The 1924 United States presidential election in Maine took place on November 4, 1924, as part of the 1924 United States presidential election which was held throughout all contemporary 48 states. Voters chose six representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
Maine voted for the Republican nominee, incumbent President Calvin Coolidge of Massachusetts, over the Democratic nominee, Ambassador John W. Davis of West Virginia. Coolidge ran with former Budget Director Charles G. Dawes of Illinois, while Davis ran with Governor Charles W. Bryan of Nebraska. Also in the running that year was the Progressive Party nominee, Senator Robert M. La Follette of Wisconsin and his running mate Senator Burton K. Wheeler of Montana. La Follette's support base was primarily among rural German and Scandinavian Americans,Stark, Rodney and Christiano, Kevin J.; ‘Support for the American Left, 1920-1924: The Opiate Thesis Reconsidered’; Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Vol. 31, No. 1 (March, 1992), pp. 62-75 and he possessed little appeal in the Northeast outside a few New York and Boston anti-Prohibition precincts. Excluding the former Confederacy – where the lower classes were almost entirely disfranchised – Maine was La Follette's seventh-weakest of thirty-seven states, and he exceeded seven percent only in heavily Québecois Androscoggin County.
The 1920s were a fiercely Republican decade in American politics, and Maine in that era was a fiercely Republican 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,Roseboom, Eugene Holloway and Eckes, Alfred E.; A History of Presidential Elections, from George Washington to Jimmy Carter; pp. 151-158 who had little appeal in Northeastern states like Maine.
Coolidge won Maine by a landslide margin of 50.20%. He possessed a unique personal popularity which helped him in the state and the rest of New England. He was the epitome of a traditional New England Yankee, having been born in the small-town of Plymouth Notch, Vermont, and establishing his political career nearby as Governor of Massachusetts. Thus Coolidge remained especially popular with voters across the New England region.
With 72.03% of the popular vote, Maine would prove to be Coolidge's third strongest state in the 1924 election in terms of popular vote percentage after Vermont and Michigan.
Results
Results by county County John Calvin CoolidgeRepublican John William DavisDemocratic Robert M. La Follette Sr.Progressive Frank Tetes JohnsSocialist Labor Margin Total votes castRobinson, Edgar Eugene; The Presidential Vote; 1896-1932 (second edition); pp. 223-224 Published 1947 by Stanford University Press # % # % # % # % # % Androscoggin 9,680 59.80% 4,733 29.24% 1,743 10.77% 31 0.19%4,94730.56% 16,187 Aroostook 9,554 81.61% 1,510 12.90% 626 5.35% 17 0.15%8,04468.71% 11,707 Cumberland 26,187 73.31% 7,078 19.82% 2,398 6.71% 56 0.16%19,10953.50% 35,719 Franklin 3,389 72.40% 1,123 23.99% 156 3.33% 13 0.28%2,26648.41% 4,681 Hancock 5,474 77.37% 1,392 19.67% 195 2.76% 14 0.20%4,08257.70% 7,075 Kennebec 13,122 72.26% 4,184 23.04% 827 4.55% 26 0.14%8,93849.22% 18,159 Knox 4,919 69.99% 1,770 25.18% 272 3.87% 67 0.95%3,14944.81% 7,028 Lincoln 3,311 77.36% 878 20.51% 82 1.92% 9 0.21%2,43356.85% 4,280 Oxford 7,062 69.90% 2,563 25.37% 466 4.61% 12 0.12%4,49944.53% 10,103 Penobscot 15,081 74.93% 3,618 17.97% 1,386 6.89% 43 0.21%11,46356.95% 20,128 Piscataquis 4,031 75.94% 974 18.35% 300 5.65% 3 0.06%3,05757.59% 5,308 Sagadahoc 3,518 73.26% 1,084 22.57% 193 4.02% 7 0.15%2,43450.69% 4,802 Somerset 6,855 73.83% 1,822 19.62% 579 6.24% 29 0.31%5,03354.21% 9,285 Waldo 4,003 75.80% 1,125 21.30% 149 2.82% 4 0.08%2,87854.50% 5,281 Washington 6,010 69.71% 2,106 24.43% 483 5.60% 22 0.26%3,90445.28% 8,621 York 16,244 68.17% 6,004 25.20% 1,527 6.41% 53 0.22%10,24042.97% 23,828Totals138,44072.03%41,96421.83%11,3825.92%4060.21%96,47650.20%192,192
See also United States presidential elections in Maine
References