The 1948 United States presidential election in Idaho took place on November 2, 1948, as part of the 1948 United States presidential election. State voters chose four representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Franklin D. Roosevelt had carried Idaho in all four of his presidential runs, carrying the state by more than 20 points in 1932 and 1936, but by a narrower 9 points in 1940 and only 3.5 points in 1944. However, Oregon Senator Wayne Morse said that Dewey would fail to maintain these gains in the West if Bureau of Reclamation programs were cut as demanded by the House Appropriations Committee. Truman campaigned heavily in the West, including Idaho, arguing that the region was an economic colony of Wall Street under the GOP and that only the Democratic Party could give the region direct access to its natural resources. While in Pocatello, Truman also defended himself against charges of corruption by machine politics from his days in Kansas City.

Idaho was won by incumbent President Harry S. Truman (D–Missouri), running with Senator Alben W. Barkley, with 49.98% of the popular vote, against Governor Thomas E. Dewey (R–New York), running with Governor Earl Warren, with 47.26% of the popular vote.

This election marked the conclusion of Idaho's status as a swing state, as it would quickly become one of the most Republican states in the nation. In 1950, Republicans would score landslide wins in the state elections, and Idaho has subsequently supported a Democratic presidential nominee only once, when Lyndon B. Johnson carried the state by 1.83 points in 1964, amidst a national Democratic landslide. Furthermore, other than Johnson, no Democrat except John F. Kennedy in 1960 has won even 40% of the state's vote. Idaho is one of only eight statesThe others are Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Texas. where Truman's margin has not been matched by any subsequent Democrat. In all remaining non-Confederate states, Lyndon Johnson outran Truman's narrow victory in his 1964 landslide.Although in Tennessee Truman outperformed Johnson by margin, both were outperformed by Jimmy Carter in 1976.

This is the last election in which the southeastern Mormon counties of Bonneville, Bingham, Jefferson, Madison, Minidoka and Oneida have voted for a Democratic presidential candidate.

Results

Results by county CountyOur Campaigns; ID US President November 02, 1948 Harry S. TrumanDemocratic Thomas E. DeweyRepublican Henry A. WallaceProgressive Claude A. WatsonProhibition Norman ThomasSocialist Margin Total votes cast # % # % # % # % # % # % Ada 11,253 42.14% 14,972 56.06% 389 1.46% 48 0.18% 43 0.16% -3,719 -13.92% 26,705 Adams 647 50.78% 603 47.33% 19 1.49% 4 0.31% 1 0.08% 44 3.45% 1,274 Bannock 9,679 62.20% 5,580 35.86% 289 1.86% 4 0.03% 8 0.05% 4,099 26.34% 15,560 Bear Lake 1,664 50.73% 1,590 48.48% 25 0.76% 1 0.03% 0 0.00% 74 2.25% 3,280 Benewah 1,590 58.22% 1,038 38.01% 85 3.11% 11 0.40% 7 0.26% 552 20.21% 2,731 Bingham 3,197 49.58% 3,162 49.04% 84 1.30% 5 0.08% 0 0.00% 35 0.54% 6,448 Blaine 1,182 54.67% 945 43.71% 34 1.57% 1 0.05% 0 0.00% 237 10.96% 2,162 Boise 479 50.96% 437 46.49% 24 2.55% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 42 4.47% 940 Bonner 2,916 49.70% 2,666 45.44% 268 4.57% 8 0.14% 9 0.15% 250 4.26% 5,867 Bonneville 5,382 53.81% 4,499 44.99% 100 1.00% 3 0.03% 17 0.17% 883 8.82% 10,001 Boundary 1,029 49.02% 910 43.35% 142 6.77% 2 0.10% 16 0.76% 119 5.67% 2,099 Butte 426 50.35% 412 48.70% 8 0.95% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 14 1.65% 846 Camas 278 48.35% 289 50.26% 8 1.39% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% -11 -1.91% 575 Canyon 7,903 43.04% 9,700 52.82% 389 2.12% 323 1.76% 43 0.23% -1,797 -9.78% 18,363 Caribou 475 51.08% 447 48.06% 7 0.75% 1 0.11% 0 0.00% 28 3.02% 930 Cassia 2,178 46.63% 2,424 51.89% 63 1.35% 3 0.06% 3 0.06% -246 -5.26% 4,671 Clark 165 38.19% 262 60.65% 4 0.93% 1 0.23% 0 0.00% -97 -22.46% 432 Clearwater 1,571 61.63% 820 32.17% 132 5.18% 20 0.78% 6 0.24% 751 29.46% 2,549 Custer 625 49.72% 612 48.69% 16 1.27% 4 0.32% 0 0.00% 13 1.03% 1,257 Elmore 1,589 63.48% 854 34.12% 51 2.04% 5 0.20% 4 0.16% 735 29.36% 2,503 Franklin 1,763 46.24% 2,028 53.19% 21 0.55% 1 0.03% 0 0.00% -265 -6.95% 3,813 Fremont 2,014 52.85% 1,777 46.63% 16 0.42% 4 0.10% 0 0.00% 237 6.22% 3,811 Gem 1,724 50.32% 1,585 46.26% 85 2.48% 29 0.85% 3 0.09% 139 4.06% 3,426 Gooding 1,844 45.93% 2,111 52.58% 51 1.27% 6 0.15% 3 0.07% -267 -6.65% 4,015 Idaho 2,300 54.53% 1,790 42.44% 117 2.77% 7 0.17% 4 0.09% 510 12.09% 4,218 Jefferson 2,017 56.53% 1,490 41.76% 56 1.57% 5 0.14% 0 0.00% 527 14.77% 3,568 Jerome 2,124 49.34% 2,128 49.43% 48 1.11% 2 0.05% 3 0.07% -4 -0.09% 4,305 Kootenai 5,284 51.49% 4,265 41.56% 668 6.51% 13 0.13% 32 0.31% 1,019 9.93% 10,262 Latah 3,810 48.30% 3,805 48.23% 225 2.85% 31 0.39% 18 0.23% 5 0.07% 7,889 Lemhi 864 44.58% 1,037 53.51% 36 1.86% 1 0.05% 0 0.00% -173 -8.93% 1,938 Lewis 1,224 69.43% 487 27.62% 46 2.61% 3 0.17% 3 0.17% 737 41.81% 1,763 Lincoln 748 46.26% 851 52.63% 18 1.11% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% -103 -6.37% 1,617 Madison 2,024 55.50% 1,602 43.93% 21 0.58% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 422 11.57% 3,647 Minidoka 1,668 48.60% 1,654 48.19% 101 2.94% 4 0.12% 5 0.15% 14 0.41% 3,432 Nez Perce 5,747 61.65% 3,168 33.98% 357 3.83% 27 0.29% 23 0.25% 2,579 27.67% 9,322 Oneida 1,008 50.86% 962 48.54% 10 0.50% 2 0.10% 0 0.00% 46 2.32% 1,982 Owyhee 925 47.75% 969 50.03% 32 1.65% 9 0.46% 2 0.10% -44 -2.28% 1,937 Payette 1,568 38.42% 2,430 59.54% 58 1.42% 16 0.39% 9 0.22% -862 -21.12% 4,081 Power 795 47.29% 875 52.05% 7 0.42% 4 0.24% 0 0.00% -80 -4.76% 1,681 Shoshone 4,472 54.13% 3,200 38.74% 569 6.89% 8 0.10% 12 0.15% 1,272 15.39% 8,261 Teton 672 52.83% 593 46.62% 4 0.31% 1 0.08% 2 0.16% 79 6.21% 1,272 Twin Falls 6,019 42.81% 7,833 55.71% 172 1.22% 21 0.15% 16 0.11% -1,814 -12.90% 14,061 Valley 828 44.98% 939 51.00% 65 3.53% 3 0.16% 6 0.33% -111 -6.02% 1,841 Washington 1,700 48.84% 1,713 49.21% 52 1.49% 10 0.29% 6 0.17% -13 -0.37% 3,481Totals107,37049.98%101,51447.26%4,9722.31%6280.29%3320.15%5,8562.72%214,816

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Camas Franklin

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Boundary Butte Latah Minidoka

See also United States presidential elections in Idaho

Notes

References