1924 United States presidential election in Kansas explained

See main article: 1924 United States presidential election.

Election Name:1924 United States presidential election in Kansas
Country:Kansas
Flag Year:1927
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:1920 United States presidential election in Kansas
Previous Year:1920
Next Election:1928 United States presidential election in Kansas
Next Year:1928
Election Date:November 4, 1924
Image1:Calvin Coolidge cph.3g10777 crop.jpg
Nominee1:Calvin Coolidge
Party1:Republican Party (United States)
Home State1:Massachusetts
Running Mate1:Charles G. Dawes
Electoral Vote1:10
Popular Vote1:407,671
Percentage1:61.54%
Nominee2:John W. Davis
Party2:Democratic Party (United States)
Home State2:West Virginia
Running Mate2:Charles W. Bryan
Electoral Vote2:0
Popular Vote2:156,319
Percentage2:23.60%
Image3:Robert La Follette Sr crop.jpg
Nominee3:Robert M. La Follette
Party3:Independent politician
Alliance3:Progressive Party (United States, 1924)
Home State3:Wisconsin
Running Mate3:Burton K. Wheeler
Electoral Vote3:0
Popular Vote3:98,461
Percentage3:14.86%
Map Size:300px
President
Before Election:Calvin Coolidge
Before Party:Republican Party (United States)
After Election:Calvin Coolidge
After Party:Republican Party (United States)

The 1924 United States presidential election in Kansas was held on November 4, 1924, as part of the 1924 United States presidential election. State voters chose ten electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

A rapid recovery from the depression of 1920 and 1921, despite major Republican losses during the 1922 House elections[1] placed the Republican Party – who gained a record popular-vote majority in the 1920 election – in a secure position despite the death of President Warren G. Harding in 1923. Rises in wages and ebbing of discontent further solidified the GOP's hold on power.[1]

More critically, the Democratic Party was mortally divided between its rural Southern faction led by William Gibbs McAdoo and its white ethnic urban northeastern faction led by New York Governor Al Smith.[2] The rural faction was supported by the revived Ku Klux Klan and was in favour of Prohibition, whereas the white ethnic faction was firmly against the anti-Catholic Klan and opposed to Prohibition. A fierce debate ensued that saw a compromise candidate, former Congressman John W. Davis of West Virginia, nominated after one hundred and three ballots in hot summer weather at Madison Square Garden.[3] Although West Virginia was a border state whose limited African-American population had not been disenfranchised as happened in all former Confederate States,[4] Davis did share the extreme social conservatism of Southern Democrats of his era. He supported poll taxes, opposed women's suffrage, and believed in strictly limited government with no expansion in nonmilitary fields.[5]

The conservatism of Coolidge and Davis made it inevitable that aging Wisconsin maverick Robert M. La Follette Sr. would mount a third-party challenge – which La Follette had planned even before the Democratic Convention.[6] La Follette was formally nominated on July 4 by the "Conference for Progressive Political Action" and developed a platform dedicated to eliminating child labor and American interference in Latin American political affairs, along with a formal denunciation of the Ku Klux Klan.[7] La Follette also proposed major judicial reforms including amendments allowing congress to override judicial review and to re-enact laws declared unconstitutional.[8] La Follette also called for election of federal judges for ten-year terms.[9]

Despite problems in the state's large agricultural sector, La Follette did not have the appeal in Kansas he had in more northerly areas of the Midwest, as isolationism was much weaker in this largely Anglo-Saxon Protestant state and Bryan-era pietist Democratic support struck a different cultural vein from La Follette's largely Catholic and Lutheran backers.[10] Unlike the Bryanites, La Follette's base strongly opposed the Ku Klux Klan, which was widely popular in Kansas, and was focused on farm cooperatives.

Kansas was won decisively by the Republican Party candidate, incumbent President Calvin Coolidge with 61.54 percent of the popular vote. The Democratic Party candidate, John W. Davis, garnered only 23.60 percent of the popular vote. La Follette, listed as an “Independent” on the Kansas ballot was not as successful as in the more northerly Plains States due to Kansas being largely devoid of the German- and Scandinavian-Americans[11] who were his primary support base.[12] The Wisconsin Senator did not crack a third of the vote in any county, and Coolidge replicated Harding and Theodore Roosevelt in sweeping all 105 Kansas counties.

Results

Presidential CandidateRunning MatePartyElectoral Vote (EV)Popular Vote (PV)
Calvin Coolidge of MassachusettsCharles G. DawesRepublican10[13] 407,67161.54%
John W. DavisCharles W. BryanDemocratic0156,31923.60%
Robert M. La FolletteBurton K. WheelerIndependent098,46114.86%
Write-ins030.00%

Results by county

1924 United States presidential election in Kansas by county[14]
CountyJohn Calvin Coolidge
Republican
John William Davis
Democratic
Robert Marion La Follette Sr.
Independent
MarginTotal votes cast
%%%%
Allen6,10169.94%2,18125.00%4415.06%3,92044.94%8,723
Anderson3,10160.98%1,42127.94%56311.07%1,68033.04%5,085
Atchison6,24663.83%2,19922.47%1,34113.70%4,04741.35%9,786
Barber2,21858.25%90923.87%68117.88%1,30934.38%3,808
Barton4,10956.49%1,60522.06%1,56021.45%2,50434.42%7,274
Bourbon4,21048.96%2,85033.15%1,53817.89%1,36015.82%8,598
Brown5,64768.94%1,86622.78%6788.28%3,78146.16%8,191
Butler7,36757.93%3,64228.64%1,70713.42%3,72529.29%12,716
Chase1,82262.61%75826.05%33011.34%1,06436.56%2,910
Chautauqua2,43959.99%1,08726.73%54013.28%1,35233.25%4,066
Cherokee5,43752.90%3,07129.88%1,77017.22%2,36623.02%10,278
Cheyenne1,11950.38%48521.84%61727.78%50222.60%2,221
Clark96959.16%41025.03%25915.81%55934.13%1,638
Clay3,76762.93%1,41723.67%80213.40%2,35039.26%5,986
Cloud4,34262.57%1,23817.84%1,35919.58%2,98342.99%6,939
Coffey3,55262.47%1,63128.68%5038.85%1,92133.78%5,686
Comanche1,04960.25%43224.81%26014.93%61735.44%1,741
Cowley8,52958.51%3,16121.68%2,88719.81%5,36836.83%14,577
Crawford9,06350.34%3,43319.07%5,50930.60%3,55419.74%18,005
Decatur1,62146.89%1,21835.23%61817.88%40311.66%3,457
Dickinson6,17864.58%1,69017.67%1,69817.75%4,48046.83%9,566
Doniphan3,78972.78%1,07220.59%3456.63%2,71752.19%5,206
Douglas8,05275.25%1,92217.96%7266.79%6,13057.29%10,700
Edwards1,92966.98%54819.03%40313.99%1,38147.95%2,880
Elk2,44364.26%1,10429.04%2556.71%1,33935.22%3,802
Ellis1,76346.37%84222.15%1,19731.48%56614.89%3,802
Ellsworth2,28658.77%95024.42%65416.81%1,33634.34%3,890
Finney1,75361.66%61421.60%47616.74%1,13940.06%2,843
Ford3,44957.99%1,55126.08%94815.94%1,89831.91%5,948
Franklin6,00867.05%2,32425.94%6287.01%3,68441.12%8,960
Geary2,67866.34%72317.91%63615.75%1,95548.43%4,037
Gove1,21167.77%40022.38%1769.85%81145.38%1,787
Graham1,63153.78%62920.74%77325.49%85828.29%3,033
Grant45967.11%14821.64%7711.26%31145.47%684
Gray95959.34%46328.65%19412.00%49630.69%1,616
Greeley35764.21%7513.49%12422.30%23341.91%556
Greenwood4,18164.02%1,79427.47%5568.51%2,38736.55%6,531
Hamilton61052.27%30726.31%25021.42%30325.96%1,167
Harper2,28053.25%1,32130.85%68115.90%95922.40%4,282
Harvey4,49958.96%1,74422.86%1,38718.18%2,75536.11%7,630
Haskell49365.13%16722.06%9712.81%32643.06%757
Hodgeman89960.66%36724.76%21614.57%53235.90%1,482
Jackson4,39171.09%1,41922.97%3675.94%2,97248.11%6,177
Jefferson4,42272.71%1,32021.70%3405.59%3,10251.00%6,082
Jewell4,34264.83%1,86127.78%4957.39%2,48137.04%6,698
Johnson6,10266.15%2,51927.31%6036.54%3,58338.84%9,224
Kearny63557.57%19918.04%26924.39%36633.18%1,103
Kingman2,41654.33%1,07724.22%95421.45%1,33930.11%4,447
Kiowa1,54170.08%49822.65%1607.28%1,04347.43%2,199
Labette6,59355.25%2,97124.90%2,36919.85%3,62230.35%11,933
Lane69359.08%28123.96%19916.97%41235.12%1,173
Leavenworth9,42968.05%2,98221.52%1,44510.43%6,44746.53%13,856
Lincoln2,27759.41%61516.04%94124.55%1,33634.86%3,833
Linn3,16157.91%1,68330.84%61411.25%1,47827.08%5,458
Logan94263.86%28619.39%24716.75%65644.47%1,475
Lyon6,29057.32%2,75025.06%1,93417.62%3,54032.26%10,974
Marion4,00856.38%1,52021.38%1,58122.24%2,42734.14%7,109
Marshall5,80962.35%2,36925.43%1,13912.22%3,44036.92%9,317
McPherson5,12865.99%1,53019.69%1,11314.32%3,59846.30%7,771
Meade1,29066.94%47224.49%1658.56%81842.45%1,927
Miami4,78861.76%1,99425.72%97112.52%2,79436.04%7,753
Mitchell3,16159.79%1,47027.80%65612.41%1,69131.98%5,287
Montgomery11,16065.02%4,17824.34%1,82510.63%6,98240.68%17,163
Morris3,08964.70%1,04021.78%64513.51%2,04942.92%4,774
Morton66955.02%28623.52%26121.46%38331.50%1,216
Nemaha4,09660.24%1,84627.15%85712.60%2,25033.09%6,799
Neosho5,10658.70%2,27426.14%1,31915.16%2,83232.56%8,699
Ness1,62964.64%54121.47%35013.89%1,08843.17%2,520
Norton2,77859.33%1,26126.93%64313.73%1,51732.40%4,682
Osage4,95763.20%2,05026.14%83610.66%2,90737.06%7,843
Osborne3,33371.55%90519.43%4209.02%2,42852.13%4,658
Ottawa2,47560.25%85420.79%77918.96%1,62139.46%4,108
Pawnee2,40762.54%1,11128.86%3318.60%1,29633.67%3,849
Phillips2,64754.97%1,37628.58%79216.45%1,27126.40%4,815
Pottawatomie4,34068.28%1,47123.14%5458.57%2,86945.14%6,356
Pratt2,76257.36%1,20525.03%84817.61%1,55732.34%4,815
Rawlins1,21345.79%74228.01%69426.20%47117.78%2,649
Reno10,33965.23%3,67523.18%1,83711.59%6,66442.04%15,851
Republic3,67159.96%1,61626.40%83513.64%2,05533.57%6,122
Rice3,92068.53%1,30322.78%4978.69%2,61745.75%5,720
Riley5,45570.03%1,64621.13%6898.84%3,80948.90%7,790
Rooks2,44266.02%93025.14%3248.76%1,51240.88%3,699
Rush1,78057.25%78725.31%54217.43%99331.94%3,109
Russell2,63764.30%68716.75%77718.95%1,86045.35%4,101
Saline6,53462.20%1,96618.71%2,00519.09%4,52943.11%10,505
Scott73450.87%44530.84%26418.30%28920.03%1,443
Sedgwick21,14457.23%8,71223.58%7,08719.18%12,43233.65%36,943
Seward1,18452.00%67629.69%41718.31%50822.31%2,277
Shawnee20,13272.21%5,09918.29%2,6479.49%15,03353.92%27,878
Sheridan1,32059.11%54224.27%37116.61%77834.84%2,233
Sherman1,12245.89%52821.60%79532.52%32713.37%2,445
Smith3,22657.23%1,63428.99%77713.78%1,59228.24%5,637
Stafford3,10068.58%95721.17%46310.24%2,14347.41%4,520
Stanton37962.44%15826.03%7011.53%22136.41%607
Stevens91366.55%30222.01%15711.44%61144.53%1,372
Sumner5,55254.93%2,55625.29%2,00019.79%2,99629.64%10,108
Thomas1,43652.50%82230.05%47717.44%61422.45%2,735
Trego1,12158.14%39920.70%40821.16%71336.98%1,928
Wabaunsee2,74265.90%63315.21%78618.89%1,95647.01%4,161
Wallace60353.70%17115.23%34931.08%25422.62%1,123
Washington4,12060.98%1,52822.62%1,10816.40%2,59238.37%6,756
Wichita48262.68%14719.12%14018.21%33543.56%769
Wilson4,59665.00%1,73624.55%73910.45%2,86040.45%7,071
Woodson2,41263.17%1,02626.87%3809.95%1,38636.30%3,818
Wyandotte23,88159.48%8,91322.20%7,35418.32%14,96837.28%40,148
Totals407,67161.54%156,31923.60%98,46114.86%251,35237.94%662,455

See also

Notes and References

  1. Ayers, Edward; Gould, Lewis; Oshinsky, David and Soderlund, Jean; American Passages: A History of the United States, Volume II: Since 1865, p. 677
  2. Grantham, Dewey; The South in Modern America: A Region at Odds, p. 106
  3. Paulson, Arthur C.; Realignment and Party Revival: Understanding American Electoral Politics at the Turn of the Twenty-First Century, p. 51
  4. Ranney, Joseph A.; In the Wake of Slavery: Civil War, Civil Rights, and the Reconstruction of Southern Law; p. 141
  5. Newman, Roger K.; The Yale Biographical Dictionary of American Law, p. 153
  6. Richardson, Danny G.; Others: "Fighting Bob" La Follette and the Progressive Movement: Third-Party Politics in the 1920s, p. 180
  7. Richardson; Others, pp. 182-183
  8. Moreno, Paul D.; The American State from the Civil War to the New Deal: The Twilight of Constitutionalism and the Triumph of Progressivism, p. 205
  9. Parrish, Michael E.; Anxious Decades: America in Prosperity and Depression, 1920-1941, pp. 70-71
  10. [Kevin Phillips (political commentator)|Phillips, Kevin P.]
  11. Phillips; The Emerging Republican Majority, pp. 412-413
  12. [Rodney Stark|Stark, Rodney]
  13. Web site: 1924 Presidential General Election Results – Kansas. Dave Leip’s U.S. Election Atlas. 25 October 2019.
  14. Scammon, Richard M. (compiler); America at the Polls: A Handbook of Presidential Election Statistics 1920-1964; pp. 165-166