1924 United States presidential election in Oregon explained

See main article: 1924 United States presidential election.

Election Name:1924 United States presidential election in Oregon
Country:Oregon
Flag Image:File:Flag of Oregon (1900–1925).gif
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:1920 United States presidential election in Oregon
Previous Year:1920
Next Election:1928 United States presidential election in Oregon
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 Vote1:5
Popular Vote1:142,579
Percentage1:51.01%
Nominee2:Robert M. La Follette
Party2:Independent politician
Alliance2:Progressive Party (United States, 1924–34)
Home State2:Wisconsin
Running Mate2:Burton K. Wheeler
Electoral Vote2:0
Popular Vote2:68,403
Percentage2:24.47%
Image3:John William Davis.jpg
Nominee3:John W. Davis
Party3:Democratic Party (United States)
Home State3:West Virginia
Running Mate3:Charles W. Bryan
Electoral Vote3:0
Popular Vote3:67,589
Percentage3:24.18%
Map Size:375px
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 Oregon took place on November 4, 1924, as part of the 1924 United States presidential election which was held throughout all contemporary 48 states. State voters chose five representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Outside a few Presidential and gubernatorial elections, Oregon was a virtually one-party Republican state during the “System of 1896”,[1] where the only competition was via Republican primaries.[2] Apart from Woodrow Wilson’s two elections, during the first of which the GOP was severely divided, no Democrat since William Jennings Bryan in 1900 had carried a single county in the state.

Still, in the previous 1920 election Oregon saw less decline from Wilson's 1916 support than any other state in the West or Plains,[3] so that after being Wilson's poorest state in this region it was James Cox’s strongest therein. Despite continuing overwhelming Republican dominance of the state legislature, 1922 had seen incumbent Governor Ben W. Olcott denounce the powerful Ku Klux Klan[4] with the result that Democratic nominee Walter Pierce won the election on a platform to make attendance at public schools compulsory, without support from the more progressive faction of the dominant Republican Party.[5] The 1922 House of Representatives elections also saw Oregon elect to the 3rd District its first Democratic representative since 1880 in Elton Watkins. Pierce did pass this law with overwhelming support from conservative Republicans in the legislature,[6] only to find it overruled by both the Oregon Supreme Court and later federally in Pierce v. Society of Sisters.

However, the division of the Democratic Party over the Ku Klux Klan – which at the time all but ruled Oregon with its reputation for fanatical racism[7] and anti-Catholicism[8] – alongside maverick veteran Wisconsin Senator Robert La Follette’s decision to mount a third-party presidential campaign[9] ensured by late summer that the Republicans would be unchallenged in carrying Oregon, especially after La Follette denounced the Klan,[10] which was highly popular amongst working Oregonians.[11]

Polls consistently showed that Oregon would remain firmly in Republican hands,[12] and by mid-October it was clear that La Follette and Davis would run close for second place.[13] Ultimately La Follette edged Davis out for second place by a mere 814 votes out of 279,488, although Oregon was still Davis’ best state west of the Continental Divide apart from the two less isolationist states of Southern-leaning Arizona and Mormon Utah, with the Democrat's best vote coming from historically Democratic and Ozark mountaineer-settled Eastern Oregon.[14] Coolidge nonetheless carried every county, and won all but Jefferson and Umatilla counties by double digits.

Results

Presidential CandidateRunning MatePartyElectoral Vote (EV)Popular Vote (PV)
Calvin Coolidge of MassachusettsCharles DawesRepublican5[15] 142,57951.01%
Robert M. La FolletteBurton K. WheelerIndependent068,40324.47%
John W. DavisCharles W. BryanDemocratic067,58924.18%
Frank T. JohnsVerne L. ReynoldsSocialist Labor09170.33%

Results by county

CountyJohn Calvin Coolidge
Republican		John William Davis
Democratic		Robert Marion La Follette, Sr.
Independent		Frank Tetes Johns
Socialist Labor		MarginTotal votes cast[16]
%%%%%
Baker2,80345.41%2,00432.47%1,35621.97%90.15%79912.95%6,172
Benton3,41760.68%1,57928.04%62311.06%120.21%1,83832.64%5,631
Clackamas5,86443.28%3,09922.87%4,50833.27%770.57%1,35610.01%13,548
Clatsop3,31356.33%1,37323.35%1,15819.69%370.63%1,94032.99%5,881
Columbia2,48356.20%1,01522.97%89620.28%240.54%1,46833.23%4,418
Coos3,90548.39%1,75721.77%2,35929.23%490.61%1,54619.16%8,070
Crook72550.73%43430.37%26618.61%40.28%29120.36%1,429
Curry66454.70%22418.45%31726.11%90.74%34728.58%1,214
Deschutes2,32153.02%1,01523.18%1,01323.14%290.66%1,30629.83%4,378
Douglas4,21953.75%1,66621.23%1,94324.75%210.27%2,27629.00%7,849
Gilliam73850.20%52135.44%20714.08%40.27%21714.76%1,470
Grant1,12656.90%45923.19%38019.20%140.71%66733.70%1,979
Harney85153.83%43627.58%28518.03%90.57%41526.25%1,581
Hood River1,21448.44%68327.25%60023.94%90.36%53121.19%2,506
Jackson4,86853.25%1,84020.13%2,40826.34%250.27%2,46026.91%9,141
Jefferson37439.00%24225.23%33434.83%90.94%404.17%959
Josephine1,75653.91%65019.96%83525.64%160.49%92128.28%3,257
Klamath2,77553.48%68013.10%1,71533.05%190.37%1,06020.43%5,189
Lake91760.33%30420.00%29519.41%40.26%61340.33%1,520
Lane8,55159.90%3,25522.80%2,41616.92%530.37%5,29637.10%14,275
Lincoln1,32852.20%64125.20%55221.70%230.90%68727.00%2,544
Linn4,14149.56%2,61831.33%1,57518.85%210.25%1,52318.23%8,355
Malheur1,67151.94%82825.74%71022.07%80.25%84326.20%3,217
Marion8,35152.14%3,99624.95%3,63122.67%380.24%4,35527.19%16,016
Morrow99153.34%39721.37%46224.87%80.43%52928.47%1,858
Multnomah48,86649.98%21,73322.23%26,93227.55%2330.24%21,93422.44%97,764
Polk2,75552.75%1,62131.04%83115.91%160.31%1,13421.71%5,223
Sherman75655.92%36727.14%22916.94%00.00%38928.77%1,352
Tillamook2,20159.18%79521.38%70018.82%230.62%1,40637.81%3,719
Umatilla3,85444.71%3,05235.41%1,69319.64%210.24%8029.30%8,620
Union2,42842.87%1,81632.07%1,39824.69%210.37%61210.81%5,663
Wallowa1,25346.29%97335.94%47117.40%100.37%28010.34%2,707
Wasco2,40951.46%1,18525.32%1,06922.84%180.38%1,22426.15%4,681
Washington4,20345.98%2,10323.01%2,80930.73%260.28%1,39415.25%9,141
Wheeler68568.43%21321.28%10310.29%00.00%47247.15%1,001
Yamhill3,80353.11%2,01528.14%1,32418.49%180.25%1,78824.97%7,160
Totals142,57951.01%67,58924.18%68,40324.47%9170.33%74,17626.54%279,488

See also

Notes and References

  1. Burnham, Walter Dean; ‘The System of 1896’, in Kleppner, Paul (editor), The Evolution of American Electoral Systems, pp. 176-179
  2. Murray, Keith; ‘Issues and Personalities of Pacific Northwest Politics, 1889-1950’, The Pacific Northwest Quarterly, vol. 41, no. 3 (July 1950), pp. 213-233
  3. [Kevin Phillips (political commentator)|Phillips, Kevin P.]
  4. Book: Miller, Kenneth P. . Direct Democracy and the Courts . 2009 . Cambridge University Press . 127 . 978-0-521-76564-0.
  5. Kazin, Michael; Edwards, Rebecca and Rothman, Adam; The Concise Princeton Encyclopedia of American Political History, p. 373
  6. Book: Koppelman, Kent. The Great Diversity Debate: Embracing Pluralism in School and Society. 0-8077-5222-3. 45–46.
  7. See Loewen, James W.; Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism
  8. Book: Allerfeldt, Kristofer . Kristofer Allerfeldt . Race, Radicalism, Religion, and Restriction: Immigration in the Pacific Northwest, 1890-1924 . 2003 . Praeger . 59–62 . 978-0-275-97854-9.
  9. Richardson, Danny G.; Others: "Fighting Bob" La Follette and the Progressive Movement: Third-Party Politics in the 1920s, p. 180
  10. Richardson; Others, pp. 182-183
  11. Chalmers David Mark; Hooded Americanism: The History of the Ku Klux Klan, 3rd Ed., pp. 85-89
  12. ‘Davis Percentage Increases in Poll – But Coolidge Still Leads With 808,340 Out of Total of 1,451,591 Votes. La Follette Is Second’; New York Times, October 10, 1924, p. 3
  13. ‘Odds on Coolidge to Carry Oregon: Davis and La Follette Fight for Second Place’; New York Times Special, October 18, 1924, p. 4
  14. Phillips; The Emerging Republican Majority, p. 482
  15. Web site: 1924 Presidential General Election Results – Oregon. Dave Leip’s U.S. Election Atlas. 27 December 2019.
  16. Oregon Secretary of State Elections Division; Abstract of Votes Cast in the several counties in the State of Oregon at a General Election held on the Fourth day of November, A.D. 1924, for Presidential Electors

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