1924 United States presidential election in Michigan explained

See main article: 1924 United States presidential election.

Election Name:	1924 United States presidential election in Michigan
Country:	Michigan
Type:	presidential
Ongoing:	no
Previous Election:	1920 United States presidential election in Michigan
Previous Year:	1920
Next Election:	1928 United States presidential election in Michigan
Next Year:	1928
Votes For Election:	All 15 Michigan votes to the Electoral College
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:	15
Popular Vote1:	874,631
Percentage1:	75.37%
Nominee2:	John W. Davis
Party2:	Democratic Party (United States)
Home State2:	West Virginia
Running Mate2:	Charles W. Bryan
Electoral Vote2:	0
Popular Vote2:	152,359
Percentage2:	13.13%
Image3:	Robert La Follette Sr crop.jpg
Nominee3:	Robert M. La Follette
Party3:	Progressive Party (United States, 1924)
Home State3:	Wisconsin
Running Mate3:	Burton K. Wheeler
Electoral Vote3:	0
Popular Vote3:	122,014
Percentage3:	10.51%
President
Before Election:	Calvin Coolidge
Before Party:	Republican Party (United States)
After Election:	Calvin Coolidge
After Party:	Republican Party (United States)
Map Size:	375px

The 1924 United States presidential election in Michigan took place on November 4, 1924, as part of the 1924 United States presidential election. Voters chose fifteen^[1] representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Ever since the Panic of 1893 and the Populist movement, Michigan had been rigidly one-party polity dominated by the Republican Party.^[2] In the 1894 elections, the Democratic Party lost all but one seat in the Michigan legislature,^[3] and over the four ensuing decades the party would never make major gains there.^[2] The dominance of the culture of the Lower Peninsula by anti-slavery Yankees^[4] would be augmented by the turn of formerly Democratic-leaning German Catholics away from that party as a result of the remodelled party's agrarian and free silver sympathies, which became rigidly opposed by both the upper class and workers who followed them,^[5] while the Populist movement eliminated Democratic ties with the business and commerce of Michigan and other Northern states.^[6] By the 1920s, the only significant financial backer of the state Democratic Party was billionaire William Comstock.^[7]

Unlike the other states of the Upper Midwest, the Yankee influence on the culture of the Lower Peninsula was so strong that left-wing third parties did not provide significant opposition to the Republicans, nor was there more than a moderate degree of coordinated factionalism within the hegemonic Michigan Republican Party.^[8]

By taking a substantial proportion of the 1912 “Bull Moose” vote, incumbent president Woodrow Wilson would manage the best performance in Michigan by a Democrat since Grover Cleveland in 1888,^[9] but 1918 saw a major reaction against Wilson throughout the Midwest, due to supposed preferential treatment of Southern farmers.^[10] Republicans would hold every seat in the State Senate for over a decade after the fall election,^[11] as they had between 1895 and 1897 and between 1905 and 1911, and every seat in both houses of the state legislature between 1921 and 1923.

The only campaigning done in the state by any of the three major candidates – Republican Party incumbent Calvin Coolidge of Massachusetts, Democratic nominee John W. Davis of West Virginia and third-party candidate Robert M. La Follette Sr. of the Progressive Party — was a tour by conservative Southern Democrat Davis in September,^[12] during which he campaigned to eliminate the income tax burden of the poorer classes.^[13]

Results

Results by county

1924 United States presidential election in Michigan by county

County	John Calvin Coolidge Republican		John William Davis Democratic		Robert M. La Follette Progressive		Herman Preston Faris Prohibition		William Zebulon Foster Communist		Margin		Total votes cast^[14]
	data-sort-type="number" width="7%"		data-sort-type="number" width="7%"	%	data-sort-type="number" width="6%"		data-sort-type="number" width="6%"	%	data-sort-type="number" width="7%"		data-sort-type="number" width="7%"	%		data-sort-type="number" width="7%"		data-sort-type="number" width="7%"	%	data-sort-type="number" width="7%"		data-sort-type="number" width="7%"	%	data-sort-type="number" width="6%"		data-sort-type="number" width="6%"	%
	Alcona		1,027		72.32%		184		12.96%		179		12.61%		21		1.48%		9		0.63%		843		59.37%		1,420
	Alger		1,623		66.52%		228		9.34%		505		20.70%		38		1.56%		46		1.89%		1,118		45.82%		2,440
	Allegan		9,417		79.32%		1,562		13.16%		795		6.70%		68		0.57%		30		0.25%		7,855		66.16%		11,872
	Alpena		4,628		75.78%		948		15.52%		488		7.99%		21		0.34%		22		0.36%		3,680		60.26%		6,107
	Antrim		2,246		76.79%		371		12.68%		270		9.23%		23		0.79%		15		0.51%		1,875		64.10%		2,925
	Arenac		1,767		67.57%		575		21.99%		254		9.71%		14		0.54%		5		0.19%		1,192		45.58%		2,615
	Baraga		1,714		71.84%		208		8.72%		391		16.39%		36		1.51%		37		1.55%		1,323		55.45%		2,386
	Barry		5,656		70.72%		2,046		25.58%		242		3.03%		44		0.55%		10		0.13%		3,610		45.14%		7,998
	Bay		14,861		64.75%		5,881		25.62%		1,991		8.68%		142		0.62%		76		0.33%		8,980		39.13%		22,951
	Benzie		1,922		73.84%		198		7.61%		419		16.10%		44		1.69%		20		0.77%		1,503		57.74%		2,603
	Berrien		15,612		63.73%		4,445		18.15%		4,183		17.08%		158		0.64%		99		0.40%		11,167		45.59%		24,497
	Branch		6,016		64.67%		2,253		24.22%		943		10.14%		69		0.74%		21		0.23%		3,763		40.45%		9,302
	Calhoun		18,165		71.91%		4,020		15.91%		2,782		11.01%		170		0.67%		125		0.49%		14,145		55.99%		25,262
	Cass		4,545		59.93%		2,328		30.70%		645		8.50%		43		0.57%		23		0.30%		2,217		29.23%		7,584
	Charlevoix		3,346		79.65%		406		9.66%		387		9.21%		37		0.88%		25		0.60%		2,940		69.98%		4,201
	Cheboygan		2,683		64.16%		994		23.77%		441		10.55%		45		1.08%		19		0.45%		1,689		40.39%		4,182
	Chippewa		5,443		77.44%		516		7.34%		997		14.18%		36		0.51%		37		0.53%		4,446		63.25%		7,029
	Clare		1,920		77.67%		358		14.48%		157		6.35%		19		0.77%		18		0.73%		1,562		63.19%		2,472
	Clinton		6,637		76.81%		1,359		15.73%		596		6.90%		38		0.44%		11		0.13%		5,278		61.08%		8,641
	Crawford		840		72.92%		163		14.15%		137		11.89%		7		0.61%		5		0.43%		677		58.77%		1,152
	Delta		4,761		49.83%		463		4.85%		4,204		44.00%		48		0.50%		78		0.82%		557		5.83%		9,554
	Dickinson		4,538		68.66%		400		6.05%		1,495		22.62%		80		1.21%		96		1.45%		3,043		46.04%		6,609
	Eaton		8,232		73.66%		2,462		22.03%		394		3.53%		55		0.49%		32		0.29%		5,770		51.63%		11,175
	Emmet		3,020		69.23%		773		17.72%		501		11.49%		35		0.80%		33		0.76%		2,247		51.51%		4,362
	Genesee		34,264		83.82%		4,225		10.34%		2,124		5.20%		125		0.31%		140		0.34%		30,039		73.48%		40,878
	Gladwin		1,908		78.36%		255		10.47%		242		9.94%		23		0.94%		7		0.29%		1,653		67.89%		2,435
	Gogebic		5,128		66.54%		487		6.32%		1,781		23.11%		168		2.18%		143		1.86%		3,347		43.43%		7,707
	Grand Traverse		4,011		74.86%		558		10.41%		709		13.23%		54		1.01%		26		0.49%		3,302		61.63%		5,358
	Gratiot		6,720		76.09%		1,839		20.82%		200		2.26%		53		0.60%		20		0.23%		4,881		55.26%		8,832
	Hillsdale		6,556		68.45%		1,980		20.67%		947		9.89%		67		0.70%		28		0.29%		4,576		47.78%		9,578
	Houghton		13,833		83.02%		1,045		6.27%		1,579		9.48%		83		0.50%		122		0.73%		12,254		73.54%		16,662
	Huron		8,843		81.14%		988		9.07%		983		9.02%		60		0.55%		24		0.22%		7,855		72.08%		10,898
	Ingham		28,005		81.16%		4,814		13.95%		1,488		4.31%		146		0.42%		52		0.15%		23,191		67.21%		34,505
	Ionia		9,502		73.21%		2,821		21.74%		559		4.31%		79		0.61%		18		0.14%		6,681		51.48%		12,979
	Iosco		1,713		71.43%		304		12.68%		329		13.72%		32		1.33%		20		0.83%		1,384		57.71%		2,398
	Iron		2,802		65.06%		247		5.73%		1,143		26.54%		60		1.39%		55		1.28%		1,659		38.52%		4,307
	Isabella		5,245		77.08%		1,208		17.75%		285		4.19%		52		0.76%		15		0.22%		4,037		59.32%		6,805
	Jackson		19,640		69.18%		5,639		19.86%		2,880		10.14%		141		0.50%		90		0.32%		14,001		49.32%		28,390
	Kalamazoo		18,451		75.31%		3,587		14.64%		2,283		9.32%		97		0.40%		82		0.33%		14,864		60.67%		24,500
	Kalkaska		966		70.46%		205		14.95%		177		12.91%		18		1.31%		5		0.36%		761		55.51%		1,371
	Kent		45,207		76.61%		7,982		13.53%		5,356		9.08%		260		0.44%		203		0.34%		37,225		63.08%		59,008
	Keweenaw		1,421		91.15%		50		3.21%		67		4.30%		6		0.38%		15		0.96%		1,354		86.85%		1,559
	Lake		1,069		68.79%		313		20.14%		160		10.30%		4		0.26%		8		0.51%		756		48.65%		1,554
	Lapeer		6,297		83.65%		929		12.34%		248		3.29%		40		0.53%		14		0.19%		5,368		71.31%		7,528
	Leelanau		1,792		75.36%		301		12.66%		249		10.47%		23		0.97%		13		0.55%		1,491		62.70%		2,378
	Lenawee		13,358		72.65%		3,950		21.48%		958		5.21%		82		0.45%		40		0.22%		9,408		51.16%		18,388
	Livingston		4,886		67.37%		2,037		28.09%		274		3.78%		40		0.55%		15		0.21%		2,849		39.29%		7,252
	Luce		850		80.65%		112		10.63%		83		7.87%		9		0.85%		0		0.00%		738		70.02%		1,054
	Mackinac		1,606		51.62%		998		32.08%		481		15.46%		12		0.39%		14		0.45%		608		19.54%		3,111
	Macomb		11,147		69.96%		3,191		20.03%		1,506		9.45%		54		0.34%		35		0.22%		7,956		49.93%		15,933
	Manistee		3,701		58.09%		1,314		20.62%		1,294		20.31%		43		0.67%		19		0.30%		2,387		37.47%		6,371
	Marquette		9,771		70.70%		845		6.11%		2,984		21.59%		121		0.88%		99		0.72%		6,787		49.11%		13,820
	Mason		3,567		67.18%		815		15.35%		791		14.90%		63		1.19%		74		1.39%		2,752		51.83%		5,310
	Mecosta		3,884		76.96%		794		15.73%		304		6.02%		33		0.65%		32		0.63%		3,090		61.22%		5,047
	Menominee		4,142		53.35%		1,055		13.59%		2,459		31.67%		48		0.62%		60		0.77%		1,683		21.68%		7,764
	Midland		4,004		79.08%		625		12.34%		358		7.07%		64		1.26%		12		0.24%		3,379		66.74%		5,063
	Missaukee		1,723		85.09%		208		10.27%		79		3.90%		13		0.64%		2		0.10%		1,515		74.81%		2,025
	Monroe		8,940		58.12%		4,981		32.38%		1,343		8.73%		73		0.47%		46		0.30%		3,959		25.74%		15,383
	Montcalm		6,942		78.97%		1,396		15.88%		349		3.97%		78		0.89%		26		0.30%		5,546		63.09%		8,791
	Montmorency		748		63.93%		140		11.97%		264		22.56%		14		1.20%		4		0.34%		484		41.37%		1,170
	Muskegon		14,422		79.22%		1,462		8.03%		2,188		12.02%		68		0.37%		66		0.36%		12,234		67.20%		18,206
	Newaygo		4,243		79.22%		720		13.44%		333		6.22%		48		0.90%		12		0.22%		3,523		65.78%		5,356
	Oakland		28,603		81.27%		4,105		11.66%		2,201		6.25%		162		0.46%		125		0.36%		24,498		69.60%		35,196
	Oceana		3,335		74.94%		650		14.61%		380		8.54%		50		1.12%		35		0.79%		2,685		60.34%		4,450
	Ogemaw		1,714		79.32%		258		11.94%		156		7.22%		19		0.88%		14		0.65%		1,456		67.38%		2,161
	Ontonagon		2,249		71.42%		417		13.24%		399		12.67%		23		0.73%		61		1.94%		1,832		58.18%		3,149
	Osceola		3,050		77.79%		566		14.44%		256		6.53%		40		1.02%		9		0.23%		2,484		63.35%		3,921
	Oscoda		389		82.24%		52		10.99%		30		6.34%		0		0.00%		2		0.42%		337		71.25%		473
	Otsego		1,144		73.81%		249		16.06%		143		9.23%		8		0.52%		6		0.39%		895		57.74%		1,550
	Ottawa		11,688		78.55%		1,871		12.57%		1,220		8.20%		54		0.36%		47		0.32%		9,817		65.97%		14,880
	Presque Isle		2,315		67.45%		431		12.56%		645		18.79%		27		0.79%		14		0.41%		1,670		48.66%		3,432
	Roscommon		484		69.64%		99		14.24%		101		14.53%		6		0.86%		5		0.72%		383		55.11%		695
	Saginaw		23,618		67.99%		6,206		17.87%		4,649		13.38%		162		0.47%		103		0.30%		17,412		50.12%		34,738
	Sanilac		7,767		84.53%		983		10.70%		366		3.98%		50		0.54%		22		0.24%		6,784		73.84%		9,188
	Schoolcraft		1,515		61.34%		190		7.69%		720		29.15%		24		0.97%		21		0.85%		795		32.19%		2,470
	Shiawassee		8,987		72.99%		1,738		14.12%		1,366		11.09%		144		1.17%		78		0.63%		7,249		58.87%		12,313
	St. Clair		17,435		76.54%		3,600		15.80%		1,635		7.18%		68		0.30%		42		0.18%		13,835		60.73%		22,780
	St. Joseph		6,633		61.34%		2,649		26.13%		747		7.37%		52		0.51%		56		0.55%		3,984		39.30%		10,137
	Tuscola		7,490		80.37%		1,076		11.55%		653		7.01%		91		0.98%		9		0.10%		6,414		68.83%		9,319
	Van Buren		7,384		71.55%		1,646		15.95%		1,170		11.34%		72		0.70%		48		0.47%		5,738		55.60%		10,320
	Washtenaw		14,326		72.24%		3,603		18.17%		1,728		8.71%		93		0.47%		80		0.40%		10,723		54.07%		19,830
	Wayne		268,653		80.11%		23,817		7.10%		39,773		11.86%		1,121		0.33%		1,972		0.59%		228,880		68.25%		335,336
	Wexford		3,926		77.47%		592		11.68%		443		8.74%		74		1.46%		33		0.65%		3,334		65.79%		5,068
Totals	874,631	75.37%	152,359	13.13%	122,014	10.51%	6,085	0.52%	5,330	0.46%	722,272	62.24%	1,160,419

Analysis

The first poll taken showed it clearly that Coolidge would carry Michigan by a huge margin,^[15] although there was substantial debate as to whom the opposition vote would go — early polls had La Follette receiving twice as many votes as Davis, but Democratic spokesmen worried that the state's few Democrats would desert to Coolidge said Davis would out-poll the Wisconsin Senator.^[7] Ultimately, Davis did out-poll the Wisconsin Senator, whose figures of around 20 percent in October would fall to only 10.51 percent of the vote on election day, whilst Coolidge carried Michigan with a percentage even higher than originally predicted and which surpassed Warren G. Harding’s record performance from 1920.^{[16] [17]}

Coolidge carried Michigan with 75.37 percent of the popular vote. This remains the best performance in a presidential election in Michigan, and Coolidge emulated Theodore Roosevelt in 1904 and William Howard Taft in 1908 by carrying every county in the state. Michigan was to be Coolidge's second strongest state in the 1924 election in terms of popular vote percentage after his birth state of Vermont.^[18]

Democrat Davis gathered only 13.13 percent of the vote and did not pass one-third in any of Michigan's eighty-three counties, whilst La Follette, who carried his neighbouring home state of Wisconsin and received over thirty percent in all other states of the Upper Midwest, received limited support in Michigan because it was less German^[19] and more Yankee and Polish than any other Midwestern state.^[20] La Follette's best performance was in the heavily Finnish and anti-clerical Upper Peninsula,^[21] where he received forty-four percent in Delta County and over twenty percent in seven other counties in the western Upper Peninsula. However, in the more populous Lower Peninsula, La Follette exceeded his national vote share of 16.62 percent only in four of sixty-eight counties, and consequently the Wisconsin Senator won only 10.51 percent of Michigan's total vote, making it his third-weakest state in the Midwest after heavily Southern-leaning Indiana and Missouri. As in 1920, the Republican presidential landslide was accompanied by a clean sweep of every seat in both houses of the State legislature.

See also

• United States presidential elections in Michigan

Notes and References

1. Web site: 1924 Election for the Thirty-Fifth Term (1925-1929). 2018-04-03.
2. Book: Burnham, Walter Dean. The System of 1896: An Analysis. The Evolution of American Electoral Systems. 178–179. 0313213798.
3. News: Swamped! The Democrats Drowned Out by a Tremendous Republican Tidal Wave. The L'Anse Sentinel. November 10, 1894. L'Anse. 1.
4. English, Gustavus P.; Proceedings of the Ninth Republican National Convention (1888), p. 234
5. Book: Sundquist, James. Politics and Policy: The Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson Years. 526. 0815719094.
6. Book: Rogowski, Ronald. Commerce and Coalitions: How Trade Affects Domestic Political Alignments. 0691219435. Princeton University Press. 2020.
7. News: Davis Forces See Upset in Michigan: Democrats Claim Nominee Will Lead La Follette Despite Result Indicated in Poll. The San Francisco Examiner. San Francisco, California. October 18, 1924. 2.
8. Book: Hansen. John Mark. Shigeo. Hirano. Snyder Jr.. James M.. Parties within Parties: Parties, Factions, and Coordinated Politics, 1900-1980. Gerber. Alan S.. Schickler. Eric. Governing in a Polarized Age: Elections, Parties, and Political Representation in America. 165–168. 978-1-107-09509-0.
9. Web site: Presidential General Election Results Comparison — Michigan. Dave Leip’s U.S. Election Atlas.
10. Book: Morello, John A.. Albert D. Lasker, Advertising, and the Election of Warren G. Harding. 64. 0275970302.
11. Kang. Michael S.. Hyperpartisan Gerrymandering. Boston College Law Review. May 29, 2019. 69. 1395.
12. Book: Tucker, Garland. High Tide of American Conservatism: Davis, Coolidge, and the 1924 Election. 191. 193711029X.
13. Book: Richardson, Danny G.. Others: "Fighting Bob" La Follette and the Progressive Movement: Third-Party Politics in the 1920s. 180. 0595481264.
14. Michigan Department of State – Bureau of Elections; Michigan Manual, (1925), p. 387
15. News: Latest Totals in Nationwide Presidential Straw Ballot. The San Francisco Examiner. San Francisco, California. October 18, 1924. 2.
16. Web site: 1924 Presidential General Election Results — Michigan. 2018-04-03.
17. Web site: The American Presidency Project — Election of 1924. 2018-04-03.
18. Web site: 1924 Presidential Election Statistics. Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. 2018-03-05.
19. Book: Phillips, Kevin P.. The Emerging Republican Majority. 1970. 405. 978-0-691-16324-6.
20. See Book: Lichtman, Allan J.. Prejudice and the Old Politics : the Presidential Election of 1928. 98–99. 0807813583.
21. [Rodney Stark|Stark, Rodney]