The 1928 United States presidential election in Utah took place on November 6, 1928, as part of the 1928 United States presidential election. All contemporary forty-eight states took part, and state voters selected four voters to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
Utah voted for Republican nominee Herbert Hoover, formerly Secretary of Commerce, over the Democratic nominee, four-time New York governor Al Smith. Mormon Utah was much less affected by anti-Catholic passion against Smith and his faith than either the Protestant Upper South or the secular Pacific Northwest: indeed the LDS hierarchy endorsed Smith when he won the Democratic nomination.Archer, J. Clark and Taylor, Peter J.; Section and Party: A Political Geography of American Presidential Elections, from Andrew Jackson to Ronald Reagan p. 173 In fact, in the days before the election it was thought by pollsters that Smith would carry the state,Clapper, Raymond; 'Hoover Deluge Sweep Higher: May Pass Mark Set by Harding; Smith Gets Greatest Popular Vote Ever Given Democrat but Makes Poor Showing on Electoral'; The Pittsburgh Press, November 7, 1928, p. 1 although neither Cox nor Davis nor La Follette had won a single county during the previous two elections. However, late swings gave the state to Hoover by a margin whose size increased in late counting.
Nonetheless, the LDS endorsement did cause Utah to prove Smith's eleventh-strongest state – and his strongest outside the urban Northeast or the "Solid South" – voting 9.70 percent more Democratic than the nation at-large.Counting the Votes; Utah Smith divided the sizable 1924 La Follette vote with Hoover, and carried the ethnically diverse mining-based Carbon County by fourteen, and also won a five-point majority in Juab County in the state's west for the first Republican losses in any Utah county since 1916 when anti-war sentiment shifted the state to Woodrow Wilson.Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004, p. 47
Results + General Election ResultsUtah State Archives, Abstract of the Returns of an Election held in the State of Utah, Tuesday, November 6th, A.D. 1928 for Presidential Electors, United States Senator, for Representatives in the Seventy-first Congress of the United States, for State Officers, and for District Officers in Districts comprising more than one county.Party Pledged to Elector Votes Republican Party Herbert Hoover Albert E. Miller94,618 Republican Party Herbert Hoover Dan B. Berry94,613 Republican Party Herbert Hoover Winslow F. Smith94,485 Republican Party Herbert Hoover Clara Randolph94,275 Democratic Party Al Smith William Scoweroit80,985 Democratic Party Al Smith Abel John Evans80,880 Democratic Party Al Smith J. Frank Tolton80,842 Democratic Party Al Smith Mrs. J. J. Galligan80,780 Socialist Party Norman Thomas Albert F. Gower954 Socialist Party Norman Thomas William E. Tinnaman Sr.949 Socialist Party Norman Thomas William Black948 Socialist Party Norman Thomas James Monroe948 Workers Party William Z. Foster J. E. Sherren47 Workers Party William Z. Foster D. Conta39 Workers Party William Z. Foster George Kottas38 Workers Party William Z. Foster Elda Shippee38Votes cast 176,603
Results by county CountyOur Campaigns; UT US President Race, November 06, 1928 Herbert HooverRepublican Al SmithDemocratic Norman ThomasSocialist William Z. FosterWorkers Margin Total votescast # % # % # % # % # %Beaver1,14954.98%93644.78%50.24%00.00%21310.20%2,090Box Elder3,31756.94%2,48842.71%200.34%00.00%82914.23%5,825Cache5,29752.60%4,74847.15%260.26%00.00%5495.45%10,071Carbon2,18442.10%2,95456.94%470.96%30.06% -770 -14.84%5,188Daggett10777.54%3122.46%00.00%00.00%7655.08%138Davis2,50852.05%2,29647.65%140.29%00.00%2124.40%4,818Duchesne1,58563.48%89936.00%130.52%00.00%68627.48%2,497Emery1,31757.06%96541.81%261.13%00.00%35215.25%2,308Garfield1,02475.63%32524.00%50.37%00.00%69951.63%1,354Grand34752.58%31046.97%30.45%00.00%375.61%660Iron1,82372.11%68226.98%230.91%00.00%1,14145.13%2,528Juab1,55747.48%1,71452.27%80.24%00.00% -157 -4.79%3,279Kane56679.94%14119.92%10.14%00.00%42560.02%708Millard2,26360.83%1,44038.71%160.46%10.03%82322.12%3,720Morgan51353.00%45446.90%10.10%00.00%596.10%968Piute43464.20%23735.06%50.74%00.00%19729.14%676Rich47067.72%22432.28%00.00%00.00%24635.44%694Salt Lake34,39349.89%34,12749.50%3920.61%280.04%2660.39%68,940San Juan44965.55%23133.72%50.73%00.00%21831.83%685Sanpete3,69459.63%2,48240.06%190.31%00.00%1,21219.57%6,195Sevier2,42463.13%1,39936.43%160.44%10.03%1,02526.70%3,840Summit1,74857.65%1,26041.56%210.79%30.10%48816.09%3,032Tooele1,70754.22%1,42145.14%180.64%20.06%2869.08%3,148Uintah1,58964.00%88035.44%140.56%00.00%70928.56%2,483Utah8,77152.19%7,95547.33%790.48%20.01%8164.86%16,807Wasatch1,34057.83%97341.99%40.17%00.00%36715.84%2,317Washington1,68666.20%85733.65%30.16%10.04%82932.55%2,547Wayne42268.17%19531.50%20.32%00.00%22736.67%619Weber9,93453.79%8,36145.27%1680.94%50.03%1,5738.52%18,468Totals94,61853.58%80,98545.86%9540.54%460.03%13,6337.72%176,603
Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic Carbon Juab
See also United States presidential elections in Utah
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