1944 United States presidential election in Alabama

The 1944 United States presidential election in Alabama took place on November 7, 1944, as part of the 1944 United States presidential election. Alabama voters chose eleven representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

In Alabama, voters voted for electors individually instead of as a slate, as in the other states. Since the 1890s, Alabama had been effectively a one-party state ruled by the Democratic Party. Disenfranchisement of almost all African-Americans and a large proportion of poor whites via poll taxes, literacy tests and informal harassment had essentially eliminated opposition parties outside of Unionist Winston County and a few nearby northern hill counties that had been Populist strongholds. The only competitive statewide elections became Democratic Party primaries limited by law to white voters until the landmark court case of Smith v. Allwright, following which Alabama introduced the Boswell Amendment — ruled unconstitutional in Davis v. Schnell in 1949, although substantial increases in black voter registration would not occur until after the late 1960s Voting Rights Act.

Unlike other Deep South states, soon after black disenfranchisement Alabama's remaining white Republicans made rapid efforts to expel blacks from the state Republican Party, and under Oscar D. Street, who ironically was appointed state party boss as part of the pro-Taft “black and tan” faction in 1912, the state GOP would permanently turn “lily-white”, with the last black delegates at any Republican National Convention serving in 1920. With two exceptions the Republicans were unable to gain from their hard lily-white policy. The first was when they exceeded forty percent in the 1920 House of Representatives races for the 4th, 7th and 10th congressional districts, and the second was the 1928 presidential election when Senator James Thomas Heflin embarked on a nationwide speaking tour, partially funded by the Ku Klux Klan, against Roman Catholic Democratic nominee Al Smith and supported Republican Herbert Hoover, who went on to lose the state by only seven thousand votes.

By 1940, there was significant opposition amongst Alabama's planter and industrial elite to the New Deal, and there were already attempts to organize the “independent elector” movements that would proliferate after Harry S. Truman’s civil rights proposals, whilst other “big mules” already supported voting Republican for President. However, the hatred of the Republican label, despite six election cycles as a party exclusive of blacks,Heersink; Jenkins. Republican Party Politics and the American South, pp. 48–50 prevented such a revolt amongst the actual electorate.Feldman. The Irony of the Solid South, pp. 151-152

Alabama was ultimately won in a landslide by FDR with 81.28 percent of the popular vote, against Dewey with 18.20 percent of the popular vote, a margin of 63.08 percent. Third-party candidates only managed to pick up 0.53 percent of the vote.

Campaign No campaigning was done by either incumbent Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt and new running mate Missouri Senator Harry S. Truman, nor by Republican nominees Governor Thomas E. Dewey–New York and Governor John W. Bricker. Polls were not taken until late October, when a Gallup poll showed Roosevelt as having 77 percent of the vote. This increased slightly to 78 percent of the two-party vote on the day before the poll.

Results

Results by individual elector + General election resultsParty Pledged to Elector Votes Democratic Party Franklin D. Roosevelt W. F. Covington Jr.198,918 Democratic Party Franklin D. Roosevelt John D. McQueen198,917 Democratic Party Franklin D. Roosevelt Forrest Castleberry198,908 Democratic Party Franklin D. Roosevelt Otis R. Burton198,907 Democratic Party Franklin D. Roosevelt John E. Adams198,904 Democratic Party Franklin D. Roosevelt Ben Bloodworth198,894 Democratic Party Franklin D. Roosevelt Fournier J. Gale198,888 Democratic Party Franklin D. Roosevelt Thomas H. Maxwell198,880 Democratic Party Franklin D. Roosevelt Gessner T. McCorvey198,871 Democratic Party Franklin D. Roosevelt Walter F. Miller198,868 Democratic Party Franklin D. Roosevelt W. O. Pope197,872 Republican Party Thomas E. Dewey William M. Russell44,540 Republican Party Thomas E. Dewey C. R. Stone44,540 Republican Party Thomas E. Dewey C. S. Prescott44,513 Republican Party Thomas E. Dewey J. Dewey Rockett44,509 Republican Party Thomas E. Dewey Jack E. Paterson44,496 Republican Party Thomas E. Dewey E. L. Harvell44,478 Republican Party Thomas E. Dewey Lyman Ward44,467 Republican Party Thomas E. Dewey H. A. Jackson44,447 Republican Party Thomas E. Dewey Pope M. Long44,446 Republican Party Thomas E. Dewey R. M. Sims44,433 Republican Party Thomas E. Dewey Aaron G. Weaver44,306 Prohibition Party Claude A. Watson A. J. Dailey1,095 Prohibition Party Claude A. Watson James C. Mauldin1,082 Prohibition Party Claude A. Watson Emmett Williams1,081 Prohibition Party Claude A. Watson A. W. Stone1,071 Prohibition Party Claude A. Watson C. H. McAdory1,069 Prohibition Party Claude A. Watson John C. Orr1,068 Prohibition Party Claude A. Watson Glenn V. Tingley1,064 Prohibition Party Claude A. Watson J. B. Lockhart1,058 Prohibition Party Claude A. Watson Mary A. Bebout1,054 Prohibition Party Claude A. Watson W. E. Braden1,054 Prohibition Party Claude A. Watson Eunice Sisson1,050 Socialist Party of America Norman Thomas Minnie C. Adams190 Socialist Party of America Norman Thomas Robert S. Burgess Jr.182 Socialist Party of America Norman Thomas Frederic Roper176 Socialist Party of America Norman Thomas D. R. Calloway166 Socialist Party of America Norman Thomas F. M. Buttram162Total votes 244,743

Results by county CountyScammon, Richard M. (compiler); America at the Polls: A Handbook of Presidential Election Statistics 1920-1964; pp. 31–32 Franklin D. RooseveltDemocraticThomas E. DeweyRepublicanClaude A. WatsonProhibitionNorman ThomasSocialistMarginTotal votes cast#%#%#%#%#% Autauga 1,242 91.06% 117 8.58% 5 0.37% 0 0.00% 1,125 82.48% 1,364 Baldwin 2,002 73.41% 695 25.49% 22 0.81% 8 0.29% 1,308 47.95% 2,727 Barbour 2,237 94.91% 67 2.84% 53 2.25% 0 0.00% 2,170 92.07% 2,357 Bibb 1,287 83.25% 244 15.78% 10 0.65% 2 0.13% 1,043 67.60% 1,546 Blount 2,134 67.85% 998 31.73% 10 0.32% 1 0.03% 1,135 36.12% 3,145 Bullock 1,056 97.78% 24 2.22% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 1,032 95.56% 1,080 Butler 1,915 95.75% 80 4.00% 5 0.25% 0 0.00% 1,835 91.75% 2,000 Calhoun 4,308 85.65% 694 13.80% 26 0.52% 2 0.04% 3,614 71.85% 5,030 Chambers 3,458 94.43% 194 5.30% 9 0.25% 0 0.00% 3,264 89.16% 3,662 Cherokee 1,774 80.64% 408 18.55% 17 0.77% 1 0.05% 1,366 62.09% 2,200 Chilton 1,984 58.77% 1,385 41.02% 6 0.18% 1 0.03% 599 17.74% 3,376 Choctaw 1,243 93.32% 86 6.46% 3 0.23% 0 0.00% 1,158 86.87% 1,332 Clarke 2,263 93.98% 142 5.90% 3 0.12% 0 0.00% 2,121 88.08% 2,408 Clay 1,535 67.03% 741 32.36% 13 0.57% 1 0.04% 794 34.67% 2,290 Cleburne 948 65.02% 504 34.57% 6 0.41% 0 0.00% 443 30.36% 1,458 Coffee 2,846 96.02% 115 3.88% 3 0.10% 0 0.00% 2,731 92.14% 2,964 Colbert 3,386 87.07% 496 12.75% 6 0.15% 2 0.05% 2,890 74.29% 3,889 Conecuh 1,498 91.34% 127 7.74% 9 0.55% 6 0.37% 1,371 83.60% 1,640 Coosa 1,079 72.86% 394 26.60% 5 0.34% 3 0.20% 685 46.25% 1,481 Covington 2,972 91.98% 256 7.92% 2 0.06% 1 0.03% 2,716 84.06% 3,231 Crenshaw 1,980 94.06% 118 5.61% 6 0.29% 0 0.00% 1,862 88.50% 2,105 Cullman 3,898 63.43% 2,202 35.83% 41 0.67% 4 0.07% 1,696 27.60% 6,145 Dale 2,094 85.57% 325 13.28% 8 0.33% 1 0.04% 1,769 72.86% 2,447 Dallas 2,883 94.74% 149 4.90% 5 0.16% 5 0.16% 2,735 89.88% 3,043 DeKalb 4,366 62.35% 2,627 37.52% 9 0.13% 0 0.00% 1,739 24.84% 7,002 Elmore 3,108 94.32% 184 5.58% 3 0.09% 0 0.00% 2,924 88.74% 3,295 Escambia 2,077 88.20% 266 11.30% 12 0.51% 0 0.00% 1,811 76.90% 2,355 Etowah 5,895 78.38% 1,525 20.28% 89 1.18% 12 0.16% 4,370 58.10% 7,521 Fayette 1,648 64.10% 913 35.51% 10 0.39% 0 0.00% 735 28.59% 2,571 Franklin 2,709 59.30% 1,853 40.56% 6 0.13% 0 0.00% 856 18.74% 4,568 Geneva 2,004 83.36% 385 16.01% 15 0.62% 0 0.00% 1,619 67.35% 2,404 Greene 676 93.63% 45 6.23% 1 0.14% 0 0.00% 631 87.40% 722 Hale 1,265 97.46% 33 2.54% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 1,232 94.92% 1,298 Henry 1,635 97.15% 46 2.73% 2 0.12% 0 0.00% 1,589 94.41% 1,683 Houston 3,349 91.80% 282 7.73% 16 0.44% 1 0.03% 3,067 84.07% 3,648 Jackson 2,967 74.18% 1,026 25.65% 6 0.15% 1 0.03% 1,941 48.53% 4,000 Jefferson 31,101 80.40% 7,409 19.15% 157 0.41% 17 0.04% 23,692 61.24% 38,684 Lamar 2,025 86.10% 310 13.18% 16 0.68% 1 0.04% 1,715 72.92% 2,352 Lauderdale 4,001 86.77% 590 12.80% 19 0.41% 1 0.02% 3,411 73.98% 4,611 Lawrence 1,893 76.86% 565 22.94% 5 0.20% 0 0.00% 1,328 53.92% 2,463 Lee 2,011 93.49% 134 6.23% 5 0.23% 1 0.05% 1,878 87.27% 2,151 Limestone 2,605 94.93% 129 4.70% 10 0.36% 0 0.00% 2,476 90.23% 2,744 Lowndes 802 97.92% 16 1.95% 1 0.12% 0 0.00% 786 95.97% 819 Macon 1,032 92.56% 82 7.35% 1 0.09% 0 0.00% 951 85.37% 1,115 Madison 4,951 91.33% 455 8.39% 11 0.20% 4 0.07% 4,496 82.94% 5,421 Marengo 1,746 94.69% 89 4.83% 7 0.38% 2 0.11% 1,657 89.86% 1,844 Marion 1,866 59.48% 1,260 40.17% 10 0.32% 0 0.00% 607 19.36% 3,137 Marshall 3,356 73.58% 1,200 26.31% 5 0.11% 0 0.00% 2,156 47.27% 4,561 Mobile 9,439 75.98% 2,867 23.08% 86 0.69% 25 0.20% 6,570 52.92% 12,423 Monroe 1,991 97.55% 46 2.25% 4 0.20% 0 0.00% 1,945 95.30% 2,041 Montgomery 9,143 95.62% 381 3.98% 32 0.33% 9 0.09% 8,748 91.57% 9,562 Morgan 4,124 85.24% 664 13.72% 49 1.01% 0 0.00% 3,461 71.57% 4,838 Perry 1,004 95.35% 47 4.46% 2 0.19% 0 0.00% 957 90.88% 1,053 Pickens 1,482 87.23% 209 12.30% 8 0.47% 0 0.00% 1,273 74.93% 1,699 Pike 2,328 93.87% 90 3.63% 31 1.25% 30 1.21% 2,238 90.28% 2,480 Randolph 1,785 71.06% 702 27.95% 25 1.00% 0 0.00% 1,083 43.11% 2,512 Russell 2,109 94.66% 115 5.16% 4 0.18% 0 0.00% 1,994 89.50% 2,228 Shelby 1,955 67.11% 945 32.44% 8 0.27% 2 0.07% 1,009 34.66% 2,913 St. Clair 1,819 61.66% 1,117 37.86% 13 0.44% 1 0.03% 702 23.80% 2,950 Sumter 1,075 95.05% 53 4.69% 3 0.27% 0 0.00% 1,022 90.36% 1,131 Talladega 3,102 81.50% 675 17.74% 25 0.66% 2 0.05% 2,428 63.84% 3,806 Tallapoosa 3,326 95.88% 136 3.92% 7 0.20% 0 0.00% 3,190 91.96% 3,469 Tuscaloosa 4,939 88.62% 584 10.48% 20 0.36% 4 0.07% 4,355 78.51% 5,573 Walker 4,619 66.87% 2,241 32.45% 32 0.46% 12 0.17% 2,379 34.46% 6,907 Washington 1,447 92.28% 115 7.33% 6 0.38% 0 0.00% 1,332 84.95% 1,568 Wilcox 1,209 97.42% 30 2.42% 2 0.16% 0 0.00% 1,179 95.00% 1,241 Winston 912 37.07% 1,538 62.52% 10 0.41% 0 0.00% -626 -25.45% 2,460Totals198,91881.28%44,54018.20%1,0950.45%1900.08%154,37863.08%244,743

See also United States presidential elections in Alabama

References