1924 United States presidential election in Rhode Island explained

See main article: 1924 United States presidential election.

Election Name:1924 United States presidential election in Rhode Island
Country:Rhode Island
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:1920 United States presidential election in Rhode Island
Previous Year:1920
Next Election:1928 United States presidential election in Rhode Island
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 Vote1:125,286
Percentage1:59.63%
Nominee2:John W. Davis
Party2:Democratic Party (United States)
Home State2:West Virginia
Running Mate2:Charles W. Bryan
Electoral Vote2:0
Popular Vote2:76,606
Percentage2:36.46%
Map Size:250px
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 Rhode Island took place on November 4, 1924, as part of the 1924 United States presidential election which was held throughout all contemporary 48 states. Voters chose five representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Rhode Island voted for the Republican nominee, incumbent President Calvin Coolidge of Massachusetts, over the Democratic nominee, Ambassador John W. Davis of West Virginia. Coolidge ran with former Budget Director Charles G. Dawes of Illinois, while Davis ran with Governor Charles W. Bryan of Nebraska. Also in the running that year was the Progressive Party nominee, Senator Robert M. La Follette of Wisconsin and his running mate Senator Burton K. Wheeler of Montana. La Follette's support base was primarily among rural German and Scandinavian Americans,[1] particularly German Catholics, and he possessed little appeal in the Northeast outside a few New York and Boston anti-Prohibition precincts despite the area's large Catholic population. This was especially true in Rhode Island where La Follette's opposition to the League of Nations was severely unpopular,[2] and consequently Rhode Island was La Follette's sixth-weakest state and weakest outside the former Confederacy where the lower classes were almost entirely disfranchised.

Coolidge won Rhode Island by a margin of 23.17%. His victory was also enjoyed a unique personal popularity which helped him in the state and the rest of New England. He was the epitome of a traditional New England Yankee, having been born in the small-town of Plymouth Notch, Vermont, and establishing his political career nearby as Governor of Massachusetts. Thus Coolidge remained especially popular with voters across the New England region.

The 1920s were a fiercely Republican decade in American politics, and Rhode Island in that era was a fiercely Republican state in presidential elections. The economic boom and social good feelings of the Roaring Twenties under popular Republican leadership virtually guaranteed Calvin Coolidge an easy win in the state against the conservative Southern Democrat Davis. Although Davis’ reticence on the Ku Klux Klan was opposed by large Catholic populations in Rhode Island, his status as the solitary pro-League of Nations candidate helped him in Rhode Island with its large immigrant population. Consequently, Davis gained almost 4% on Cox's 1920 vote and in fact Rhode Island was his third strongest state in the North and West (behind New Mexico and Indiana), giving Davis a vote percentage 7.64% above his national figure.

In effect, Davis’ gain would begin Rhode Island's transition from a strongly Yankee Republican state into a Democratic-leaning state, made definitive via Catholic Al Smith’s win 4 years later. Rhode Island would not vote for another Republican presidential candidate until Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952, and since 1924, Republicans have only carried the state four times. To date, this was the last time that the state's capital and largest city, Providence, voted Republican.

Results

By county

CountyCalvin CoolidgeRepublicanJohn DavisDemocraticOther candidatesVarious partiesTotal
%%%
Bristol60.6%4,07637.2%2,5002.3%153style=”text-align:center;”6,729
Kent65.8%11,10032.2%5,4292.0%331style=”text-align:center;”16,860
Newport67.2%9,60827.8%3,9754.9%706style=”text-align:center;”14,289
Providence57.2%92,46438.6%62,3364.2%6,750style=”text-align:center;”161,550
Washington75.2%8,03822.1%2,3662.6%283style=”text-align:center;”10,687

Results by town

TownJohn Calvin Coolidge
Republican
John William Davis
Democratic
Robert M. La Follette, Sr.
Progressive
William Z. Foster
Workers
Frank Tetes Johns
Socialist Labor
William Wallace
Commonwealth Land
MarginTotal votes cast[3]
data-sort-type="number"data-sort-type="number"%data-sort-type="number"data-sort-type="number"%data-sort-type="number"data-sort-type="number"%data-sort-type="number"data-sort-type="number"%data-sort-type="number"data-sort-type="number"%data-sort-type="number"data-sort-type="number"%data-sort-type="number"data-sort-type="number"%
Barrington1,23982.71%23915.95%201.34%00.00%00.00%00.00%1,00066.76%1,498
Bristol1,60253.52%1,31343.87%742.47%20.07%10.03%10.03%2899.66%2,993
Burrillville1,59051.47%1,36344.12%1314.24%30.10%20.06%00.00%2277.35%3,089
Central Falls2,90642.88%3,68354.35%1732.55%100.15%50.07%00.00%-777-11.47%6,777
Charlestown36783.79%5913.47%122.74%00.00%00.00%00.00%30870.32%438
Coventry1,73570.16%69227.98%421.70%20.08%20.08%00.00%1,04342.18%2,473
Cranston8,83276.52%2,34420.31%3312.87%110.10%220.19%20.02%6,48856.21%11,542
Cumberland1,76646.11%1,90249.66%1483.86%100.26%40.10%00.00%-136-3.55%3,830
East Greenwich1,34478.50%33919.80%281.64%10.06%00.00%00.00%1,00558.70%1,712
East Providence5,96270.12%2,24926.45%2773.26%60.07%50.06%40.05%3,71343.67%8,503
Exeter31787.09%4111.26%61.65%00.00%00.00%00.00%27675.82%364
Foster41583.50%7715.49%30.60%00.00%10.20%10.20%33868.01%497
Glocester51769.21%21929.32%101.34%00.00%10.13%00.00%29839.89%747
Hopkinton95987.98%1069.72%242.20%10.09%00.00%00.00%85378.26%1,090
Jamestown46577.50%10918.17%254.17%00.00%10.17%00.00%35659.33%600
Johnston1,59565.10%78031.84%682.78%10.04%60.24%00.00%81533.27%2,450
Lincoln2,20357.47%1,56740.88%501.30%30.08%100.26%00.00%63616.59%3,833
Little Compton41594.97%204.58%10.23%10.23%00.00%00.00%39590.39%437
Middletown49587.30%6311.11%91.59%00.00%00.00%00.00%43276.19%567
Narragansett49575.57%15423.51%50.76%10.15%00.00%00.00%34152.06%655
New Shoreham43092.87%326.91%10.22%00.00%00.00%00.00%39885.96%463
Newport6,11559.43%3,54534.45%6075.90%100.10%130.13%00.00%2,57024.98%10,290
North Kingstown1,46377.82%37319.84%412.18%10.05%20.11%00.00%1,09057.98%1,880
North Providence1,86160.05%1,13836.72%862.78%60.19%50.16%30.10%72323.33%3,099
North Smithfield68060.88%39135.00%443.94%10.09%10.09%00.00%28925.87%1,117
Pawtucket13,80756.76%9,62239.56%8143.35%360.15%430.18%30.01%4,18517.20%24,325
Portsmouth55888.85%609.55%91.43%10.16%00.00%00.00%49879.30%628
Providence42,06354.33%31,66740.90%3,4314.43%1230.16%1190.15%230.03%10,39613.43%77,426
Richmond43776.53%10919.09%244.20%00.00%10.18%00.00%32857.44%571
Scituate1,04382.13%20516.14%181.42%40.31%00.00%00.00%83865.98%1,270
Smithfield88164.26%47334.50%161.17%00.00%10.07%00.00%40829.76%1,371
South Kingstown1,71271.81%63126.47%361.51%40.17%10.04%00.00%1,08145.34%2,384
Tiverton1,13086.66%14611.20%231.76%10.08%40.31%00.00%98475.46%1,304
Warren1,23555.18%94842.36%522.32%10.04%10.04%10.04%28712.82%2,238
Warwick5,49478.17%1,35519.28%1632.32%90.13%70.10%00.00%4,13958.89%7,028
West Greenwich14683.43%2916.57%00.00%00.00%00.00%00.00%11766.86%175
West Warwick2,38143.51%3,01455.08%731.33%20.04%20.04%00.00%-633-11.57%5,472
Westerly2,28869.23%89327.02%1103.33%50.15%90.27%00.00%1,39542.21%3,305
Woonsocket6,34354.33%4,65639.88%6435.51%120.10%200.17%00.00%1,68714.45%11,674
Totals125,28659.63%76,60636.46%7,6283.63%2680.13%2890.14%380.02%48,68023.17%210,115

See also

Notes and References

  1. [Rodney Stark|Stark, Rodney]
  2. Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004, p. 55
  3. Rhode Island Secretary of State; ‘Presidential Election, November 4, 1924 Vote of Rhode Island by Cities and Towns’; Rhode Island Manual, 1925-1926