The 1928 United States presidential election in Georgia took place on November 6, 1928, as part of the wider United States presidential election. Voters chose 14 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

With the exception of a handful of historically Unionist North Georgia counties – chiefly Fannin but also to a lesser extent Pickens, Gilmer and Towns – Georgia since the 1880s had been a one-party state dominated by the Democratic Party. Disfranchisement of virtually all African-Americans and most poor whites had made the Republican Party virtually nonexistent outside of local governments in those few upcountry counties,Phillips, Kevin P.; The Emerging Republican Majority, pp. 208, 210 and the national Democratic Party served as the guardian of white supremacy against a Republican Party historically associated with memories of Reconstruction. The only competitive elections were Democratic primaries, which state laws restricted to whites on the grounds of the Democratic Party being legally a private club.Springer, Melanie Jean; How the States Shaped the Nation: American Electoral Institutions and Voter Turnout, 1920-2000, p. 155

However, with all other prominent Democrats sitting the election out,Warren, Kenneth F.; Encyclopedia of U.S. campaigns, elections, and electoral behavior: A-M, Volume 1, p. 620 the party nominated Alfred E. Smith, four-term Governor of New York as its nominee for 1928, with little opposition. Smith had been the favorite for the 1924 nomination, but had lost due to opposition to his Catholic faith and "wet" views on Prohibition: he wished to repeal or modify the Volstead Act.

Once Smith was nominated – despite his attempt to dispel fears by nominating "dry" Southern Democrat Joseph T. Robinson as his running mateNelson, Michael (1991); Historic documents on presidential elections, 1787-1988, p. 296 – extreme fear ensued in the South, which had no experience of the Southern and Eastern European Catholic immigrants who were Smith's local constituency. Southern fundamentalist Protestants believed that Smith would allow papal and priestly leadership in the United States, which Protestantism was a reaction against.Whisenhunt, Donald W.; President Herbert Hoover, p. 69

Prior to this election, Georgia was, along with Texas, the only state that had never voted Republican for president, even during Reconstruction. In Georgia, many Protestant ministers were strongly opposed to Smith.Orwat, Stephen F.; The 1928 Presidential Election in the South: The Question of Southern Conservative Values (1994), p. 62 However, with the state's large number of majority-black counties, there was great opposition to Hoover because of the strong Republican association with Reconstruction and black political power.Key, V.O. junior; Southern Politics in State and Nation; p. 329

The Smith/Robinson ticket carried the state of Georgia on election day, making Georgia– with Texas simultaneously voting Republican for the first time– now the only state to have never voted for a Republican presidential candidate. Nonetheless, Hoover did fare better than any other GOP presidential nominee in Georgia history, and his vote percentage would not be beaten until Barry Goldwater carried the state in 1964, by when the national Democratic Party had become firmly linked with black civil rights. As in the rest of the South, Hoover's gains were largely confined to areas with few blacks, where he gained up to fifty percent in Forsyth and Wilkes counties, and in other northern upcountry counties he gained over forty percent. Nevertheless, unlike most Black Belt areas where there was no pro-Hoover trend,Phillips, The Emerging Republican Majority, p. 212 in some heavily black counties like Long, Effingham, and McDuffie, where the white voting population was substantially German Lutheran and intensely hostile to Catholicism, Hoover did make large gains, meaning that Georgia was one of only two states where any counties with nonvoting black majorities deserted Smith. Hoover also made large gains from the newly developing urban middle class in Atlanta and Augusta, where his gains on Coolidge were comparable to the most anti-Catholic upcountry areas.

Results At the time, Georgia voters technically voted on their ballots for a slate of presidential electors, not for the candidates themselves, with each party selecting one elector to represent each of the state's 12 congressional districts, plus two at-large electors, for a total slate of 14 electors. Therefore, the vote totals for each presidential candidate here are equal to that of the individual elector who received the highest number of votes for their respective party.

1928 United States presidential election in GeorgiaPartyCandidateVotesPercentageElectoral votes Democratic Al Smith 129,602 56.56% 14 Republican Herbert Hoover 99,368 43.36% 0 Socialist Norman Thomas 124 0.05% 0 Workers (Communist) William Foster 64 0.03% 0

Results by individual elector

+State at-largeCandidate Party Votes % John S. Candler Democratic Party129,60228.28 C. C. Brantley Democratic Party129,59528.28Charles Adamson Republican Party63,49813.85 Anti-Smith Democratic35,8707.83 Total99,36821.68Mary Harris Armor Republican Party63,49513.85 Anti-Smith Democratic35,8717.83 Total99,36621.68 James M. Elder Socialist Party of America1240.03 M. Raoul Millis Socialist Party of America1240.03 L. W. War Workers (Communist) Party640.01 C. S. Knight Workers (Communist) Party640.01Total458,307100.00Source:

+From the Candidate Party Votes % Samuel B. Adams Democratic Party129,59356.57Frank Durden Republican Party63,44927.70 Anti-Smith Democratic35,85015.65 Total99,29943.35 Henry Applebaum Socialist Party of America1240.05 Ernest Carl Fullerton Workers (Communist) Party640.03Total229,080100.00Source:

+From the Candidate Party Votes % L. D. Passmore Democratic Party129,58756.57J. M. Patterson Republican Party63,45227.70 Anti-Smith Democratic35,85115.65 Total99,30343.35 Mildred Hicks Socialist Party of America1240.05 Max Singer Workers (Communist) Party640.03Total229,078100.00Source:

+From the Candidate Party Votes % E. A. Rogers Democratic Party129,58856.57Charles E. Brown Republican Party63,45227.70 Anti-Smith Democratic35,85015.65 Total99,30243.35 D. J. Eddridge Socialist Party of America1240.05 Denny G. Katz Workers (Communist) Party640.03Total229,078100.00Source:

+From the Candidate Party Votes % W. R. Jones Democratic Party129,59856.57Henry O. Lovvorn Republican Party63,49427.72 Anti-Smith Democratic35,86715.66 Total99,36143.37 J. F. Ligon Socialist Party of America1240.05 S. J. Letheis Workers (Communist) Party640.03Total229,147100.00Source:

+From the Candidate Party Votes % Edgar Watkins Sr. Democratic Party129,59156.57Mrs. Marvin Williams Republican Party63,45027.70 Anti-Smith Democratic35,85315.65 Total99,30343.35 Mary Krause Socialist Party of America1240.05 Nathan Mazer Workers (Communist) Party640.03Total229,082100.00Source:

+From the Candidate Party Votes % Edgar Blalock Democratic Party129,59256.57George S. Jones Republican Party63,45227.70 Anti-Smith Democratic35,85015.65 Total99,30243.35 T. J. Herrington Socialist Party of America1240.05 Adam Wehmer Workers (Communist) Party640.03Total229,082100.00Source:

+From the Candidate Party Votes % N. A. Morris Democratic Party129,59156.57Fred D. Noble Republican Party63,45027.70 Anti-Smith Democratic35,85115.65 Total99,30143.35 Frederick Tippens Socialist Party of America1240.05 Sam Nasson Workers (Communist) Party640.03Total229,080100.00Source:

+From the Candidate Party Votes % Ernest Camp Democratic Party129,59256.57Mrs. C. A. Vernoy Republican Party63,45027.70 Anti-Smith Democratic35,85315.65 Total99,30343.35 Emily Hay Socialist Party of America1240.05 H. C. Boatner Workers (Communist) Party640.03Total229,083100.00Source:

+From the Candidate Party Votes % B. P. Gaillard Democratic Party129,59156.57W. A. Carlisle Republican Party63,45227.70 Anti-Smith Democratic35,85015.65 Total99,30243.35 W. W. Edwards Socialist Party of America1240.05 Harry Harains Workers (Communist) Party640.03Total229,081100.00Source:

+From the Candidate Party Votes % E. A. Tigner Democratic Party129,59256.57E. J. Forrester Republican Party63,46027.70 Anti-Smith Democratic35,85315.65 Total99,31343.35 W. B. Wall Socialist Party of America1240.05 W. G. McCoy Workers (Communist) Party640.03Total229,093100.00Source:

+From the Candidate Party Votes % John W. Bennett Democratic Party129,59156.57Dan T. Cowart Republican Party63,45127.70 Anti-Smith Democratic35,85115.65 Total99,30243.35 T. H. Blizzard Socialist Party of America1240.05 O. R. Hutchinson Workers (Communist) Party640.03Total229,081100.00Source:

+From the Candidate Party Votes % J. W. Palmer Democratic Party129,59256.57J. H. Rush Republican Party63,45227.70 Anti-Smith Democratic35,84515.65 Total99,29743.35 S. A. Alexander Socialist Party of America1240.05 J. K. Eiseler Workers (Communist) Party640.03Total229,077100.00Source:

Results by county