1948 United States presidential election in Oklahoma explained

See main article: 1948 United States presidential election.

Election Name:1948 United States presidential election in Oklahoma
Country:Oklahoma
Flag Year:1941
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:1944 United States presidential election in Oklahoma
Previous Year:1944
Next Election:1952 United States presidential election in Oklahoma
Next Year:1952
Election Date:November 2, 1948
Image1:Harry S Truman, bw half-length photo portrait, facing front, 1945 (cropped).jpg
Nominee1:Harry S. Truman
Party1:Democratic Party (United States)
Home State1:Missouri
Running Mate1:Alben W. Barkley
Electoral Vote1:10
Popular Vote1:452,782
Percentage1:62.75%
Nominee2:Thomas E. Dewey
Party2:Republican Party (United States)
Home State2:New York
Running Mate2:Earl Warren
Electoral Vote2:0
Popular Vote2:268,817
Percentage2:37.25%
Map Size:400px
Before Election:Harry S. Truman
Before Party:Democratic Party (United States)
After Election:Harry S. Truman
After Party:Democratic Party (United States)

The 1948 United States presidential election in Oklahoma took place on November 2, 1948. All forty-eight states were part of the 1948 United States presidential election. Voters chose ten electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Incumbent Democratic President Harry S. Truman won Oklahoma by a landslide 25.5 percentage points.[1] This made Oklahoma the fourth most Democratic state in the nation, and 21 percent more Democratic than the nation as a whole. This makes it the third best performance (after Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1932 and 1936 landslides) of any Democratic nominee in the state.[2]

Background

Up to this election, Oklahoma was a reliably Democratic state, with the party winning all but two of the first eleven presidential elections in the state. However, like other states in this Solid South, Oklahoma has since become a Republican bastion. In Dwight D. Eisenhower's landslide elections of 1952 and 1956, Adlai Stevenson II lost every antebellum free-soil or postbellum state, however Oklahoma remained more Democratic than the nation as a whole.[2] In 1960, John F. Kennedy lost most postbellum states, including Oklahoma, due to anti-Catholic sentiment.[3] In 1964, Lyndon Johnson became the last Democratic presidential candidate to carry the state,[4] with only Jimmy Carter in 1976 subsequently reaching even 45% of the vote, and no Democrat after 2000 reaching 35% of the vote or even winning a single county in the state.[5]

General Election

The Progressive Party obtained the necessary 5,000 signatures to appear on the ballot in two days. Gerald L. K. Smith filed a lawsuit in an attempt to remove the party from the ballot. The state election board rejected Wallace's electors stating that the Progressives were not a political party as the Oklahoma Secretary of State had not approved their non-communist affidavit prior to the filing deadline. The secretary of state was not allowed to accept these affidavits until May 2 while the filing deadline was April 30. The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled five to two against the Progressives in Cooper v. Cartwright. The Progressives appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States, but John Abt dropped the lawsuit due to the "difficulty of getting grounds for a federal suit".

Truman won all but 10 counties in the state; of the 10, only Grant has voted Democratic since. This is the last occasion in which the contiguous counties of Texas, Beaver, Harper and Woods – which now form one of the most conservative regions in the nation – have voted Democratic, as well as the last time that Kay County has. As a result, this is also the last time that a Democrat has swept every county in the Oklahoma Panhandle. This is also the most recent election in which Oklahoma voted for a different candidate than neighboring Kansas.

Results

1948 United States presidential election in Oklahoma
PartyCandidateVotesPercentageElectoral votes
DemocraticHarry S. Truman (incumbent)452,78262.75%10
RepublicanThomas E. Dewey268,81737.25%0
Totals721,599100.0%10
Voter turnout (Voting age)52.5%[6]

Results by county

CountyHarry S. TrumanDemocraticThomas Edmund DeweyRepublicanTotal votes cast[7]
%%
Adair3,06756.03%2,40743.97%5,474
Alfalfa1,83839.93%2,76560.07%4,603
Atoka3,10475.03%1,03324.97%4,137
Beaver1,59652.92%1,42047.08%3,016
Beckham4,54477.62%1,31022.38%5,854
Blaine2,59547.79%2,83552.21%5,430
Bryan7,74885.01%1,36614.99%9,114
Caddo8,11068.13%3,79331.87%11,903
Canadian5,56859.89%3,72940.11%9,297
Carter9,47481.52%2,14718.48%11,621
Cherokee4,24960.41%2,78539.59%7,034
Choctaw4,75082.09%1,03617.91%5,786
Cimarron89457.90%65042.10%1,544
Cleveland6,55664.10%3,67135.90%10,227
Coal2,12482.07%46417.93%2,588
Comanche7,95574.06%2,78725.94%10,742
Cotton2,61377.98%73822.02%3,351
Craig4,18259.84%2,80740.16%6,989
Creek9,19858.47%6,53241.53%15,730
Custer4,61864.26%2,56835.74%7,186
Delaware3,15757.40%2,34342.60%5,500
Dewey2,04957.83%1,49442.17%3,543
Ellis1,42048.27%1,52251.73%2,942
Garfield8,21744.25%10,35255.75%18,569
Garvin6,77980.13%1,68119.87%8,460
Grady8,13673.84%2,88226.16%11,018
Grant2,12646.25%2,47153.75%4,597
Greer3,04481.02%71318.98%3,757
Harmon2,34089.79%26610.21%2,606
Harper1,28151.20%1,22148.80%2,502
Haskell3,20669.76%1,39030.24%4,596
Hughes5,49276.62%1,67623.38%7,168
Jackson5,45085.52%92314.48%6,373
Jefferson3,32685.68%55614.32%3,882
Johnston2,93683.41%58416.59%3,520
Kay10,11952.98%8,98247.02%19,101
Kingfisher2,48845.91%2,93154.09%5,419
Kiowa4,26373.59%1,53026.41%5,793
Latimer2,53673.40%91926.60%3,455
Le Flore6,78670.64%2,82129.36%9,607
Lincoln4,91355.76%3,89844.24%8,811
Logan4,10951.84%3,81748.16%7,926
Love2,19189.80%24910.20%2,440
Major1,22733.22%2,46766.78%3,694
Marshall2,45583.96%46916.04%2,924
Mayes4,20159.55%2,85440.45%7,055
McClain3,45179.17%90820.83%4,359
McCurtain6,22385.08%1,09114.92%7,314
McIntosh3,67471.81%1,44228.19%5,116
Murray3,05479.28%79820.72%3,852
Muskogee13,86067.77%6,59232.23%20,452
Noble2,77053.27%2,43046.73%5,200
Nowata2,68855.92%2,11944.08%4,807
Okfuskee3,33567.25%1,62432.75%4,959
Oklahoma59,95459.89%40,16140.11%100,115
Okmulgee10,46770.56%4,36829.44%14,835
Osage7,15664.43%3,95135.57%11,107
Ottawa7,24362.73%4,30437.27%11,547
Pawnee2,72150.65%2,65149.35%5,372
Payne7,39056.03%5,79943.97%13,189
Pittsburg9,57676.80%2,89323.20%12,469
Pontotoc7,75077.20%2,28922.80%10,039
Pottawatomie10,22068.22%4,76031.78%14,980
Pushmataha2,97779.05%78920.95%3,766
Roger Mills2,17681.04%50918.96%2,685
Rogers4,19759.57%2,84940.43%7,046
Seminole8,12270.35%3,42329.65%11,545
Sequoyah4,44968.17%2,07731.83%6,526
Stephens6,70277.83%1,90922.17%8,611
Texas2,69361.64%1,67638.36%4,369
Tillman4,07179.37%1,05820.63%5,129
Tulsa38,54847.33%42,89252.67%81,440
Wagoner3,38955.97%2,66644.03%6,055
Washington5,50847.71%6,03652.29%11,544
Washita4,32672.55%1,63727.45%5,963
Woods2,88250.10%2,87149.90%5,753
Woodward2,18047.69%2,39152.31%4,571
Totals452,78262.75%268,81737.25%721,599

See also

Works cited

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 1948 Presidential General Election Results – Oklahoma. uselectionatlas.org.
  2. Counting the Votes; Oklahoma
  3. Menendez, Albert J.; The Religious Factor in the 1960 Presidential Election: An Analysis of the Kennedy Victory over Anti-Catholic Prejudice; pp. 79, 117
  4. News: Gust. Steve. Oklahoma student who attended Democratic National Convention anticipates lifetime in politics. The Oklahoman. October 6, 2012. November 9, 2016.
  5. Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
  6. Gans, Curtis and Mulling, Matthew; Voter Turnout in the United States, 1788-2009, p. 481
  7. Scammon, Richard M. (compiler); America at the Polls: A Handbook of Presidential Election Statistics 1920-1964; pp. 363-364