1948 United States presidential election in Florida explained

See main article: 1948 United States presidential election.

Election Name:1948 United States presidential election in Florida
Country:Florida
Flag Year:1900
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:1944 United States presidential election in Florida
Previous Year:1944
Election Date:November 2, 1948
Next Election:1952 United States presidential election in Florida
Next Year:1952
Image1:Harry S Truman, bw half-length photo portrait, facing front, 1945 (cropped).jpg
Nominee1:Harry Truman
Party1:Democratic Party (United States)
Home State1:Missouri
Running Mate1:Alben Barkley
Electoral Vote1:8
Popular Vote1:281,988
Percentage1:48.82%
President
Before Election:Harry Truman
Before Party:Democratic
After Election:Harry Truman
After Party:Democratic
Nominee2:Thomas Dewey
Nominee3:Strom Thurmond
Running Mate2:Earl Warren
Running Mate3:Fielding Wright
Image3:Strom Thurmond 1948 (cropped).jpg
Party2:Republican Party (United States)
Party3:Dixiecrat
Electoral Vote2:0
Electoral Vote3:0
Popular Vote2:194,280
Popular Vote3:89,755
Percentage2:33.63%
Percentage3:15.54%
Home State2:New York
Home State3:South Carolina
Map Size:400px

The 1948 United States presidential election in Florida was held on November 2, 1948. Voters chose eight electors, or representatives to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Harry Truman won by 87,708 votes or 15.19 percentage points over his Republican opponent Thomas E. Dewey. In culturally Deep Southern North Florida, including the rural and socially conservative Panhandle, Truman was able to rely on having a strong economic program – which Thurmond entirely lacked – to hold off Thurmond's racial appeal.[1] In more cosmopolitan and liberal Central and South Florida – which had seen extensive settlement by Northerners since the war – his economic policies were a winner against Henry Wallace, who received only two percent of the state's vote but did an order of magnitude better in some Tampa precincts.[2]

Dewey nonetheless made dramatic gains upon previous Republican efforts in Florida. By carrying eleven counties, all of which were located in Central and South Florida, mostly in the southwest and on the east coast, he was only the fifth Republican to carry any Florida county at the presidential level since the poll tax' original implementation following the 1888 election. The Dewey counties had in earlier Democratic primaries typically backed "conservative" candidates favoring limited or no economic regulation,[1] due to their lack of dependence on the traditionally "Southern" crops of cotton and tobacco, and would become the most consistently conservative and Republican counties in future presidential elections. Strom Thurmond, who had had to run as a third-party candidate under the "States' Rights" banner, nonetheless won over fifteen percent of the vote. Thurmond carried three counties but ran second in thirty-one others.

This is the last time,, that Florida was won by a Democratic presidential candidate by double digits; not even Lyndon B. Johnson in his 1964 landslide election nor Jimmy Carter in 1976 managed to win the state by double digits, despite both men being Southern Democrats. Republicans have won Florida by double digits in six subsequent elections.

This election is also the last time Highlands County have ever voted for a Democratic presidential candidate.[3] Osceola County, which Truman won by two votes, would not vote Democratic again until 1996. Seminole County would not vote Democratic again until 2020.

16% of white voters supported Thurmond.

Florida's ballot access laws required parties to have 5% of voters registered in them before the primary in May. The Progressives were unable to meet this requirement, but the Florida legislature changed the laws to allow the Dixiecrats to appear. This also allowed the Progressives to appear as well.

Results

United States presidential election in Florida, 1948[4]
PartyCandidateVotesPercentageElectoral votes
DemocraticHarry S. Truman (incumbent)281,98848.82%8
RepublicanThomas E. Dewey194,28033.63%0
States' RightsJ. Strom Thurmond89,75515.54%0
ProgressiveHenry A. Wallace11,6202.01%0
Total577,643100.00%8
Voter turnout (Voting age)33.5%[5]

Results by county

County[6] Harry S. Truman
Democratic		Thomas E. Dewey
Republican		Strom Thurmond
Dixiecrat		Henry A. Wallace
Progressive		MarginTotal votes cast
%%%%%
Alachua3,74536.78%2,40323.60%3,93738.67%970.95%-192-1.89%10,182
Baker84972.19%1129.52%21318.11%20.17%63654.08%1,176
Bay5,16870.68%92812.69%1,19316.32%230.31%3,97554.36%7,312
Bradford1,22856.07%35716.30%59327.08%120.55%63528.99%2,190
Brevard2,34842.20%2,31541.61%85715.40%440.79%330.59%5,564
Broward7,09636.35%9,93350.88%2,30011.78%1920.98%-2,837-14.53%19,521
Calhoun1,40478.26%1287.13%25814.38%40.22%1,14663.88%1,794
Charlotte52041.01%55944.09%17213.56%171.34%-39-3.08%1,268
Citrus94056.90%46127.91%24414.77%70.42%47928.99%1,652
Clay1,54456.31%72226.33%45716.67%190.69%82229.98%2,742
Collier36241.14%24728.07%25128.52%202.27%11112.62%880
Columbia1,79753.93%55316.60%97829.35%40.12%81924.58%3,332
DeSoto1,15755.57%56927.33%35016.81%60.29%58828.24%2,082
Dixie86267.82%1118.73%29523.21%30.24%56744.61%1,271
Duval28,56747.85%15,37925.76%14,42824.17%1,3212.21%13,18822.09%59,695
Escambia13,98263.11%3,26714.75%4,79021.62%1170.53%9,19241.49%22,156
Flagler15323.61%15423.77%33050.93%111.70%-176-27.16%648
Franklin63559.79%13012.24%29427.68%30.28%34132.11%1,062
Gadsden1,42750.93%37613.42%99235.40%70.25%43515.53%2,802
Gilchrist88483.32%464.34%13112.35%00.00%75370.97%1,061
Glades27449.37%15027.03%12722.88%40.72%12422.34%555
Gulf1,21977.20%1469.25%20913.24%50.32%1,01063.96%1,579
Hamilton1,07166.44%20212.53%33720.91%20.12%73445.53%1,612
Hardee1,87165.49%68924.12%2819.84%160.56%1,18241.37%2,857
Hendry69953.89%34026.21%24118.58%171.31%35927.68%1,297
Hernando82549.34%44126.38%37222.25%342.03%38422.96%1,672
Highlands2,25752.98%1,47134.53%49811.69%340.80%78618.45%4,260
Hillsborough18,85445.67%13,52932.77%5,09412.34%3,8099.23%5,32512.90%41,286
Holmes1,79956.29%49215.39%90228.22%30.09%89728.07%3,196
Indian River1,05543.10%1,13446.32%24610.05%130.53%-79-3.22%2,448
Jackson3,16955.11%64811.27%1,91733.34%160.28%1,25221.77%5,750
Jefferson70052.91%15311.56%46735.30%30.23%23317.61%1,323
Lafayette97585.15%524.54%11710.22%10.09%85874.93%1,145
Lake3,47441.96%3,57943.23%1,18014.25%460.56%-105-1.27%8,279
Lee1,88332.48%2,27639.26%1,60027.60%380.66%-393-6.78%5,797
Leon3,60758.55%1,14918.65%1,35021.91%550.89%2,25736.64%6,161
Levy1,12855.76%22511.12%66232.72%80.40%46623.04%2,023
Liberty73786.81%303.53%819.54%10.12%65677.27%849
Madison1,18951.70%2079.00%89839.04%60.26%29112.66%2,300
Manatee2,76636.35%3,37144.30%1,43118.80%420.55%-605-7.95%7,610
Marion4,65057.01%1,82922.43%1,64020.11%370.45%2,82134.58%8,156
Martin81538.55%94844.84%32315.28%281.32%-133-6.29%2,114
Miami-Dade59,68153.52%41,30137.04%7,1366.40%3,3943.04%18,38016.48%111,512
Monroe3,75983.48%54812.17%1222.71%741.64%3,21171.31%4,503
Nassau1,51855.10%54019.60%68124.72%160.58%83730.38%2,755
Okaloosa2,51962.86%48612.13%99224.76%100.25%1,52738.10%4,007
Okeechobee78474.81%17917.08%848.02%10.10%60557.73%1,048
Orange10,06339.23%11,97146.67%3,37413.15%2440.95%-1,908-7.44%25,652
Osceola1,57744.65%1,57544.59%35710.11%230.65%20.06%3,532
Palm Beach9,40839.01%10,99645.60%3,22613.38%4852.01%-1,588-6.59%24,115
Pasco2,37548.66%1,83937.68%62812.87%390.80%53610.98%4,881
Pinellas15,72435.32%24,90055.92%3,4007.64%5001.12%-9,176-20.60%44,524
Polk12,03452.57%7,69233.60%2,99213.07%1740.76%4,34218.97%22,892
Putnam1,94740.27%1,43529.68%1,43129.60%220.46%51210.59%4,835
St. Johns1,99431.63%1,84029.18%2,43838.67%330.52%-444-7.04%6,305
St. Lucie1,70438.38%1,68938.04%1,02723.13%200.45%150.34%4,440
Santa Rosa2,31665.72%54915.58%63918.13%200.57%1,67747.59%3,524
Sarasota2,30232.31%3,55949.95%1,21317.02%510.72%-1,257-17.64%7,125
Seminole2,26145.16%1,66533.25%1,06021.17%210.42%59611.91%5,007
Sumter1,41165.57%25111.66%48622.58%40.19%92542.99%2,152
Suwannee3,03371.62%3989.40%78618.56%180.43%2,24753.06%4,235
Taylor1,35467.73%21610.81%42221.11%70.35%93246.62%1,999
Union59467.96%556.29%22525.74%00.00%36942.22%874
Volusia9,20246.76%7,76439.46%2,41112.25%3011.53%1,4387.30%19,678
Wakulla99772.30%725.22%30522.12%50.36%69250.18%1,379
Walton2,36662.28%65217.16%76120.03%200.53%1,60542.25%3,799
Washington1,38062.42%29713.43%52323.65%110.50%85738.77%2,211
Totals281,98848.82%194,28033.63%89,75515.54%11,6202.01%87,70815.19%577,643

Analysis

With the exception of the 1928 election, when fierce anti-Catholicism and Prohibitionism caused Herbert Hoover to defeat the wet Catholic Al Smith,[7] Florida since the end of the Reconstruction era had been a classic Southern one-party state dominated by the Democratic Party. Disfranchisement of African-Americans and many poor whites had virtually eliminated the Republican Party – only nine Republicans had ever been elected to the state legislature since 1890 – and Democratic primaries were the sole competitive elections.

Under the influence of Senator Claude Pepper, Florida had abolished the poll tax in 1937, leading to steady increases in voter turnout during the following several elections;[8] however, there was no marked increase in African-American voting and Democratic hegemony remained unchallenged: FDR did not lose a single county in the state during his four elections.[9]

However, on February 2, 1948, incumbent President Harry S. Truman, fearing that the anti-democratic practices and racial discrimination of the South would severely denigrate the United States' reputation in the Cold War,[10] launched the first civil rights bill since the end of Reconstruction, along with Executive Order 9981 to desegregate the military. Mississippi governor Fielding Wright had already sounded a call for revolt, which he took to the Southern Governors Conference at Wakulla Springs[11] to say that calls for civil rights legislation by national Democrats would not be tolerated in the South.

After Truman was renominated at the 1948 Democratic National Convention, Southern Democrats walked out and convened at Birmingham, Alabama on July 17, nominating South Carolina Governor James Strom Thurmond for president and Mississippi Governor Fielding L. Wright for vice president.[12]

Due to its smaller proportion of African Americans in its population than in other Southern states, Florida experienced less dissent from the national Democratic Party in response to these actions.[13] Florida Senator Claude Pepper argued that, unless Dwight D. Eisenhower was nominated instead, Truman was the only viable nominee, while Frank D. Upchurch, a long-time adversary of Pepper, recommended that the renomination of Truman be fought.[14] Eventually, those opposed to Truman won the primary fight, taking eleven and a half votes out of twenty and control of the state's delegation.

When Florida's Democrats designated their presidential electors, four were pledged against Truman and four to vote for him,[13] although only names of electors were listed.[15] However, after the "States' Rights" convention in July, Miami Herald publisher Reuben Clein filed a civil suit to disqualify the four original electors who planned to vote for Thurmond.[14] [16] Pepper reversed his earlier pledge not to support Truman, and a special session of the state legislature provided separate lists for all candidates,[14] including the progressive former Vice President Henry A. Wallace. Pepper campaigned on Dewey's alleged support of big business over the "little man",[17] and Truman made a whistle-stop tour of the state in mid-October.[18]

Works cited

Notes and References

  1. Doherty, Herbert J. (junior); 'Liberal and Conservative Politics in Florida'; The Journal of Politics, vol. 14, no. 3 (August 1952), pp. 403-417
  2. Menendez; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, p. 75
  3. Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
  4. Web site: 1948 Presidential General Election Results – Florida.
  5. Gans, Curtis and Mulling, Matthew; Voter Turnout in the United States, 1788-2009, p. 481
  6. Our Campaigns; FL US President Race, November 02, 1948
  7. Doherty, Herbert J. (junior); 'Florida and the Presidential Election of 1928'; The Florida Historical Quarterly, vol. 26, no. 2 (October 1947), pp. 174-186
  8. Poll Taxes: Hearings Before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on S. 1280, Seventy-Seventh Congress, Second Session, Parts 1-2, p. 289
  9. Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004, p. 164-165
  10. Frederickson, Kari A.; The Dixiecrat Revolt and the End of the Solid South, p. 76
  11. [Valdimer Orlando Key|Key, Valdimer Orlando]
  12. Key; Southern Politics, p. 335
  13. Key; Southern Politics, pp. 337-338
  14. Pleasant. Julian M. Claude Pepper, Strom Thurmond, and the 1948 Presidential Election in Florida. The Florida Historical Quarterly. 76. 4. 1998. 439-473. 30149933. March 1, 2024.
  15. 'Floridians to Find It Hard to Vote Dixiecrat Ticket'; The Evening Independent, July 17, 1948, p. 1
  16. Gainesville Sun, September 5, 1948; Tallahassee Daily Democrat, September 8, 1948
  17. 'Pepper Charges Dewey Favours Big Business'; St. Petersburg Times, September 3, 1948, p. 1
  18. Goldzwig, Steven R.; Truman's Whistle-stop Campaign, p. 89

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