 15 | 0.95% | 966 | 61.26% | 1,577 |
Northumberland County | 630 | 71.27% | 245 | 27.71% | 9 | 1.02% | 385 | 43.55% | 884 |
Nottoway County | 1,348 | 80.67% | 277 | 16.58% | 46 | 2.75% | 1,071 | 64.09% | 1,671 |
Orange County | 1,253 | 79.96% | 309 | 19.72% | 5 | 0.32% | 944 | 60.24% | 1,567 |
Page County | 1,851 | 58.61% | 1,261 | 39.93% | 46 | 1.46% | 590 | 18.68% | 3,158 |
Patrick County | 1,342 | 72.42% | 486 | 26.23% | 25 | 1.35% | 856 | 46.20% | 1,853 |
Pittsylvania County | 3,124 | 81.35% | 656 | 17.08% | 60 | 1.56% | 2,468 | 64.27% | 3,840 |
Powhatan County | 433 | 78.02% | 108 | 19.46% | 14 | 2.52% | 325 | 58.56% | 555 |
Prince Edward County | 970 | 81.04% | 196 | 16.37% | 31 | 2.59% | 774 | 64.66% | 1,197 |
Prince George County | 597 | 83.03% | 115 | 15.99% | 7 | 0.97% | 482 | 67.04% | 719 |
Prince William County | 1,499 | 78.61% | 386 | 20.24% | 22 | 1.15% | 1,113 | 58.36% | 1,907 |
Princess Anne County | 1,451 | 76.29% | 432 | 22.71% | 19 | 1.00% | 1,019 | 53.58% | 1,902 |
Pulaski County | 2,314 | 66.99% | 1,109 | 32.11% | 31 | 0.90% | 1,205 | 34.89% | 3,454 |
Rappahannock County | 590 | 81.94% | 124 | 17.22% | 6 | 0.83% | 466 | 64.72% | 720 |
Richmond County | 461 | 69.95% | 192 | 29.14% | 6 | 0.91% | 269 | 40.82% | 659 |
Roanoke County | 2,509 | 58.79% | 1,704 | 39.93% | 55 | 1.29% | 805 | 18.86% | 4,268 |
Rockbridge County | 1,764 | 67.35% | 811 | 30.97% | 44 | 1.68% | 953 | 36.39% | 2,619 |
Rockingham County | 2,750 | 53.85% | 2,194 | 42.96% | 163 | 3.19% | 556 | 10.89% | 5,107 |
Russell County | 3,274 | 70.09% | 1,386 | 29.67% | 11 | 0.24% | 1,888 | 40.42% | 4,671 |
Scott County | 2,137 | 55.64% | 1,673 | 43.56% | 31 | 0.81% | 464 | 12.08% | 3,841 |
Shenandoah County | 2,635 | 50.51% | 2,514 | 48.19% | 68 | 1.30% | 121 | 2.32% | 5,217 |
Smyth County | 2,287 | 54.50% | 1,843 | 43.92% | 66 | 1.57% | 444 | 10.58% | 4,196 |
Southampton County | 1,357 | 87.15% | 182 | 11.69% | 18 | 1.16% | 1,175 | 75.47% | 1,557 |
Spotsylvania County | 784 | 68.35% | 346 | 30.17% | 17 | 1.48% | 438 | 38.19% | 1,147 |
Stafford County | 731 | 61.38% | 454 | 38.12% | 6 | 0.50% | 277 | 23.26% | 1,191 |
Surry County | 653 | 88.72% | 73 | 9.92% | 10 | 1.36% | 580 | 78.80% | 736 |
Sussex County | 688 | 83.39% | 122 | 14.79% | 15 | 1.82% | 566 | 68.61% | 825 |
Tazewell County | 2,713 | 56.97% | 2,005 | 42.10% | 44 | 0.92% | 708 | 14.87% | 4,762 |
Warren County | 1,096 | 74.46% | 367 | 24.93% | 9 | 0.61% | 729 | 49.52% | 1,472 |
Warwick County | 645 | 71.67% | 242 | 26.89% | 13 | 1.44% | 403 | 44.78% | 900 |
Washington County | 2,784 | 60.17% | 1,774 | 38.34% | 69 | 1.49% | 1,010 | 21.83% | 4,627 |
Westmoreland County | 641 | 74.80% | 212 | 24.74% | 4 | 0.47% | 429 | 50.06% | 857 |
Wise County | 5,276 | 68.13% | 2,405 | 31.06% | 63 | 0.81% | 2,871 | 37.07% | 7,744 |
Wythe County | 1,866 | 53.56% | 1,589 | 45.61% | 29 | 0.83% | 277 | 7.95% | 3,484 |
York County | 457 | 56.84% | 309 | 38.43% | 38 | 4.73% | 148 | 18.41% | 804 |
Alexandria City | 2,941 | 70.29% | 1,199 | 28.66% | 44 | 1.05% | 1,742 | 41.63% | 4,184 |
Bristol City | 1,252 | 79.09% | 307 | 19.39% | 24 | 1.52% | 945 | 59.70% | 1,583 |
Buena Vista City | 258 | 58.90% | 154 | 35.16% | 26 | 5.94% | 104 | 23.74% | 438 |
Charlottesville City | 1,287 | 75.53% | 409 | 24.00% | 8 | 0.47% | 878 | 51.53% | 1,704 |
Clifton Forge City | 917 | 72.15% | 328 | 25.81% | 26 | 2.05% | 589 | 46.34% | 1,271 |
Danville City | 2,264 | 73.41% | 740 | 23.99% | 80 | 2.59% | 1,524 | 49.42% | 3,084 |
Fredericksburg City | 812 | 68.18% | 366 | 30.73% | 13 | 1.09% | 446 | 37.45% | 1,191 |
Hampton City | 772 | 71.22% | 294 | 27.12% | 18 | 1.66% | 478 | 44.10% | 1,084 |
Harrisonburg City | 995 | 58.81% | 665 | 39.30% | 32 | 1.89% | 330 | 19.50% | 1,692 |
Hopewell City | 957 | 72.50% | 342 | 25.91% | 21 | 1.59% | 615 | 46.59% | 1,320 |
Lynchburg City | 3,656 | 74.07% | 1,200 | 24.31% | 80 | 1.62% | 2,456 | 49.76% | 4,936 |
Martinsville City | 739 | 77.14% | 212 | 22.13% | 7 | 0.73% | 527 | 55.01% | 958 |
Newport News City | 2,703 | 62.80% | 1,515 | 35.20% | 86 | 2.00% | 1,188 | 27.60% | 4,304 |
Norfolk City | 8,814 | 65.45% | 4,403 | 32.69% | 250 | 1.86% | 4,411 | 32.75% | 13,467 |
Petersburg City | 1,920 | 78.69% | 490 | 20.08% | 30 | 1.23% | 1,430 | 58.61% | 2,440 |
Portsmouth City | 3,344 | 63.17% | 1,840 | 34.76% | 110 | 2.08% | 1,504 | 28.41% | 5,294 |
Radford City | 542 | 59.63% | 341 | 37.51% | 26 | 2.86% | 201 | 22.11% | 909 |
Richmond City | 14,631 | 70.75% | 5,602 | 27.09% | 448 | 2.17% | 9,029 | 43.66% | 20,681 |
Roanoke City | 6,215 | 65.15% | 3,195 | 33.49% | 130 | 1.36% | 3,020 | 31.66% | 9,540 |
South Norfolk City | 597 | 63.17% | 329 | 34.81% | 19 | 2.01% | 268 | 28.36% | 945 |
Staunton City | 988 | 63.54% | 551 | 35.43% | 16 | 1.03% | 437 | 28.10% | 1,555 |
Suffolk City | 1,013 | 78.71% | 265 | 20.59% | 9 | 0.70% | 748 | 58.12% | 1,287 |
Williamsburg City | 387 | 76.63% | 99 | 19.60% | 19 | 3.76% | 288 | 57.03% | 505 |
Winchester City | 1,179 | 61.73% | 698 | 36.54% | 33 | 1.73% | 481 | 25.18% | 1,910 |
Totals | 203,979 | 68.46% | 89,637 | 30.09% | 4,326 | 1.45% | 114,342 | 38.38% | 297,942 |
Analysis
[edit]Although Roosevelt won Virginia by a margin that exceeded Woodrow Wilson’s two victories in the state and was the best Democratic performance since Andrew Jackson exactly a century previously, Hoover—despite losing every county except Floyd—was still able to maintain a small portion of the urban and Tidewater gains gains made by the Republicans during the 1920s.[6] In some counties of the Virginia Peninsula and Middle Peninsula, the incumbent president bettered Calvin Coolidge’s 1924 performance even in a depression year.
As of the 2020 presidential election[update], this is the last election in which Carroll County, Highland County, and Shenandoah County voted for a Democratic presidential candidate.[17] This is the closest anyone has come to sweeping every Virginia county since 1820.
References
[edit]- ^ a b Kousser, J. Morgan. The Shaping of Southern Politics: Suffrage Restriction and the Establishment of the One-Party South, 1880-1910. Yale University Press. pp. 178–181. ISBN 0-300-01696-4.
- ^ a b Key, Valdimer Orlando (1949). Southern Politics in State and Nation. pp. 20–25.
- ^ a b Heersink, Boris; Jenkins, Jeffrey A. Republican Party Politics and the American South, 1865-1968. pp. 217–221. ISBN 1107158435.
- ^ Moger, Allen. "The Rift in Virginia Democracy in 1896". The Journal of Southern History. 4 (3): 295–317.
- ^ Phillips, Kevin P. (1969). The Emerging Republican Majority. pp. 193, 219. ISBN 0870000586.
- ^ a b Phillips. The Emerging Republican Majority, p. 195
- ^ Hawkes (junior), Robert T. (July 1974). "The Emergence of a Leader: Harry Flood Byrd, Governor of Virginia, 1926-1930". The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography. 82 (3): 259–281.
- ^ Heinemann, Ronald L. (1996). Harry Byrd of Virginia. Charlottesville, Virginia: University Press of Virginia.
- ^ Lewinson, Paul (1965). Race, class and party; a history of Negro suffrage and white politics in the South. pp. 167–168.
- ^ Ritchie, Donald A. (2007). Electing FDR: the New Deal campaign of 1932. Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas. p. 143. ISBN 070061687X.
- ^ Heinemann; Harry Byrd of Virginia, p. 141
- ^ Heinemann; Harry Byrd of Virginia, p. 143
- ^ "Roosevelt Overwhelmingly". The Tampa Times. October 21, 1932. p. 4-A.
- ^ Pasquino (October 30, 1932). "Non-Partisan Forecast Gives G.O.P. President Edge over Roosevelt". The Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho. pp. 1, 6.
- ^ "Statistics of the Congressional and Presidential election of November 8, 1932" (PDF). Clerk of the House of Representatives. p. 38.
- ^ Robinson, Edgar Eugene; The Presidential Vote 1896-1932, pp. 354-361 ISBN 9780804716963
- ^ Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016