1924 United States presidential election in North Dakota

The 1924 United States presidential election in North Dakota 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 five representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Ever since statehood, North Dakota had been overwhelmingly Republican at state level and in many presidential elections,Hansen, John Mark; Shigeo Hirano, and Snyder, James M. Jr.; ‘Parties within Parties: Parties, Factions, and Coordinated Politics, 1900-1980’; in Gerber, Alan S. and Schickler, Eric; Governing in a Polarized Age: Elections, Parties, and Political Representation in America, pp. 143-159 although progressive Democrat Woodrow Wilson was able to carry the state in both his campaigns in 1912 and 1916, in the second due to his anti-war platform. The Russian-Germans who dominated North Dakota's populace were vehemently opposed to President Wilson's pushing of the nation into World War I and his “League of Nations” proposal.Lubell, Samuel; The Future of American Politics (1956), pp. 156-164 To this populace descended from Germans who had settled in Russia, Wilson's entry into the war and his support for the Treaty of Versailles was a betrayal, whilst farmers were also faced with a postwar agricultural depression as prices fell with reduced demand in Europe.Phillips, Kevin P.; The Emerging Republican Majority, pp. 420-423 Consequently, North Dakota went for the isolationist Warren G. Harding over the pro-League Democrat Cox by four-to-one in 1920.

Despite Harding's massive victory, discontent amongst North Dakota's large farm population persisted during his term,Shiedeler, James H.; ‘The La Follette Progressive Party Campaign of 1924’; The Wisconsin Magazine of History Vol. 33, No. 4 (June 1950), pp. 444-457 but the national Democratic Party did nothing to provide any hope of regaining Wilson's prominence in North Dakota, being instead dominated by conflicts between its Southern and Western faction led by William Gibbs McAdoo and its urban Northeastern faction led by Al Smith.Grantham, Dewey; The South in Modern America A Region at Odds, p. 106 A fierce debate ensued that saw a compromise candidate, former Congressman John W. Davis of West Virginia, nominated after one hundred and three ballots in hot summer weather at Madison Square Garden.Paulson, Arthur C.; Realignment and Party Revival: Understanding American Electoral Politics at the Turn of the Twenty-First Century, p. 51 Although West Virginia was a border state whose limited African-American population had not been disenfranchised as happened in all former Confederate States,Ranney, Joseph A.; In the Wake of Slavery: Civil War, Civil Rights, and the Reconstruction of Southern Law; p. 141 Davis did share many views of Southern Democrats of his era. He supported poll taxes, opposed women's suffrage, and believed in strictly limited government with no expansion in nonmilitary fields.Newman, Roger K.; The Yale Biographical Dictionary of American Law, p. 153 In North Dakota, Davis had almost no appeal, especially as he unlike incumbent Calvin Coolidge supported the League of Nations and was opposed to the state's isolationist views. Although in September he underwent an extensive tour of the Great Plains,Tucker, Garland; High Tide of American Conservatism: Davis, Coolidge, and the 1924 Election, p. 191 and campaigned to eliminate the income tax burden of the poorer classes,Richardson, Danny G.; Others: "Fighting Bob" La Follette and the Progressive Movement: Third-Party Politics in the 1920s, p. 180

The agrarian Nonpartisan League, as a response to the conservatism of the major parties, nominated Senator Robert M. La Follette of Wisconsin, with Senator Burton K. Wheeler of Montana, as a third-party ticket, supported by the state's Senators Lynn J. Frazier and Gerald P. Nye. Davis and Coolidge both spent most of their campaign attacking La Follette as a political extremist,Parrish, Michael E.; Anxious Decades: America in Prosperity and Depression, 1920-1941, pp. 70-71 but nonetheless opinion polls showed that La Follette was attracting large numbers of those German-American and Scandinavian-Americans who completely deserted Cox in 1920.Tucker; High Tide of American Conservatism, p. 181 In September some polls had La Follette winning sufficient electoral votes to give no candidate an electoral majority and force the House to make a choice,Tucker; High Tide of American Conservatism, p. 231 but as polling day approached newer polls suggested incumbent President Calvin Coolidge would hold the states of Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nevada and Montana, which La Follette had been predicted to win in August. Coolidge ultimately won North Dakota by a narrow margin of 2.51 percent, with his win coming from the relatively urbanized Scandinavian-settled counties in the east.

Results

Results by county CountyNorth Dakota Secretary of State Elections; Party Votes, General Election November 4, 1924Calvin CoolidgeRepublicanJohn W. DavisDemocraticRobert M. La FolletteNonpartisan LeagueWilliam Z. FosterWorkersMarginTotal votescast#%#%#%#%#% Adams 776 40.25% 106 5.50% 1,045 54.20% 1 0.05% -269 -13.95% 1,928 Barnes 3,205 51.46% 346 5.56% 2,675 42.95% 2 0.03% 530 8.51% 6,228 Benson 1,870 45.00% 246 5.92% 2,038 49.04% 2 0.05% -168 -4.04% 4,156 Billings 421 48.34% 32 3.67% 418 47.99% 0 0.00% 3 0.34% 871 Bottineau 1,338 31.99% 221 5.28% 2,621 62.67% 2 0.05% -1,283 -30.68% 4,182 Bowman 776 45.17% 67 3.90% 875 50.93% 0 0.00% -99 -5.76% 1,718 Burke 996 39.62% 135 5.37% 1,376 54.73% 7 0.28% -380 -15.12% 2,514 Burleigh 3,152 53.17% 379 6.39% 2,338 39.44% 59 1.00% 814 13.73% 5,928 Cass 9,906 65.86% 1,352 8.99% 3,769 25.06% 14 0.09% 6,137 40.80% 15,041 Cavalier 2,428 54.65% 539 12.13% 1,471 33.11% 5 0.11% 957 21.54% 4,443 Dickey 1,716 43.66% 352 8.96% 1,856 47.23% 6 0.15% -140 -3.56% 3,930 Divide 743 30.43% 91 3.73% 1,605 65.72% 3 0.12% -862 -35.30% 2,442 Dunn 980 42.78% 190 8.29% 1,112 48.54% 9 0.39% -132 -5.76% 2,291 Eddy 881 39.33% 101 4.51% 1,258 56.16% 0 0.00% -377 -16.83% 2,240 Emmons 1,198 39.66% 123 4.07% 1,695 56.11% 5 0.17% -497 -16.45% 3,021 Foster 922 45.13% 287 14.05% 833 40.77% 1 0.05% 89 4.36% 2,043 Golden Valley 718 48.29% 140 9.41% 628 42.23% 1 0.07% 90 6.05% 1,487 Grand Forks 6,690 62.81% 943 8.85% 3,011 28.27% 7 0.07% 3,679 34.54% 10,651 Grant 1,120 39.07% 125 4.36% 1,618 56.44% 4 0.14% -498 -17.37% 2,867 Griggs 738 33.33% 116 5.24% 1,360 61.43% 0 0.00% -622 -28.09% 2,214 Hettinger 936 39.73% 128 5.43% 1,291 54.80% 1 0.04% -355 -15.07% 2,356 Kidder 844 39.42% 110 5.14% 1,187 55.44% 0 0.00% -343 -16.02% 2,141 LaMoure 1,647 43.23% 221 5.80% 1,940 50.92% 2 0.05% -293 -7.69% 3,810 Logan 787 43.34% 29 1.60% 994 54.74% 6 0.33% -207 -11.40% 1,816 McHenry 1,692 36.89% 264 5.76% 2,630 57.34% 1 0.02% -938 -20.45% 4,587 McIntosh 637 34.45% 39 2.11% 1,172 63.39% 1 0.05% -535 -28.93% 1,849 McKenzie 1,113 38.14% 137 4.69% 1,661 56.92% 7 0.24% -548 -18.78% 2,918 McLean 1,651 36.02% 194 4.23% 2,718 59.31% 20 0.44% -1,067 -23.28% 4,583 Mercer 522 25.02% 70 3.36% 1,489 71.38% 5 0.24% -967 -46.36% 2,086 Morton 2,377 44.26% 265 4.93% 2,716 50.58% 12 0.22% -339 -6.31% 5,370 Mountrail 1,354 36.19% 130 3.48% 2,209 59.05% 48 1.28% -855 -22.85% 3,741 Nelson 1,697 49.20% 175 5.07% 1,571 45.55% 6 0.17% 126 3.65% 3,449 Oliver 367 32.16% 31 2.72% 739 64.77% 4 0.35% -372 -32.60% 1,141 Pembina 2,783 59.02% 588 12.47% 1,341 28.44% 3 0.06% 1,442 30.58% 4,715 Pierce 1,160 46.89% 157 6.35% 1,156 46.73% 1 0.04% 4 0.16% 2,474 Ramsey 3,110 62.35% 359 7.20% 1,505 30.17% 14 0.28% 1,605 32.18% 4,988 Ransom 1,862 45.59% 303 7.42% 1,919 46.99% 0 0.00% -57 -1.40% 4,084 Renville 649 32.18% 120 5.95% 1,247 61.82% 1 0.05% -598 -29.65% 2,017 Richland 3,235 48.84% 769 11.61% 2,617 39.51% 3 0.05% 618 9.33% 6,624 Rolette 869 35.92% 137 5.66% 1,410 58.29% 3 0.12% -541 -22.36% 2,419 Sargent 1,468 43.68% 232 6.90% 1,656 49.27% 5 0.15% -188 -5.59% 3,361 Sheridan 594 34.66% 49 2.86% 1,069 62.37% 2 0.12% -475 -27.71% 1,714 Sioux 777 62.21% 58 4.64% 407 32.59% 7 0.56% 370 29.62% 1,249 Slope 616 39.09% 47 2.98% 913 57.93% 0 0.00% -297 -18.85% 1,576 Stark 2,130 50.58% 266 6.32% 1,808 42.94% 7 0.17% 322 7.65% 4,211 Steele 1,247 52.77% 85 3.60% 1,029 43.55% 2 0.08% 218 9.23% 2,363 Stutsman 3,952 56.68% 463 6.64% 2,552 36.60% 6 0.09% 1,400 20.08% 6,973 Towner 1,173 47.66% 223 9.06% 1,053 42.79% 12 0.49% 120 4.88% 2,461 Traill 2,596 56.64% 234 5.11% 1,752 38.23% 1 0.02% 844 18.42% 4,583 Walsh 2,837 49.17% 917 15.89% 2,009 34.82% 7 0.12% 828 14.35% 5,770 Ward 4,166 47.99% 721 8.31% 3,784 43.59% 10 0.12% 382 4.40% 8,681 Wells 1,644 44.40% 138 3.73% 1,917 51.77% 4 0.11% -273 -7.37% 3,703 Williams 1,865 36.76% 308 6.07% 2,859 56.36% 41 0.81% -994 -19.59% 5,073Totals94,93147.68%13,8586.96%89,92245.17%3700.19%5,0092.52%199,081

Analysis With 45.17 percent of the popular vote, North Dakota would prove to be La Follette's second strongest state in the 1924 election in terms of popular vote percentage after Wisconsin. Davis received a mere 6.96% of the vote in North Dakota, his second-weakest state behind neighboring Minnesota. This was one of only two states, the other being Wisconsin, in which La Follette won a majority of counties (32 of 53 counties in North Dakota were carried by him).The Presidential Vote, 1896–1932, Edgar E. Robinson, p. 67 LaFollette and Coolidge did tie in one state, Nevada, where they both won 8 counties, and Davis won one.

See also United States presidential elections in North Dakota

Notes

References