1928 United States presidential election in Washington (state)

The 1928 United States presidential election in Washington took place on November 6, 1928, as part of the 1928 United States presidential election. Washington's voters selected seven voters to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

With the economy growing very rapidly, and the scandals of the earlier decade such as the Teapot Dome scandal essentially removed from the public's mind at the time, the Republican Party was at the peak of its power. Incumbent President Calvin Coolidge could not be persuaded to run for a second full term, but to compensate for this the Democratic Party – with many prominent members like Franklin Delano Roosevelt and William Gibbs McAdoo refusing to run because they believed the party had no hope of winningPaulson, Arthur C.; Electoral Realignment and the Outlook for American Democracy; p. 61 – nominated Al Smith, a devout Catholic, anti-Prohibition, and associated with the corrupt Tammany Hall political machine of his native New York.

The powerful anti-Catholicism of Washington state,Phillips, Kevin P.; The Emerging Republican Majority, p. 502 which was largely settled by Scandinavian Lutherans and Yankees in the west, and Methodists/Evangelicals from the Great Plains in the east, meant that the large progressive third-party vote for Parley Christensen and Robert La Follette from the previous two elections was mainly turned over to Hoover,Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004, pp. 58-60 although La Follette when he died in 1925 had endorsed Smith. Minus significant third-party candidates Smith did triple the Democratic vote from the exceptionally low level of 1924, but Hoover increased the Republican proportion by fifteen percent – half the La Follette vote – as Smith could not carry the strongly unionized and socially progressive counties west of the Cascades.

Consequently, Hoover was able to carry Washington by 36 percentage points in the first two-party contest in three elections. With 67.06% of the popular vote, Washington would prove to be Hoover's fourth strongest state after Kansas, Michigan and Maine. Only in 1904 has Washington State been so Republican relative to the nation as a whole,Counting the Votes; Washington State and then there was a sizable Socialist vote (though less powerful than the third-party votes of 1920 and 1924) for Eugene Debs. (.xlsx file for €15) Smith did nonetheless carry Ferry County, the first time since 1916 the Democratic Party had won any county in Washington – and indeed along with five counties in California the first Democratic wins since that election in any county within the three Pacific States of Washington, Oregon and California.

Until Donald Trump in 2016, Hoover was the last Republican to capture heavily unionized Grays Harbor County,Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016 which he did by a large 34 percent margin. He was also the last Republican to win a majority in this county until Trump in 2020. Hoover also won adjacent Pacific County by 36 percent, whereas only Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952 managed to subsequently win Pacific County for the GOP until Trump in 2016. Kitsap, Snohomish and Wahkiakum Counties would not vote Republican again until 1972.Menendez; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, pp. 332-333 , this is the last occasion when Washington voted more Republican than Colorado, Idaho, Indiana or Wyoming.

Results + General Election ResultsParty Pledged to Elector Votes Republican Party Herbert Hoover J. C. Scott335,844 Republican Party Herbert Hoover Victor Zednick335,503 Republican Party Herbert Hoover H. T. Wanamaker335,183 Republican Party Herbert Hoover Dayton B. Garrison335,116 Republican Party Herbert Hoover O. H. Woody334,884 Republican Party Herbert Hoover Richard M. Butte334,738 Republican Party Herbert Hoover Edward C. Finch334,380 Democratic Party Alfred E. Smith D. F. Stanley156,772 Democratic Party Alfred E. Smith J. A. Scotland156,428 Democratic Party Alfred E. Smith Ione K. Humes156,421 Democratic Party Alfred E. Smith Edith Dolan Riley156,367 Democratic Party Alfred E. Smith Judson Shorett156,360 Democratic Party Alfred E. Smith Charles M. O'Brien156,180 Democratic Party Alfred E. Smith E. M. Starrett155,514 Socialist Labor Party Verne L. Reynolds Abraham L. Brearcliff4,068 Socialist Labor Party Verne L. Reynolds Daniel L. Barnett3,965 Socialist Labor Party Verne L. Reynolds Frederkke Bolette Eiene3,961 Socialist Labor Party Verne L. Reynolds Henry Genies3,944 Socialist Labor Party Verne L. Reynolds Kolo Kristoff3,912 Socialist Labor Party Verne L. Reynolds John C. Schafer3,904 Socialist Labor Party Verne L. Reynolds Samuel A. Witherspoon3,844 Socialist Party Norman M. Thomas George Hanson2,615 Socialist Party Norman M. Thomas James Lund2,543 Socialist Party Norman M. Thomas T. J. McKinley2,524 Socialist Party Norman M. Thomas F. X. Hall2,522 Socialist Party Norman M. Thomas C. E. Forslund2,520 Socialist Party Norman M. Thomas William Koch2,498 Socialist Party Norman M. Thomas James P. Grim2,494 Workers Party William Z. Foster Charles Smith1,541 Workers Party William Z. Foster John Davis1,091 Workers Party William Z. Foster W. E. Elbe1,083 Workers Party William Z. Foster D. G. O'Hanrahan1,072 Workers Party William Z. Foster W. Spohr1,051 Workers Party William Z. Foster August Salo1,046 Workers Party William Z. Foster Bessie Margolis1,041Votes cast 500,840

Results by county CountyHerbert HooverRepublicanAl SmithDemocraticVerne L. ReynoldsSocialist LaborNorman M. ThomasSocialistWilliam Z. FosterWorkersMarginTotal votescast#%#%#%#%#%#%Adams1,47364.07%80735.10%50.22%90.39%50.22%66628.97%2,299Asotin1,81269.37%77629.71%100.38%110.42%30.11%1,03639.66%2,612Benton2,65069.94%1,08028.50%200.53%340.90%50.13%1,57041.44%3,789Chelan7,67277.07%2,23922.49%140.14%240.24%50.05%5,43354.58%9,954Clallam3,31965.53%1,70533.66%130.26%180.36%100.20%1,61431.87%5,065Clark7,78662.58%4,46735.90%590.47%850.68%450.36%3,31926.68%12,442Columbia1,32865.07%68933.76%60.29%140.69%40.20%63931.31%2,041Cowlitz5,88268.76%2,58130.17%180.21%420.49%310.36%3,30138.59%8,554Douglas1,76066.34%86232.49%140.53%150.57%20.08%89833.85%2,653Ferry64045.75%73252.32%90.64%161.14%20.14%-92-6.57%1,399Franklin1,33961.96%79936.97%90.42%120.56%20.09%54024.99%2,161Garfield1,00470.60%41228.97%50.35%00.00%10.07%59241.63%1,422Grant1,40768.07%64131.01%20.10%130.63%40.19%76637.06%2,067Grays Harbor10,79866.30%5,25832.29%510.31%790.49%1000.61%5,54034.01%16,286Island1,48771.25%55626.64%100.48%271.29%70.34%93144.61%2,087Jefferson1,47263.83%81035.13%40.17%140.61%60.26%66228.70%2,306King96,26365.63%46,60431.77%2,3361.59%8110.55%6640.45%49,65933.86%146,678Kitsap6,54462.97%3,66835.30%600.58%770.74%430.41%2,87627.67%10,392Kittitas3,20759.48%2,13639.61%70.13%250.46%170.32%1,07119.87%5,392Klickitat1,93665.43%97532.95%150.51%250.84%80.27%96132.48%2,959Lewis9,25371.12%3,59127.60%500.38%790.61%370.28%5,66243.52%13,010Lincoln2,71859.62%1,80739.64%140.31%150.33%50.11%91119.98%4,559Mason1,74562.95%99235.79%100.36%210.76%40.14%75327.16%2,772Okanogan3,24564.86%1,72234.42%120.24%170.34%70.14%1,52330.44%5,003Pacific3,24767.41%1,52331.62%70.15%120.25%280.58%1,72435.79%4,817Pend Oreille1,20659.58%79339.18%110.54%140.69%00.00%41320.40%2,024Pierce35,74866.02%17,40232.14%4790.88%3130.58%2040.38%18,34633.88%54,146San Juan81466.72%40032.79%20.16%30.25%10.08%41433.93%1,220Skagit8,33673.58%2,84825.14%360.32%590.52%500.44%5,48848.44%11,329Skamania63155.99%47341.97%50.44%151.33%30.27%15814.02%1,127Snohomish16,51667.39%7,41930.27%3251.33%1690.69%780.32%9,09737.12%24,507Spokane35,85865.48%18,52733.83%1570.29%1690.31%470.09%17,33131.65%54,758Stevens3,81363.05%2,14735.50%230.38%430.71%220.36%1,66627.55%6,048Thurston7,20369.59%3,01329.11%290.28%790.76%270.26%4,19040.48%10,351Wahkiakum57859.28%38239.18%60.62%80.82%10.10%19620.10%975Walla Walla6,77470.08%2,85929.58%140.14%170.18%20.02%3,91540.50%9,666Whatcom14,62176.87%4,10021.56%1490.78%1200.63%310.16%10,52155.31%19,021Whitman7,06569.94%2,96929.39%270.27%350.35%50.05%4,09640.55%10,101Yakima16,69473.07%6,00826.30%450.20%760.33%250.11%10,68646.77%22,848Totals335,84467.06%156,77231.30%4,0680.81%2,6150.52%1,5410.31%179,07235.76%500,840

Counties that flipped from Progressive to Republican Adams Franklin Grant Kitsap

Counties that flipped from Progressive to Democratic Ferry

See also United States presidential elections in Washington (state) Presidency of Herbert Hoover

Notes

References