1936 United States presidential election in Florida explained

See main article: 1936 United States presidential election.

Election Name:1936 United States presidential election in Florida
Country:Florida
Flag Year:1900
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:1932 United States presidential election in Florida
Previous Year:1932
Election Date:November 8, 1936
Next Election:1940 United States presidential election in Florida
Next Year:1940
Image1:FDR in 1933 (cropped).jpg
Nominee1:Franklin D. Roosevelt
Party1:Democratic Party (United States)
Home State1:New York
Running Mate1:John Nance Garner
Electoral Vote1:7
Popular Vote1:249,117
Percentage1:76.08%
President
Before Election:Franklin D. Roosevelt
Before Party:Democratic
After Election:Franklin D. Roosevelt
After Party:Democratic
Nominee2:Alf Landon
Party2:Republican Party (United States)
Running Mate2:Frank Knox
Home State2:Kansas
Electoral Vote2:0
Percentage2:23.90%
Popular Vote2:78,248
Map Size:400px

The 1936 United States presidential election in Florida was held on November 8, 1936. Florida voters chose seven electors, or representatives to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Ever since the disfranchisement of blacks at the beginning of the 1890s, Florida had been a one-party state ruled by the Democratic Party. The disfranchisement of blacks and poor whites by poll taxes in 1889[1] had left the Republican Party – between 1872 and 1888 dependent upon black votes – virtually extinct.

With the single exception of William Howard Taft's win in Calhoun County in 1908[2] the Democratic Party won every county in Florida in every presidential election from 1892 until 1916. Only twice – and never for more than one term – did any Republican serve in either house of the state legislature between 1896 and 1928. Despite this Democratic dominance and the restrictions on the franchise of the poorer classes due to the poll tax, significant socialist movements were to develop and persist in Tampa[3] and to a lesser extent over other parts of the state, especially against the powerful Ku Klux Klan.[4] There was also a powerful Prohibitionist movements in older North Florida, which saw the Prohibition Party even win the governorship for one term under the notorious anti-Catholic minister Sidney J. Catts.

The 1920s saw the GOP increase its vote totals above those from traditional Unionists (which Florida entirely lacked) in Texas, Arkansas, Alabama or Georgia, aided by a growing "Presidential Republican" vote in southern Florida from migrants from northern states.[5] In 1928, Florida, especially the western Panhandle pineywoods, turned dramatically away from the Democratic Party due to the nomination of Catholic Al Smith, with the result that Herbert Hoover became the first Republican to win a statewide election since the end of Reconstruction.[5] However, the Depression and elimination of anti-Catholicism saw a return to normal overwhelming Democratic dominance in 1932. Despite this, Hoover’s gains in newer South and Central Florida were not completely lost, as Republicans still managed 40% of the vote in Osceola, Charlotte, and Pinellas counties, all of which were beginning to see large-scale migration from historically Republican Northern states.

In 1932, Florida would elect David Sholtz as governor who was closely allied with President Roosevelt and strongly in favor of the New Deal. He would even fashion himself politically in a manner that was similar to Roosevelt.[6] Roosevelt would face an assassination attempt in Miami's Bayfront Park in February 1933. Roosevelt would visit Florida on March 23, 1936 going to Rollins College in Winter Park to do a ceremony there. The event would attract sizable crowds and it is believed the presidential election occurring in November would be a sizable motivator for his trip. It was estimated that 75,000 to 100,000 people would watch the motorcade that ended up driving for 10 miles and David Sholtz would ride alongside him.[7]

A number of conservative Southern newspapers – in Florida, the Jacksonville Times-Union – were opposed to Roosevelt and despite the extreme historical hostility towards the GOP, supported Republican nominee Alf Landon in all but name.[8] Nonetheless, a combination of powerful political funding of the Democratic Party from textile and other businesses,[9] and support for FDR's New Deal in the anti-Smith pineywoods,[10] meant that Landon had no hope of making any gains on Herbert Hoover's performance in 1932. Incumbent President Roosevelt won by 170,869 votes or 52.18%, carrying as in 1932 every county in the state.[11] Roosevelt’s 76.08% is the second-best ever Democratic performance in Florida behind only Grover Cleveland’s 1892 performance and the best ever Democratic performance for a Democrat with a Republican opponent.

Results

Results by county

CountyFranklin Delano Roosevelt
Democratic		Alfred Mossman Landon
Republican		Various candidates
Write-ins		MarginTotal votes cast[12]
%%%%
Alachua4,78884.33%89015.67%3,89868.65%5,678
Baker1,55593.06%1166.94%1,43986.12%1,671
Bay3,20285.55%54114.45%2,66171.09%3,743
Bradford1,49483.60%29316.40%1,20167.21%1,787
Brevard2,30066.72%1,14733.28%1,15333.45%3,447
Broward4,38569.70%1,90630.30%2,47939.41%6,291
Calhoun1,04385.21%18114.79%86270.42%1,224
Charlotte78258.80%54841.20%23417.59%1,330
Citrus1,36689.57%15910.43%1,20779.15%1,525
Clay1,25169.00%56231.00%68938.00%1,813
Collier90291.11%888.89%81482.22%990
Columbia2,78393.42%1966.58%2,58786.84%2,979
Dade28,00773.08%10,29526.86%210.05%17,71246.22%38,323
De Soto1,59474.00%56026.00%1,03448.00%2,154
Dixie1,17094.81%645.19%1,10689.63%1,234
Duval25,98982.88%5,36817.12%20,62165.76%31,357
Escambia9,13885.36%1,56714.64%7,57170.72%10,705
Flagler50782.71%10617.29%40165.42%613
Franklin1,41391.87%1258.13%1,28883.75%1,538
Gadsden2,57292.85%1987.15%2,37485.70%2,770
Gilchrist83693.72%566.28%78087.44%892
Glades52369.00%23531.00%28837.99%758
Gulf84492.24%717.76%77384.48%915
Hamilton1,55495.51%734.49%1,48191.03%1,627
Hardee2,14271.73%84428.27%1,29843.47%2,986
Hendry74176.00%23424.00%50752.00%975
Hernando1,11578.08%31321.92%80256.16%1,428
Highlands1,89868.97%84230.60%120.44%1,05638.37%2,752
Hillsborough20,20279.03%5,36120.97%14,84158.06%25,563
Holmes3,21380.63%77219.37%2,44161.25%3,985
Indian River1,27070.48%53229.52%73840.95%1,802
Jackson3,75791.46%3518.54%3,40682.91%4,108
Jefferson1,24390.73%1279.27%1,11681.46%1,370
Lafayette1,08493.13%806.87%1,00486.25%1,164
Lake4,04566.53%2,03433.45%10.02%2,01133.08%6,080
Lee2,54969.12%1,13730.83%20.05%1,41238.29%3,688
Leon3,77093.16%2776.84%3,49386.31%4,047
Levy2,00391.63%1838.37%1,82083.26%2,186
Liberty80092.59%647.41%73685.19%864
Madison2,27892.53%1847.47%2,09485.05%2,462
Manatee3,48770.56%1,45529.44%2,03241.12%4,942
Marion4,66485.99%76014.01%3,90471.98%5,424
Martin77870.41%32729.59%45140.81%1,105
Monroe2,60590.23%2829.77%2,32380.46%2,887
Nassau1,09581.90%24218.10%85363.80%1,337
Okaloosa2,43384.19%45715.81%1,97668.37%2,890
Okeechobee65577.88%18622.12%46955.77%841
Orange7,31462.42%4,39437.50%90.08%2,92024.92%11,717
Osceola1,62259.57%1,10140.43%52119.13%2,723
Palm Beach9,63568.25%4,47831.72%40.03%5,15736.53%14,117
Pasco2,22965.79%1,15934.21%1,07031.58%3,388
Pinellas12,07259.57%8,18340.38%100.05%3,88919.19%20,265
Polk10,44171.45%4,16428.49%90.06%6,27742.95%14,614
Putnam2,70973.53%97526.47%1,73447.07%3,684
St. John's3,41175.87%1,08524.13%2,32651.73%4,496
St. Lucie1,94679.66%49720.34%1,44959.31%2,443
Santa Rosa2,93479.77%74420.23%2,19059.54%3,678
Sarasota2,41869.62%1,05530.38%1,36339.25%3,473
Seminole2,58074.20%89725.80%1,68348.40%3,477
Sumter1,72470.14%73429.86%99040.28%2,458
Suwannee2,86393.41%2026.59%2,66186.82%3,065
Taylor1,89793.73%1276.27%1,77087.45%2,024
Union1,08992.44%897.56%1,00084.89%1,178
Volusia7,92461.63%4,93438.37%2,99023.25%12,858
Wakulla1,41796.92%453.08%1,37293.84%1,462
Walton2,77884.49%51015.51%2,26868.98%3,288
Washington2,28982.40%48617.49%30.11%1,80364.90%2,778
Totals249,11776.08%78,24823.90%710.02%170,86952.18%327,436

Notes and References

  1. [Joel H. Silbey|Silbey, Joel H.]
  2. Robinson, Edgar Eugene; The Presidential Vote; 1896-1932 (second edition); pp. 156-157 Published 1947 by Stanford University Press
  3. Ford, Edward J.; 'Life on the Campaign Trail: a Political Anthropology of Local Politics' (thesis), published 2008 by University of South Florida, pp. 114-118
  4. Gregory, Raymond F.; Norman Thomas: The Great Dissenter, pp. 150-151
  5. Phillips, Kevin; The Emerging Republican Majority, pp. 210-211, 261
  6. Cox, Merlin G. (1964) "David Sholtz: New Deal Governor of Florida," Florida Historical Quarterly: Vol. 43 : No. 2, Article 5.
  7. News: Dickinson. Joy. January 20, 2013. Despite bullets in Miami, FDR conquered Central Florida in open motorcade. Orlando Sentinel. June 7, 2021.
  8. Shappard, Si; The Buying of the Presidency?: Franklin D. Roosevelt, the New Deal, and the Election of 1936 (Praeger Series on American Political Culture), p. 115
  9. Webber, Michael J.; New Deal Fat Cats: Business, Labor, and Campaign Finance in the 1936 Presidential Election, pp. 100-103
  10. Phillips, The Emerging Republican Majority; p. 262
  11. Web site: 1936 Presidential General Election Results – Florida. Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S Presidential Elections.
  12. Scammon, Richard M. (compiler); America at the Polls: A Handbook of Presidential Election Statistics 1920-1964; pp. 87-88

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