1924 United States presidential election in New York explained

See main article: article and 1924 United States presidential election.

Election Name:1924 United States presidential election in New York
Country:New York
Flag Image:Flag of New York (1909–2020).svg
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:1920 United States presidential election in New York
Previous Year:1920
Next Election:1928 United States presidential election in New York
Next Year:1928
Turnout:56.3%[1] 0.1 pp
Election Date:November 4, 1924
Image1:Calvin Coolidge cph.3g10777 crop.jpg
Nominee1:Calvin Coolidge
Party1:Republican Party (United States)
Home State1:Massachusetts
Running Mate1:Charles G. Dawes
Electoral Vote1:45
Popular Vote1:1,820,058
Percentage1:55.76%
Nominee2:John W. Davis
Party2:Democratic Party (United States)
Home State2:West Virginia
Running Mate2:Charles W. Bryan
Electoral Vote2:0
Popular Vote2:950,796
Percentage2:29.13%
Image3:Robert La Follette Sr crop.jpg
Nominee3:Robert M. La Follette
Party3:Socialist Party of America
Alliance3:Progressive Party (United States, 1924)
Home State3:Wisconsin
Running Mate3:Burton K. Wheeler
Electoral Vote3:0
Popular Vote3:474,913
Percentage3:14.55%
Map Size:440px
President
Before Election:Calvin Coolidge
Before Party:Republican Party (United States)
After Election:Calvin Coolidge
After Party:Republican Party (United States)

The 1924 United States presidential election in New York took place on November 4, 1924. All contemporary 48 states were part of the 1924 United States presidential election. Voters chose 45 electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president.

New York was won by incumbent Republican President Calvin Coolidge of Massachusetts, who was running against Democratic Ambassador John W. Davis of West Virginia and the Progressive Party's Senator Robert M. La Follette of Wisconsin. Coolidge's running mate was former Budget Director Charles G. Dawes of Illinois and Davis ran with Governor Charles W. Bryan of Nebraska, while La Follette ran with Senator Burton K. Wheeler of Montana.

In a three-way race, Coolidge won with a decisive majority of 55.76% of the vote to Davis' 29.13% and La Follette's 14.55%, a victory margin of 26.63%. In the midst of a nationwide Republican landslide, New York's results in this election made the state about 2% more Republican than the national average. Support for Robert La Follette was strongest in the New York City area, where he took double-digit support, and even broke 20% in the boroughs of Brooklyn and the Bronx. La Follette also broke 20% in upstate Monroe County, home to the city of Rochester. La Follette got the majority of his votes in New York state under the Socialist label (268,518 votes) than under the Progressive label (206,395 votes), for a combined total of 474,913 votes.

Coolidge got 1,820,058 votes in the state of New York, swept every county in the state, winning every upstate county as well as sweeping all 5 boroughs of New York City, the last time a Republican presidential candidate has done so.[2]

The 1920s were a fiercely Republican decade in American politics, and New York during the Fourth Party System was a Republican-leaning state in presidential elections. The economic boom and social good feelings of the Roaring Twenties under popular Republican leadership virtually guaranteed Calvin Coolidge an easy win in the state against the conservative Southern Democrat John Davis, who had little appeal in Northern states like New York where large Catholic populations opposed his reticence on the anti-Catholic Ku Klux Klan.[3] Coolidge won a strong majority statewide even with the Republican vote being split by the strong third party candidacy of Robert La Follette, a Republican Senator who had run as the Progressive Party candidate and peeled away the votes of many progressive Republicans.

Results

1924 United States presidential election in New York[4]
PartyCandidateVotesPercentageElectoral votes
RepublicanCalvin Coolidge (incumbent)1,820,05855.76%45
DemocraticJohn W. Davis950,79629.13%0
SocialistRobert M. La Follette268,518 8.23%
ProgressiveRobert M. La Follette206,395 6.32%
TotalRobert M. La Follette474,913 14.55%0
Socialist LaborFrank T. Johns9,928 0.30%0
CommunistWilliam Z. Foster8,244 0.25%0
Totals3,263,939100.0%45

New York City results

1924 Presidential Election in New York CityManhattanThe BronxBrooklynQueensStaten IslandTotal
RepublicanCalvin Coolidge190,87179,583236,877100,79318,007626,13144.58%
41.20%36.73%47.50%53.57%47.91%
DemocraticJohn W. Davis183,24972,840158,90758,40215,801489,19934.83%
39.55%33.62%31.87%31.04%42.04%
Socialist/ProgressiveRobert M. La Follette86,62562,212100,72128,2103,702281,47020.04%
18.70%28.71%20.20%14.99%9.85%
CommunistWilliam Z. Foster1,8581,4101,530547445,3890.38%
0.40%0.65%0.31%0.29%0.12%
Socialist LaborFrank T. Johns723612652217322,2360.16%
0.16%0.28%0.13%0.12%0.09%
TOTAL463,326216,657498,687188,16937,5861,404,425100.00%

Results by county

CountyJohn Calvin Coolidge
Republican
John William Davis
Democratic
Robert M. La Follette, Sr.
Socialist/
Progressive
Frank Tetes Johns
Socialist Labor
William Z. Foster
Communist
MarginTotal votes cast[5]
data-sort-type="number"data-sort-type="number"%data-sort-type="number"data-sort-type="number"%data-sort-type="number"data-sort-type="number"%data-sort-type="number"data-sort-type="number"%data-sort-type="number"data-sort-type="number"%data-sort-type="number"data-sort-type="number"%
Albany48,25352.01%38,67141.68%5,7366.18%710.08%410.04%9,58210.33%92,772
Allegany12,20375.35%2,75517.01%1,2027.42%240.15%120.07%9,44858.34%16,196
Bronx79,58336.73%72,84033.62%62,21228.71%6120.28%1,4100.65%6,7433.11%216,657
Broome28,26267.70%9,28922.25%3,9949.57%1330.32%710.17%18,97345.45%41,749
Cattaraugus17,30763.94%5,36919.84%4,20015.52%1380.51%520.19%11,93844.11%27,066
Cayuga17,25263.66%7,36927.19%2,2968.47%1070.39%760.28%9,88336.47%27,100
Chautauqua29,75771.25%5,56013.31%5,99514.35%3130.75%1390.33%23,76256.90%41,764
Chemung18,59964.66%7,16224.90%2,97210.33%180.06%140.05%11,43739.76%28,765
Chenango11,32372.60%3,39221.75%8415.39%310.20%90.06%7,93150.85%15,596
Clinton7,91857.80%5,13837.51%6254.56%150.11%20.01%2,78020.29%13,698
Columbia10,77463.70%5,46632.32%6233.68%390.23%120.07%5,30831.38%16,914
Cortland10,03276.93%2,17016.64%7976.11%340.26%80.06%7,86260.29%13,041
Delaware13,02072.66%4,15823.20%7224.03%120.07%70.04%8,86249.46%17,919
Dutchess22,17364.64%8,86425.84%3,0929.01%1300.38%440.13%13,30938.80%34,303
Erie112,07058.53%40,78021.30%36,04218.82%1,9691.03%6190.32%71,29037.23%191,480
Essex8,55373.96%2,63922.82%3653.16%30.03%50.04%5,91451.14%11,565
Franklin9,35264.43%4,36430.07%7885.43%50.03%60.04%4,98834.36%14,515
Fulton11,85872.49%3,14319.21%1,2747.79%470.29%360.22%8,71553.28%16,358
Genesee11,10171.43%3,38421.77%1,0136.52%380.24%60.04%7,71749.65%15,542
Greene7,50361.56%3,95132.42%7035.77%250.21%60.05%3,55229.14%12,188
Hamilton1,06361.23%63136.35%392.25%20.12%10.06%43224.88%1,736
Herkimer15,62566.31%6,46427.43%1,3865.88%660.28%220.09%9,16138.88%23,563
Jefferson21,15968.38%7,66524.77%2,0446.61%520.17%220.07%13,49443.61%30,942
Kings236,87747.50%158,90731.87%100,72120.20%6520.13%1,5300.31%77,97015.64%498,687
Lewis6,06666.98%2,80130.93%1822.01%30.03%50.06%3,26536.05%9,057
Livingston10,47269.56%3,67624.42%8665.75%280.19%130.09%6,79645.14%15,055
Madison11,58971.01%3,43021.02%1,2267.51%550.34%210.13%8,15949.99%16,321
Monroe80,57757.09%28,95620.52%30,26121.44%9570.68%3770.27%50,31635.65%141,128
Montgomery12,86963.20%5,93929.17%1,4727.23%550.27%270.13%6,93034.03%20,362
Nassau45,82570.47%14,32222.02%4,6997.23%1030.16%820.13%31,50348.44%65,031
New York190,87141.20%183,24939.55%86,62518.70%7230.16%1,8580.40%7,6221.65%463,326
Niagara25,87467.98%7,99321.00%3,97710.45%1680.44%500.13%17,88146.98%38,062
Oneida37,54561.82%18,12429.84%4,7587.83%1940.32%1130.19%19,42131.98%60,734
Onondaga65,39564.90%24,77324.58%10,16710.09%3380.34%960.10%40,62240.31%100,769
Ontario15,01366.66%5,93326.34%1,5176.74%470.21%130.06%9,08040.31%22,523
Orange29,18467.74%9,76522.67%3,9569.18%1380.32%400.09%19,41945.07%43,083
Orleans8,54371.91%2,32019.53%9678.14%180.15%320.27%6,22352.38%11,880
Oswego18,57665.08%7,86427.55%2,0067.03%680.24%280.10%10,71237.53%28,542
Otsego13,57365.67%5,84128.26%1,1935.77%520.25%110.05%7,73237.41%20,670
Putnam3,79667.73%1,47226.26%3205.71%80.14%90.16%2,32441.46%5,605
Queens100,79353.57%58,40231.04%28,21014.99%2170.12%5470.29%42,39122.53%188,169
Rensselaer30,54955.88%19,78336.18%3,9407.21%2630.48%1380.25%10,76619.69%54,673
Richmond18,00747.91%15,80142.04%3,7029.85%320.09%440.12%2,2065.87%37,586
Rockland11,91560.92%5,64028.84%1,9119.77%660.34%270.14%6,27532.08%19,559
Saratoga17,68265.84%7,02626.16%2,0697.70%650.24%140.05%10,65639.68%26,856
Schenectady24,51461.75%9,16723.09%5,74614.47%2180.55%540.14%15,34738.66%39,699
Schoharie6,14262.17%3,41334.55%3063.10%120.12%60.06%2,72927.62%9,879
Schuyler4,30170.81%1,55525.60%2113.47%40.07%30.05%2,74645.21%6,074
Seneca6,59866.15%2,72727.34%6196.21%190.19%110.11%3,87138.81%9,974
St. Lawrence22,58371.50%7,10322.49%1,8265.78%440.14%280.09%15,48049.01%31,584
Steuben21,48166.79%7,19422.37%3,22310.02%2160.67%460.14%14,28744.42%32,160
Suffolk31,45669.20%10,02422.05%3,7458.24%1770.39%530.12%21,43247.15%45,455
Sullivan7,73456.85%4,05729.82%1,75512.90%390.29%190.14%3,67727.03%13,604
Tioga7,83472.47%2,23420.67%7156.61%180.17%90.08%5,60051.80%10,810
Tompkins11,76672.98%3,70122.95%6193.84%150.09%220.14%8,06550.02%16,123
Ulster20,04863.32%9,36129.57%2,1756.87%360.11%400.13%10,68733.76%31,660
Warren9,62767.95%3,66325.85%8315.87%450.32%20.01%5,96442.09%14,168
Washington13,77471.50%4,32122.43%1,1325.88%310.16%60.03%9,45349.07%19,264
Wayne14,35873.69%3,99120.48%1,1095.69%140.07%130.07%10,36753.21%19,485
Westchester85,02963.91%30,96423.28%15,94311.98%8710.65%2280.17%54,06540.64%133,035
Wyoming10,14874.05%2,51218.33%1,0147.40%250.18%60.04%7,63655.72%13,705
Yates6,33477.69%1,56819.23%2382.92%100.12%30.04%4,76658.46%8,153
Totals1,820,05855.76%950,79629.13%474,91314.55%9,9280.30%8,2440.25%869,26226.63%3,263,939

Analysis

Nevertheless, Coolidge won all five boroughs of New York City, and thus won the city as a whole. Coolidge won with pluralities of the vote in Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Staten Island, and took an absolute majority of the vote in Queens. From his time as governor of neighboring Massachusetts, Coolidge remained, for a Republican, relatively popular with Irish Catholic and other ethnic immigrant communities,[6] helping him to hold on to New York City. Many of these voters would defect to the Democrats for Catholic New Yorker Al Smith in 1928 and become reliable Democratic voters after that.

This is the last time that a Republican presidential candidate won New York City as a whole (after 1908 and 1920). This is the second and final time that a Republican presidential candidate won Manhattan and the Bronx, and thus every county in New York state (after having done so in 1920).[2] This is the last of six elections in which Brooklyn voted Republican (including the elections from 1896 to 1908, and 1920).

Combined with decisive Republican majorities in every county in upstate New York and in Long Island, Coolidge easily dominated New York State's election returns in 1924. No Republican since has been able to outperform Coolidge's county-level performance or surpass his statewide margin of victory; the only stronger Republican win in New York's history was when Coolidge was running for Vice President four years earlier in Warren G. Harding’s massive landslide of 1920. Calvin Coolidge is one of only three presidential candidates of either party who has been able to sweep every county in New York State, the others being Republican Warren G. Harding in 1920 and Democrat Lyndon Johnson in 1964.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Bicentennial Edition: Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to 1970, part 2, p. 1072.
  2. Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
  3. Faykosh, Joseph D.; ‘A Party in Peril: Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Democratic Party, and the Circular Letter of 1924’ (thesis); pp. 148–149
  4. Web site: 1924 Presidential Election Results - New York. 2013-07-27 . Dave Leip’s U.S. Election Atlas.
  5. New York State Board of Elections; ‘Vote, New York State, By Counties, November 4, 1924 for President’; New York Legislative Manual 1925 pp. 847-848
  6. Johnson, Charles C.; Why Coolidge Matters: Leadership Lessons from America's Most Underrated President, pp. 206–207