1944 United States presidential election in Wisconsin explained

See main article: article and 1944 United States presidential election.

Election Name:1944 United States presidential election in Wisconsin
Country:Wisconsin
Flag Year:1913
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:1940 United States presidential election in Wisconsin
Previous Year:1940
Next Election:1948 United States presidential election in Wisconsin
Next Year:1948
Election Date:November 7, 1944
Image1:Dewey circa 1946 (cropped).jpg
Nominee1:Thomas E. Dewey
Party1:Republican Party (United States)
Home State1:New York
Running Mate1:John W. Bricker
Electoral Vote1:12
Popular Vote1:674,532
Percentage1:50.37%
Nominee2:Franklin D. Roosevelt
Party2:Democratic Party (United States)
Home State2:New York
Running Mate2:Harry S. Truman
Electoral Vote2:0
Popular Vote2:650,413
Percentage2:48.57%
Map Size:315px
President
Before Election:Franklin D. Roosevelt
Before Party:Democratic Party (United States)
After Election:Franklin D. Roosevelt
After Party:Democratic Party (United States)

The 1944 United States presidential election in Wisconsin was held on November 7, 1944 as part of the 1944 United States presidential election. State voters chose 12 electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Politics in Wisconsin since the Populist movement had been dominated by the Republican Party.[1] The Democratic Party had been uncompetitive outside certain eastern German as the upper classes, along with the majority of workers who followed them, fled from William Jennings Bryan's agrarian and free silver sympathies.[2] Although the state did develop a strong Socialist Party to provide opposition to the GOP, Wisconsin developed the direct Republican primary in 1903 and this ultimately created competition between the "League" under Robert M. La Follette, and the conservative "Regular" faction.[3] This ultimately would develop into the Wisconsin Progressive Party in the late 1930s, which was opposed to the conservative German Democrats and to the national Republican Party, and allied with Franklin D. Roosevelt at the federal level.

During the 1940 presidential election, fought whilst the United States was still neutral in World War II, the conservative German counties, especially the "WOW counties" near Milwaukee and other counties along the Lake Michigan coast, turned abruptly away from Roosevelt. These counties viewed Russian Communism as a much greater threat to America than German Nazism,[4] and believed Roosevelt offered too much aid to Britain and France.[5] The result was that the historically Democratic German Catholic counties like Kewaunee and Calumet rivalled longtime GOP bastions like Waupaca and Waushara Counties as the most Republican in the state, and GOP nominee Wendell Willkie came within two points of carrying the state after Alf Landon had lost by two-to-one four years earlier.

Early Gallup polls in August showed Republican nominee Thomas E. Dewey leading Roosevelt in Wisconsin[6] by as much as twelve percentage points at the end of the second week of that month.[7] The fact that the state's disintegrating Progressive Party was divided on whether to support Roosevelt did nothing to help the President,[8] neither did Dewey's claim that Roosevelt had close ties to Communists at home and abroad.[9]

Although wartime conditions limited campaigning in the state by the two Dutchess County natives, by mid-October polls had not changed from where they were two months previously.[10] At that time Governor Dewey visited Milwaukee on a rail trip to Minneapolis,[11] and more detailed opinion polls later in October said that powerful isolationist sentiment in rural Wisconsin and tighter unity of his opposition would ensure that Roosevelt had little hope of holding the state.[12]

Ultimately Dewey carried Wisconsin as polls had predicted he would, although by a substantially smaller margin of just 1.80 percentage points. Continuing trends in Third Party System Democratic counties around Green Bay and Appleton proved decisive in tipping the state, as Dewey tightened Willkie gains that would not be substantially reversed in the ensuing eighty years: even during Lyndon B. Johnson's 1964 landslide, Republican Barry Goldwater did much better in this area than he did nationally.

This was the first election in which Forest County and Vilas County did not vote for the eventual winner in Wisconsin. Ashland County also saw its state bellwether streak broken for the first time since 1884. Starting with this election, Buffalo County and Trempealeau County would back the statewide winner in every election until 2020 and Barron County would do the same until 2000.

Results

1944 United States presidential election in Wisconsin[13] [14]
PartyCandidateVotesPercentageElectoral votes
RepublicanThomas E. Dewey674,53250.37%12
DemocraticFranklin D. Roosevelt (incumbent)650,41348.57%0
SocialistNorman Thomas13,2050.99%0
Socialist LaborEdward A. Teichert1,0020.07%0
Totals1,339,152100.00%12

Results by county

CountyThomas E. Dewey
Republican
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Democratic
Norman Thomas
Socialist
Edward A. Teichert
Socialist Labor
MarginTotal votes cast
%%%%%
Adams1,57951.40%1,47848.11%100.33%50.16%1013.29%3,072
Ashland3,18340.60%4,60958.80%420.54%50.06%-1,426-18.19%7,839
Barron7,13755.66%5,58543.55%920.72%90.07%1,55212.10%12,823
Bayfield2,47542.02%3,36257.08%480.81%50.08%-887-15.06%5,890
Brown17,76250.14%17,57649.61%760.21%120.03%1860.53%35,426
Buffalo3,41663.19%1,94836.03%390.72%30.06%1,46827.16%5,406
Burnett2,11952.72%1,86846.48%260.65%60.15%2516.25%4,019
Calumet5,61173.58%1,96625.78%460.60%30.04%3,64547.80%7,626
Chippewa7,69153.59%6,56745.76%770.54%160.11%1,1247.83%14,351
Clark7,94862.80%4,61236.44%890.70%80.06%3,33626.36%12,657
Columbia7,86756.50%5,99743.07%550.40%50.04%1,87013.43%13,924
Crawford4,19957.12%3,13042.58%210.29%10.01%1,06914.54%7,351
Dane23,02137.96%37,07661.13%5300.87%240.04%-14,055-23.17%60,651
Dodge14,10264.44%7,66735.04%1020.47%120.05%6,43529.41%21,883
Door5,66868.25%2,59931.29%300.36%80.10%3,06936.95%8,305
Douglas7,13235.20%12,98564.08%1340.66%120.06%-5,853-28.89%20,263
Dunn5,98060.37%3,85338.90%690.70%30.03%2,12721.47%9,905
Eau Claire9,47051.13%8,96248.39%860.46%20.01%5082.74%18,520
Florence76545.59%89753.46%150.89%10.06%-132-7.87%1,678
Fond du Lac16,78563.81%9,37835.65%1280.49%150.06%7,40728.16%26,306
Forest1,39136.22%2,43663.44%100.26%30.08%-1,045-27.21%3,840
Grant10,22662.56%6,09137.27%240.15%40.02%4,13525.30%16,345
Green5,55657.28%4,10142.28%360.37%60.06%1,45515.00%9,699
Green Lake4,57167.38%2,19032.28%170.25%60.09%2,38135.10%6,784
Iowa4,60856.00%3,58543.57%300.36%50.06%1,02312.43%8,228
Iron1,34531.51%2,89467.81%260.61%30.07%-1,549-36.29%4,268
Jackson3,18250.86%3,04048.59%300.48%40.06%1422.27%6,256
Jefferson10,24559.16%6,98840.35%760.44%80.05%3,25718.81%17,317
Juneau4,73361.97%2,85737.41%420.55%50.07%1,87624.56%7,637
Kenosha12,43639.96%18,32558.88%3371.08%230.07%-5,889-18.92%31,121
Kewaunee4,15361.25%2,61138.51%150.22%10.01%1,54222.74%6,780
La Crosse12,78450.93%12,24748.79%650.26%70.03%5372.14%25,103
Lafayette4,42154.27%3,69645.37%260.32%40.05%7258.90%8,147
Langlade4,03648.23%4,31051.50%190.23%40.05%-274-3.27%8,369
Lincoln5,56464.71%2,93834.17%780.91%180.21%2,62630.54%8,598
Manitowoc14,04753.52%11,94945.53%2170.83%340.13%2,0987.99%26,247
Marathon15,78253.54%13,19244.75%4841.64%190.06%2,5908.79%29,477
Marinette7,15952.21%6,48347.28%590.43%110.08%6764.93%13,712
Marquette2,85373.47%1,01626.17%140.36%00.00%1,83747.31%3,883
Milwaukee142,44840.15%205,28257.85%6,7051.89%3950.11%-62,834-17.71%354,830
Monroe7,27764.09%4,01335.34%610.54%30.03%3,26428.75%11,354
Oconto5,92357.38%4,34842.12%450.44%60.06%1,57515.26%10,322
Oneida3,25344.06%4,07655.21%530.72%10.01%-823-11.15%7,383
Outagamie18,29464.44%9,95535.07%1200.42%200.07%8,33929.37%28,389
Ozaukee5,65560.66%3,57938.39%810.87%80.09%2,07622.27%9,323
Pepin1,90264.28%1,02934.78%250.84%30.10%87329.50%2,959
Pierce5,13762.40%3,03336.84%600.73%30.04%2,10425.56%8,233
Polk5,32953.58%4,48945.14%1211.22%60.06%8408.45%9,945
Portage5,40538.27%8,67861.44%360.25%60.04%-3,273-23.17%14,125
Price3,25847.78%3,51551.55%400.59%60.09%-257-3.77%6,819
Racine18,22041.11%25,69757.97%3900.88%180.04%-7,477-16.87%44,325
Richland5,08861.85%3,10937.79%240.29%50.06%1,97924.06%8,226
Rock18,47752.23%16,76647.39%1040.29%290.08%1,7114.84%35,376
Rusk3,09248.40%3,23850.69%420.66%160.25%-146-2.29%6,388
Sauk9,75162.72%5,69036.60%950.61%100.06%4,06126.12%15,546
Sawyer2,42155.02%1,94744.25%260.59%60.14%47410.77%4,400
Shawano8,73268.16%4,01531.34%570.44%70.05%4,71736.82%12,811
Sheboygan15,29149.42%15,06248.68%5571.80%280.09%2290.74%30,938
St. Croix5,66053.01%4,93046.17%800.75%80.07%7306.84%10,678
Taylor3,19448.24%3,21548.56%2093.16%30.05%-21-0.32%6,621
Trempealeau4,71951.06%4,49648.65%270.29%00.00%2232.41%9,242
Vernon5,67651.04%5,40948.64%190.17%170.15%2672.40%11,121
Vilas2,02148.91%2,07950.31%250.61%70.17%-58-1.40%4,132
Walworth10,90165.34%5,69634.14%780.47%80.05%5,20531.20%16,683
Washburn2,44153.85%2,05945.42%290.64%40.09%3828.43%4,533
Washington8,92169.44%3,84029.89%770.60%90.07%5,08139.55%12,847
Waukesha17,99557.44%13,03841.62%2780.89%150.05%4,95715.82%31,326
Waupaca11,49574.44%3,87925.12%630.41%50.03%7,61649.32%15,442
Waushara4,67575.54%1,48523.99%270.44%20.03%3,19051.54%6,189
Winnebago19,31059.56%12,84139.61%2500.77%190.06%6,46919.95%32,420
Wood9,56957.92%6,86141.53%810.49%90.05%2,70816.39%16,520
Totals674,53250.37%650,41348.57%13,2050.99%1,0020.07%24,1191.80%1,339,152

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Electors

These were the names of the electors on each ticket.[13]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Burnham, Walter Dean; 'The System of 1896: An Analysis'; in The Evolution of American Electoral Systems, pp. 178-179
  2. Sundquist, James; Politics and Policy: The Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson Years, p. 526
  3. Hansen, John Mark; Shigeo Hirano, and Snyder, James M. Jr.; 'Parties within Parties: Parties, Factions, and Coordinated Politics, 1900-1980'; in Gerber, Alan S. and Schickler, Eric; Governing in a Polarized Age: Elections, Parties, and Political Representation in America, pp. 165-168
  4. [Kevin Phillips (political commentator)|Phillips, Kevin P.]
  5. Phillips; The Emerging Republican Majority, pp. 47, 159
  6. Gallup, George; 'Three More Midwest States Throw Support to Dewey'; The Washington Post, August 9, 1944, p. 2
  7. Gallup, George; 'Dewey Leads 32-State Poll'; The Washington Post, August 13, 1944, p. B5
  8. 'How Wisconsin Looks to Gould Lincoln'; Daily Boston Globe, October 3, 1944, p. 5
  9. Fried, Richard M.; '"Operation Polecat": Thomas E. Dewey, the 1948 Election, and the Origins of McCarthyism'; Journal of Policy History, Vol. 22, Issue 1, (January 2010), pp. 1-22
  10. 'Dewey Gains in Midwest Farm States: Gallup'; The Washington Post, October 11, 1944, p. 1
  11. Folliard, Edward T.; 'Dewey Leaves Today on New Midwest Tour'; The Washington Post, October 23, 1944, p. 3
  12. Catledge, Turner; 'Isolationism Dims Wisconsin Picture: Labor Backers of Roosevelt Have Task of Overcoming Strong Trend to Dewey'; The New York Times, October 22, 1944, p. 39
  13. Wisconsin Historical Society, Certificate of Board of State Canvassers Relative to Presidential Candidates and Presidential Electors - November 7, 1944
  14. Book: The Wisconsin Blue Book 1946. Wisconsin Legislative Reference Library. Summary Vote For President By Counties. Madison, Wisconsin. 662.