1944 United States presidential election in Mississippi

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

Ever since the end of Reconstruction, Mississippi had been a one-party state dominated by the Democratic Party. The Republican Party was virtually nonexistent as a result of disenfranchisement among African Americans and poor whites, including voter intimidation against those who refused to vote Democratic.

From the time of Henry A. Wallace's appointment as vice-president and the 1943 Detroit race riots, however, the northern left wing of the Democratic Party became committed to restoring black political rights, a policy vehemently opposed by all Southern Democrats as an infringement upon "states' rights". Anger with the FDR administration intensified further when the Supreme Court ruled in Smith v. Allwright that the white primaries upon which the politics of Mississippi and most other Southern states were based violated the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments.

Consequently, Mississippi Democrats, already developing opposition to the New Deal, which had provided substantial work for white Mississippians during the 1930s, were very concerned about Roosevelt being renominated for a fourth term. In fact, the original slate of Democratic electors was pledged to vote for a candidate other than Roosevelt. However, FDR remained extremely popular with the majority of Mississippians, even those wealthy enough to pay the state's poll tax. Consequently, Governor Thomas L. Bailey was forced to call the state legislature, which replaced the convention-nominated Democratic electors with electors pledged to vote for FDR. 4 electors nominated by the state Democratic convention pledged themselves to vote for FDR and were included on the Democratic ticket. On the other hand, 5 electors nominated by the state Democratic convention chose to not pledge themselves to FDR and were put on a separate ticket altogether.

Mississippi was won by incumbent President Franklin D. Roosevelt (D–New York), running with Senator Harry S. Truman, with 88.02 percent of the popular vote, against Governor Thomas E. Dewey (R–New York), running with Governor John Bricker, with 6.44 percent of the popular vote, making it Roosevelt's strongest state in the election.

As of 2024, this marks the last time that Forrest County has voted for a Democratic presidential candidate. It was also the last time until 1972 that Mississippi would back the national winner in a presidential election. This was the last election in which every county voted for the Democrats in Mississippi. The next election would also see all the state's counties go to just one party, albeit to the Dixiecrats rather than the Democrats. The same would be true of 1964, when all the state's counties went entirely to the Republican Party.

As Roosevelt's strongest state, this is the most recent time Mississippi has voted more Democratic than Georgia.

Results + General election resultsParty Pledged to Elector Votes Democratic Party (Legislature) Franklin D. Roosevelt Walter S. Welch158,515 Democratic Party (Legislature) Franklin D. Roosevelt John Backstrom158,207 Democratic Party (Legislature) Franklin D. Roosevelt Curtis M. Swango158,015 Democratic Party (Legislature) Franklin D. Roosevelt R. C. Russell157,883 Democratic Party (Legislature) Franklin D. Roosevelt Susie V. Powell150,829 Democratic Party (Legislature) Franklin D. Roosevelt Hugh V. Wall150,403 Democratic Party (Legislature) Franklin D. Roosevelt J. B. Snider150,355 Democratic Party (Legislature) Franklin D. Roosevelt J. P. Coleman150,337 Democratic Party (Legislature) Franklin D. Roosevelt Guy Mitchell, Sr.149,348 Democratic Party (Convention) Unpledged Clarence E. Morgan9,964 Democratic Party (Convention) Unpledged Frank E. Everett9,586 Democratic Party (Convention) Unpledged W. G. McLain9,525 Democratic Party (Convention) Unpledged J. B. Perry, Jr.9,103 Democratic Party (Convention) Unpledged T. J. Tubb8,182 Independent Republican Party Thomas E. Dewey George L. Sheldon7,859 Independent Republican Party Thomas E. Dewey Nelson E. Taylor7,709 Independent Republican Party Thomas E. Dewey M. H. White7,536 Independent Republican Party Thomas E. Dewey John R. Thrasher7,472 Independent Republican Party Thomas E. Dewey Ralph Haxton7,230 Independent Republican Party Thomas E. Dewey J. A. Bratton6,723 Independent Republican Party Thomas E. Dewey John R. Tally6,704 Independent Republican Party Thomas E. Dewey Louise Baugh6,596 Independent Republican Party Thomas E. Dewey John G. Carr6,525 Republican Party Thomas E. Dewey T. C. Moore3,742 Republican Party Thomas E. Dewey Fred W. Hale3,728 Republican Party Thomas E. Dewey J. L. Taylor3,707 Republican Party Thomas E. Dewey Monroe Smith3,584 Republican Party Thomas E. Dewey J. H. Gearhart3,571 Republican Party Thomas E. Dewey Jasper Boykin3,552 Republican Party Thomas E. Dewey F. M. O'Shea3,540 Republican Party Thomas E. Dewey Walter Gearhart3,536 Republican Party Thomas E. Dewey R. A. Whelan3,530Total votes 180,080

Results by county +CountiesFranklin Delano Roosevelt DemocraticThomas E. Dewey RepublicanUnpledged electors Southern DemocraticMarginTotal votes cast#%#%#%#%# Adams 1,431 74.53%28214.69%20710.78%1,14959.84%1,920 Alcorn 2,569 89.36%2067.17%1003.48%2,36382.19%2,875 Amite 1,348 89.09%875.75%785.16%1,26183.34%1,513 Attala 1,990 87.51%873.83%1978.66%1,79378.85%2,274 Benton 800 89.49%424.70%525.82%74883.67%894 Bolivar 2,119 75.09%37813.39%32511.52%1,74161.69%2,822 Calhoun 2,006 92.49%974.47%663.04%1,90988.01%2,169 Carroll 1,360 90.31%684.52%785.18%1,28285.13%1,506 Chickasaw 1,762 83.31%1808.51%1738.18%1,58274.80%2,115 Choctaw 1,066 89.21%766.36%534.44%99082.85%1,195 Claiborne 667 88.34%455.96%435.70%62282.38%755 Clarke 1,605 89.71%955.31%894.97%1,51084.40%1,789 Clay 956 75.45%1098.60%20215.94%75459.51%1,267 Coahoma 2,234 86.49%1917.39%1586.12%2,04379.09%2,583 Copiah 2,320 93.02%853.41%893.57%2,23189.45%2,494 Covington 1,615 93.35%583.35%573.29%1,55790.00%1,730 DeSoto 1,469 87.23%1237.30%925.46%1,34679.93%1,684 Forrest 3,394 83.08%43610.67%2556.24%2,95872.41%4,085 Franklin 1,137 90.24%493.89%745.87%1,06384.37%1,260 George 1,025 89.68%928.05%262.27%93381.63%1,143 Greene 879 86.52%10910.73%282.76%77075.79%1,016 Grenada 1,239 83.15%1177.85%1348.99%1,10574.16%1,490 Hancock 1,536 86.34%1377.70%1065.96%1,39978.64%1,779 Harrison 5,458 82.72%6229.43%5187.85%4,83673.29%6,598 Hinds 9,575 83.79%9628.42%8917.80%8,61375.37%11,428 Holmes 1,796 86.51%1225.88%1587.61%1,63878.90%2,076 Humphreys 1,103 93.08%352.95%473.97%1,05689.11%1,185 Issaquena20693.64%52.27%94.09%19789.55%220Itawamba1,28783.95%18311.94%634.11%1,10472.02%1,533Jackson2,49687.61%2137.48%1404.91%2,28380.13%2,849Jasper1,61093.93%472.74%573.33%1,55390.61%1,714Jefferson68186.09%253.16%8510.75%59675.35%791Jefferson Davis1,30589.38%886.03%674.59%1,21783.36%1,460Jones4,56389.14%3376.58%2194.28%4,22682.56%5,119Kemper1,30994.72%372.68%362.60%1,27292.04%1,382Lafayette2,04191.32%873.89%1074.79%1,93486.53%2,235Lamar1,04390.07%938.03%221.90%95082.04%1,158Lauderdale5,65388.12%3795.91%3835.97%5,27082.15%6,415Lawrence1,45692.15%452.85%795.00%1,37787.15%1,580Leake2,73696.88%240.85%642.27%2,67294.62%2,824Lee3,27987.70%2306.15%2306.15%3,04981.55%3,739Leflore2,20084.65%2007.70%1997.66%2,00076.95%2,599Lincoln2,38093.41%1034.04%652.55%2,27789.36%2,548Lowndes1,96976.44%36013.98%2479.59%1,60962.46%2,576Madison1,80589.14%1045.14%1165.73%1,68983.41%2,025Marion2,41596.79%542.16%261.04%2,36194.63%2,495Marshall1,34989.69%634.19%926.12%1,25783.58%1,504Monroe2,92789.70%1594.87%1775.42%2,75084.28%3,263Montgomery1,28689.00%745.12%855.88%1,20183.11%1,445Neshoba2,86990.91%1314.15%1564.94%2,71385.96%3,156Newton2,44895.18%562.18%682.64%2,38092.53%2,572Noxubee93485.14%1039.39%605.47%83175.75%1,097Oktibbeha1,82188.48%1105.34%1276.17%1,69482.31%2,058Panola1,79888.97%904.45%1336.58%1,66582.38%2,021Pearl River2,09394.49%843.79%381.72%2,00990.70%2,215Perry77592.26%445.24%212.50%73187.02%840Pike2,73885.03%2487.70%2347.27%2,49077.33%3,220Pontotoc1,64791.35%874.83%693.83%1,56086.52%1,803Prentiss1,58586.75%1759.58%673.67%1,41077.18%1,827Quitman1,00185.92%595.06%1059.01%89676.91%1,165Rankin2,33194.30%983.96%431.74%2,23390.33%2,472Scott2,10594.61%602.70%602.70%2,04591.91%2,225Sharkey66692.24%243.32%324.43%63487.81%722Simpson2,40394.31%783.06%672.63%2,32591.25%2,548Smith2,43292.79%1656.30%240.92%2,26786.49%2,621Stone97294.19%434.17%171.65%92990.02%1,032Sunflower2,54686.19%1555.25%2538.56%2,29377.62%2,954Tallahatchie2,37797.38%401.64%240.98%2,33795.74%2,441Tate1,40594.68%291.95%503.37%1,35591.31%1,484Tippah2,43991.52%1264.73%1003.75%2,31386.79%2,665Tishomingo1,36679.98%29617.33%462.69%1,07062.65%1,708Tunica64985.85%354.63%729.52%57776.32%756Union2,05488.42%1837.88%863.70%1,87180.54%2,323Walthall1,17090.14%685.24%604.62%1,10284.90%1,298Warren3,01886.08%3048.67%1845.25%2,71477.41%3,506Washington1,53562.25%45418.41%47719.34%1,05842.90%2,466Wayne1,30292.01%352.47%785.51%1,22486.50%1,415Webster1,46890.01%1277.79%362.21%1,34182.22%1,631Wilkinson77381.97%808.48%909.54%68372.43%943Winston1,75793.81%512.72%653.47%1,69290.34%1,873Yalobusha1,52590.83%975.78%573.39%1,42885.05%1,679Yazoo2,20092.48%783.28%1014.25%2,09988.23%2,379Totals158,51588.02%11,6016.44%9,9645.53%146,91481.58%180,080

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