1932 United States presidential election in Virginia explained

See main article: 1932 United States presidential election.

Election Name:1932 United States presidential election in Virginia
Country:Virginia
Flag Year:1931
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:1928 United States presidential election in Virginia
Previous Year:1928
Next Election:1936 United States presidential election in Virginia
Next Year:1936
Election Date:November 8, 1932
Image1:FDR in 1933.jpg
Nominee1:Franklin D. Roosevelt
Party1:Democratic Party (United States)
Home State1:New York
Running Mate1:John N. Garner
Electoral Vote1:11
Popular Vote1:203,979
Percentage1:68.46%
Nominee2:Herbert Hoover
Party2:Republican Party (United States)
Home State2:California
Running Mate2:Charles Curtis
Electoral Vote2:0
Popular Vote2:89,637
Percentage2:30.09%
Map Size:435px
President
Before Election:Herbert Hoover
Before Party:Republican Party (United States)
After Election:Franklin D. Roosevelt
After Party:Democratic Party (United States)

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

1932 United States presidential election in Virginia[15]
PartyCandidateVotesPercentageElectoral votes
DemocraticFranklin D. Roosevelt203,97968.46%11
RepublicanHerbert Hoover (inc.)89,63730.09%0
SocialistNorman Thomas2,3820.80%0
ProhibitionWilliam David Upshaw1,8430.62%0
CommunistWilliam Z. Foster860.03%0
Farmer-LaborJacob Coxey150.01%0
Totals297,942100.00%11

Results by county or independent city

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		MarginTotal votes cast
%%%%
Accomack County2,45881.74%52717.53%220.73%1,93164.22%3,007
Albemarle County1,94978.24%50820.39%341.36%1,44157.85%2,491
Alleghany County1,29353.50%1,09545.30%291.20%1988.19%2,417
Amelia County70182.08%14216.63%111.29%55965.46%854
Amherst County1,76489.09%1959.85%211.06%1,56979.24%1,980
Appomattox County1,12383.99%20415.26%100.75%91968.74%1,337
Arlington County3,28552.69%2,80645.01%1432.29%4797.68%6,234
Augusta County2,60661.51%1,54136.37%902.12%1,06525.14%4,237
Bath County59459.88%38438.71%141.41%21021.17%992
Bedford County2,32181.99%46916.57%411.45%1,85265.42%2,831
Bland County78357.74%55641.00%171.25%22716.74%1,356
Botetourt County1,80859.12%1,20939.54%411.34%59919.59%3,058
Brunswick County1,36195.58%523.65%110.77%1,30991.92%1,424
Buchanan County1,37265.24%72734.57%40.19%64530.67%2,103
Buckingham County87079.82%20418.72%161.47%66661.10%1,090
Campbell County1,69283.72%30114.89%281.39%1,39168.83%2,021
Caroline County1,07678.89%27019.79%181.32%80659.09%1,364
Carroll County1,53750.79%1,46148.28%280.93%762.51%3,026
Charles City County24573.13%8525.37%51.49%16047.76%335
Charlotte County1,30088.02%16911.44%80.54%1,13176.57%1,477
Chesterfield County1,88669.90%72626.91%863.19%1,16042.99%2,698
Clarke County84186.43%12412.74%80.82%71773.69%973
Craig County64967.18%30231.26%151.55%34735.92%966
Culpeper County1,34975.70%41723.40%160.90%93252.30%1,782
Cumberland County51184.05%8413.82%132.14%42770.23%608
Dickenson County2,63567.95%1,22831.67%150.39%1,40736.28%3,878
Dinwiddie County1,02890.18%1049.12%80.70%92481.05%1,140
Elizabeth City County1,22662.58%70035.73%331.68%52626.85%1,959
Essex County42080.15%10119.27%30.57%31960.88%524
Fairfax County2,71465.33%1,36832.93%721.73%1,34632.40%4,154
Fauquier County1,99983.43%37915.82%180.75%1,62067.61%2,396
Floyd County69939.90%1,05159.99%20.11%-352-20.09%1,752
Fluvanna County57975.39%17622.92%131.69%40352.47%768
Franklin County2,24572.96%81226.39%200.65%1,43346.57%3,077
Frederick County1,53676.19%45622.62%241.19%1,08053.57%2,016
Giles County1,75462.60%1,01636.26%321.14%73826.34%2,802
Gloucester County91675.64%28023.12%151.24%63652.52%1,211
Goochland County62977.65%16620.49%151.85%46357.16%810
Grayson County2,30658.26%1,62441.03%280.71%68217.23%3,958
Greene County39460.43%25839.57%00.00%13620.86%652
Greensville County69285.33%11213.81%70.86%58071.52%811
Halifax County3,58391.85%2757.05%431.10%3,30884.80%3,901
Hanover County1,07380.56%23817.87%211.58%83562.69%1,332
Henrico County2,45863.43%1,29133.32%1263.25%1,16730.12%3,875
Henry County1,14676.25%34222.75%151.00%80453.49%1,503
Highland County46455.37%35542.36%192.27%10913.01%838
Isle of Wight County98277.02%28422.27%90.71%69854.75%1,275
James City County30271.06%11627.29%71.65%18643.76%425
King and Queen County36868.79%15428.79%132.43%21440.00%535
King George County47569.65%20329.77%40.59%27239.88%682
King William County61276.12%17722.01%151.87%43554.10%804
Lancaster County63968.93%27229.34%161.73%36739.59%927
Lee County2,89258.84%1,98540.39%380.77%90718.45%4,915
Loudoun County2,44079.45%60019.54%311.01%1,84059.92%3,071
Louisa County87968.62%36628.57%362.81%51340.05%1,281
Lunenburg County1,14191.50%927.38%141.12%1,04984.12%1,247
Madison County84961.52%52237.83%90.65%32723.70%1,380
Mathews County65256.50%48842.29%141.21%16414.21%1,154
Mecklenburg County2,18888.30%27511.10%150.61%1,91377.20%2,478
Middlesex County59580.19%12717.12%202.70%46863.07%742
Montgomery County1,80553.01%1,52244.70%782.29%2838.31%3,405
Nansemond County1,26486.22%19613.37%60.41%1,06872.85%1,466
Nelson County1,45785.61%23813.98%70.41%1,21971.62%1,702
New Kent County28670.44%11528.33%51.23%17142.12%406
Norfolk County2,92672.09%1,07226.41%611.50%1,85445.68%4,059
Northampton County1,26480.15%29818.90%150.95%96661.26%1,577
Northumberland County63071.27%24527.71%91.02%38543.55%884
Nottoway County1,34880.67%27716.58%462.75%1,07164.09%1,671
Orange County1,25379.96%30919.72%50.32%94460.24%1,567
Page County1,85158.61%1,26139.93%461.46%59018.68%3,158
Patrick County1,34272.42%48626.23%251.35%85646.20%1,853
Pittsylvania County3,12481.35%65617.08%601.56%2,46864.27%3,840
Powhatan County43378.02%10819.46%142.52%32558.56%555
Prince Edward County97081.04%19616.37%312.59%77464.66%1,197
Prince George County59783.03%11515.99%70.97%48267.04%719
Prince William County1,49978.61%38620.24%221.15%1,11358.36%1,907
Princess Anne County1,45176.29%43222.71%191.00%1,01953.58%1,902
Pulaski County2,31466.99%1,10932.11%310.90%1,20534.89%3,454
Rappahannock County59081.94%12417.22%60.83%46664.72%720
Richmond County46169.95%19229.14%60.91%26940.82%659
Roanoke County2,50958.79%1,70439.93%551.29%80518.86%4,268
Rockbridge County1,76467.35%81130.97%441.68%95336.39%2,619
Rockingham County2,75053.85%2,19442.96%1633.19%55610.89%5,107
Russell County3,27470.09%1,38629.67%110.24%1,88840.42%4,671
Scott County2,13755.64%1,67343.56%310.81%46412.08%3,841
Shenandoah County2,63550.51%2,51448.19%681.30%1212.32%5,217
Smyth County2,28754.50%1,84343.92%661.57%44410.58%4,196
Southampton County1,35787.15%18211.69%181.16%1,17575.47%1,557
Spotsylvania County78468.35%34630.17%171.48%43838.19%1,147
Stafford County73161.38%45438.12%60.50%27723.26%1,191
Surry County65388.72%739.92%101.36%58078.80%736
Sussex County68883.39%12214.79%151.82%56668.61%825
Tazewell County2,71356.97%2,00542.10%440.92%70814.87%4,762
Warren County1,09674.46%36724.93%90.61%72949.52%1,472
Warwick County64571.67%24226.89%131.44%40344.78%900
Washington County2,78460.17%1,77438.34%691.49%1,01021.83%4,627
Westmoreland County64174.80%21224.74%40.47%42950.06%857
Wise County5,27668.13%2,40531.06%630.81%2,87137.07%7,744
Wythe County1,86653.56%1,58945.61%290.83%2777.95%3,484
York County45756.84%30938.43%384.73%14818.41%804
Alexandria City2,94170.29%1,19928.66%441.05%1,74241.63%4,184
Bristol City1,25279.09%30719.39%241.52%94559.70%1,583
Buena Vista City25858.90%15435.16%265.94%10423.74%438
Charlottesville City1,28775.53%40924.00%80.47%87851.53%1,704
Clifton Forge City91772.15%32825.81%262.05%58946.34%1,271
Danville City2,26473.41%74023.99%802.59%1,52449.42%3,084
Fredericksburg City81268.18%36630.73%131.09%44637.45%1,191
Hampton City77271.22%29427.12%181.66%47844.10%1,084
Harrisonburg City99558.81%66539.30%321.89%33019.50%1,692
Hopewell City95772.50%34225.91%211.59%61546.59%1,320
Lynchburg City3,65674.07%1,20024.31%801.62%2,45649.76%4,936
Martinsville City73977.14%21222.13%70.73%52755.01%958
Newport News City2,70362.80%1,51535.20%862.00%1,18827.60%4,304
Norfolk City8,81465.45%4,40332.69%2501.86%4,41132.75%13,467
Petersburg City1,92078.69%49020.08%301.23%1,43058.61%2,440
Portsmouth City3,34463.17%1,84034.76%1102.08%1,50428.41%5,294
Radford City54259.63%34137.51%262.86%20122.11%909
Richmond City14,63170.75%5,60227.09%4482.17%9,02943.66%20,681
Roanoke City6,21565.15%3,19533.49%1301.36%3,02031.66%9,540
South Norfolk City59763.17%32934.81%192.01%26828.36%945
Staunton City98863.54%55135.43%161.03%43728.10%1,555
Suffolk City1,01378.71%26520.59%90.70%74858.12%1,287
Williamsburg City38776.63%9919.60%193.76%28857.03%505
Winchester City1,17961.73%69836.54%331.73%48125.18%1,910
Totals203,97968.46%89,63730.09%4,3261.45%114,34238.38%297,942

Analysis

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.

, 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.

Notes and References

  1. Book: Kousser, J. Morgan. The Shaping of Southern Politics: Suffrage Restriction and the Establishment of the One-Party South, 1880-1910. Yale University Press. 178–181. 0-300-01696-4.
  2. Book: Key, Valdimer Orlando. Southern Politics in State and Nation. 1949. 20–25.
  3. Book: Heersink. Boris. Jenkins. Jeffrey A.. Republican Party Politics and the American South, 1865-1968. 217–221. 1107158435.
  4. Moger. Allen. The Rift in Virginia Democracy in 1896. The Journal of Southern History. 4. 3. 295–317.
  5. Book: [[Kevin Phillips (political commentator)|Phillips]], Kevin P.. The Emerging Republican Majority. 193, 219. 1969. 0870000586.
  6. Phillips. The Emerging Republican Majority, p. 195
  7. Hawkes (junior). Robert T.. The Emergence of a Leader: Harry Flood Byrd, Governor of Virginia, 1926-1930. July 1974. 82. 3. The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography. 259–281.
  8. Book: Heinemann, Ronald L.. Harry Byrd of Virginia. 1996. University Press of Virginia. Charlottesville, Virginia.
  9. Book: Lewinson, Paul. Race, class and party; a history of Negro suffrage and white politics in the South. 1965. 167–168.
  10. Book: Ritchie, Donald A.. Electing FDR: the New Deal campaign of 1932. 143. 2007. Lawrence, Kansas. University Press of Kansas. 070061687X.
  11. Heinemann; Harry Byrd of Virginia, p. 141
  12. Heinemann; Harry Byrd of Virginia, p. 143
  13. News: Roosevelt Overwhelmingly. The Tampa Times. October 21, 1932. 4-A.
  14. News: Pasquino. Non-Partisan Forecast Gives G.O.P. President Edge over Roosevelt. The Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho. October 30, 1932. 1, 6.
  15. Web site: Statistics of the Congressional and Presidential election of November 8, 1932 . Clerk of the House of Representatives . 38.
  16. Robinson, Edgar Eugene; The Presidential Vote 1896-1932, pp. 354-361
  17. Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016

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