1936 United States presidential election in North Dakota

The 1936 United States presidential election in North Dakota took place on November 3, 1936, as part of the 1936 United States presidential election. Voters chose four 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 opposition to American involvement in World War I. In the following three elections, the state's voting would be shaped by its extreme isolationism in the aftermath of the United States ultimately entering the war in 1917 and Wilson's “League of Nations” proposal, to which the Russian Germans who dominated North Dakota's populace at the time were vehemently opposed.Lubell, Samuel; The Future of American Politics (1956), pp. 156-164 North Dakota thus shifted markedly from voting four-to-one for Republican Warren G. Harding against pro-League Democrat James M. Cox in 1920, to being the second-strongest state for Robert M. La Follette under the Nonpartisan League banner in 1924, to Republican Herbert Hoover carrying the state by a comparatively narrow margin over anti-Prohibition Catholic Al Smith in 1928. Severe drought and depression in the following three years turned the state overwhelmingly to Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932, despite President Hoover's call to “be safe” by supporting him; at the same time North Dakota elected progressive, pro-New Deal Republicans to fill its House and Senate seats.Grant, Michael Johnston; Francis, Charles A. and Flora, Cornelia; Down and Out on the Family Farm: Rural Rehabilitation in the Great Plains, 1929-1945, pp. 69-70 One of these, Gerald Nye, would say in 1934 that the party needed to

Roosevelt won North Dakota by a margin of 33.02 percentage points and for the second consecutive election carried every county in the state. , this is the last time that a Democratic presidential candidate has carried every county in the state, and the last time that the Democratic candidate carried the following counties: Golden Valley, Grant, Kidder, Logan, McIntosh, Mercer, and Sheridan.Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016

Results 1936 United States presidential election in North DakotaPartyCandidateRunning mateVotes%Electoral votes Democratic Franklin D. Roosevelt John Nance Garner 163,148 59.60% 4 Republican Alf Landon Frank Knox 72,751 26.58% 0 Union William Lemke Thomas C. O'Brien 36,708 13.41% 0 Socialist Norman Thomas George A. Nelson 552 0.20% 0 Communist Earl Browder James W. Ford 360 0.13% 0 Prohibition D. Leigh Colvin Claude A. Watson 197 0.07% 0 Total 273,716 100.0% 4

Results by county CountyFranklin D. RooseveltDemocraticAlf LandonRepublicanWilliam LemkeUnionNorman ThomasSocialistEarl BrowderCommunistD. Leigh ColvinProhibitionMarginTotal votescast#%#%#%#%#%#%#%Adams1,32154.95%74631.03%31012.90%50.21%70.29%150.62%57523.92%2,404Barnes4,48457.89%2,32430.00%90911.74%170.22%40.05%80.10%2,16027.89%7,746Benson3,34362.33%1,02019.02%98518.37%110.21%10.02%30.06%2,32343.32%5,363Billings72959.17%32926.70%15512.58%181.46%10.08%00.00%40032.47%1,232Bottineau3,28656.86%1,22421.18%1,23621.39%240.42%20.03%70.12%2,05035.47%5,779Bowman1,11855.62%53426.57%34617.21%110.55%10.05%00.00%58429.05%2,010Burke1,82148.81%68418.33%1,18031.63%250.67%170.46%40.11%64117.18%3,731Burleigh6,31464.94%2,44725.17%9059.31%220.23%270.28%80.08%3,86739.77%9,723Cass12,40057.22%7,63235.22%1,5487.14%620.29%140.06%140.06%4,76822.00%21,670Cavalier3,53360.82%1,65728.52%61410.57%10.02%10.02%30.05%1,87632.29%5,809Dickey2,28751.30%1,53334.39%59513.35%50.11%330.74%50.11%75416.91%4,458Divide2,21262.56%58516.54%73120.67%40.11%30.08%10.03%1,48141.88%3,536Dunn2,25766.76%73221.65%37911.21%10.03%110.33%10.03%1,52545.10%3,381Eddy1,72963.78%57921.36%38214.09%30.11%170.63%10.04%1,15042.42%2,711Emmons2,42457.95%1,11726.70%63815.25%20.05%20.05%00.00%1,30731.25%4,183Foster1,89468.65%68524.83%1756.34%40.14%10.04%00.00%1,20943.82%2,759Golden Valley99159.73%58135.02%774.64%40.24%60.36%00.00%41024.71%1,659Grand Forks9,22263.39%4,31229.64%9806.74%170.12%90.06%90.06%4,91033.75%14,549Grant1,85853.76%1,02229.57%56616.38%60.17%40.12%00.00%83624.19%3,456Griggs1,66561.15%66624.46%38614.18%20.07%10.04%30.11%99936.69%2,723Hettinger1,38341.69%98929.82%93728.25%80.24%00.00%00.00%39411.88%3,317Kidder1,49250.89%87229.74%56119.13%10.03%60.20%00.00%62021.15%2,932LaMoure2,41249.52%1,61433.13%82616.96%110.23%10.02%70.14%79816.38%4,871Logan1,29245.11%98434.36%58420.39%10.03%20.07%10.03%30810.75%2,864McHenry3,29453.40%1,61926.24%1,22219.81%80.13%200.32%60.10%1,67527.15%6,169McIntosh1,90052.36%1,46940.48%2557.03%20.06%10.03%20.06%43111.88%3,629McKenzie2,88574.20%57014.66%40910.52%50.13%150.39%40.10%2,31559.54%3,888McLean4,01858.55%1,73225.24%1,02814.98%640.93%160.23%40.06%2,28633.31%6,862Mercer1,92453.16%1,14231.56%54815.14%30.08%20.06%00.00%78221.61%3,619Morton5,61269.37%1,85722.95%6087.52%30.04%30.04%70.09%3,75546.42%8,090Mountrail2,77558.19%70014.68%1,22725.73%200.42%390.82%80.17%1,54832.46%4,769Nelson2,95465.78%1,00222.31%52411.67%60.13%30.07%20.04%1,95243.46%4,491Oliver90657.60%46929.82%19712.52%10.06%00.00%00.00%43727.78%1,573Pembina4,13963.86%2,04031.48%2934.52%60.09%30.05%00.00%2,09932.39%6,481Pierce2,16857.60%91224.23%67617.96%40.11%30.08%10.03%1,25633.37%3,764Ramsey4,55965.19%1,78425.51%6429.18%60.09%10.01%10.01%2,77539.68%6,993Ransom2,38555.49%1,30330.32%60013.96%50.12%30.07%20.05%1,08225.17%4,298Renville1,76661.73%61121.36%44415.52%371.29%20.07%10.03%1,15540.37%2,861Richland3,79249.92%2,38631.41%1,36117.92%470.62%60.08%40.05%1,40618.51%7,596Rolette3,18671.89%85719.34%3868.71%30.07%00.00%00.00%2,32952.55%4,432Sargent2,30664.47%86324.13%39711.10%60.17%30.08%20.06%1,44340.34%3,577Sheridan1,15041.10%83429.81%80828.88%10.04%20.07%30.11%31611.29%2,798Sioux87752.70%58535.16%19811.90%20.12%20.12%00.00%29217.55%1,664Slope89663.05%33123.29%19313.58%10.07%00.00%00.00%56539.76%1,421Stark4,01265.35%1,60226.10%5118.32%80.13%20.03%40.07%2,41039.26%6,139Steele1,44450.26%72425.20%69824.30%40.14%30.10%00.00%72025.06%2,873Stutsman5,56459.39%2,72529.09%1,06411.36%110.12%20.02%30.03%2,83930.30%9,369Towner1,74454.26%72022.40%74323.12%30.09%40.12%00.00%1,00131.14%3,214Traill2,78052.76%1,80734.29%66612.64%50.09%60.11%50.09%97318.47%5,269Walsh5,75670.32%1,81322.15%6047.38%80.10%20.02%20.02%3,94348.17%8,185Ward8,87263.12%3,14222.36%2,00514.27%150.11%130.09%80.06%5,73040.77%14,055Wells3,11458.78%1,26323.84%91817.33%30.06%00.00%00.00%1,85134.94%5,298Williams4,90365.61%1,02113.66%1,47819.78%230.31%440.59%40.05%3,42545.83%7,473Totals163,14859.60%72,75126.58%36,70813.41%5520.20%3600.13%1970.07%90,39733.03%273,716

Analysis Controversial Democratic governor and senator from Louisiana Huey P. Long had planned to run against Roosevelt on his "Share Our Wealth" platform in the 1936 election,Berlet, Chip and Lyons, Matthew N.; Right-Wing Populism in America: Too Close for Comfort, p. 128 but was assassinated in September 1935. The remains of the Share Our Wealth movement were taken over by “radio priest” Charles Coughlin, who nominated North Dakota Congressman William Lemke as the presidential candidate of the new “Union Party” on June 9,Brinkley, Alan; Voices of Protest: Huey Long, Father Coughlin, and the Great Depression, p. 255 whose isolationist platform was vague and Coughlin's personal creation.Schlesinger, Arthur M.; The Politics of Upheaval, 1935-1936, pp. 554-559 Lemke had had a long history as a progressive reformer since endorsing Woodrow Wilson in 1912.Pearson, Drew and Allen, Robert S.; ‘The Washington Merry-Go-Round’; The Lock Haven Express, August 1, 1936, p. 1

A poor campaigner and speaker, Lemke was unable to build his hoped-for “consensus of despair” amongst agrarian radicals, Southern poor whites, Catholics, and the elderly.Horowitz, David A.; Beyond Left and Right: Insurgency and the Establishment, pp. 113-114 North Dakota's extreme isolationism and support for its favorite son meant Lemke received 13.41 percent of his home state's vote: over four and a half times the 2.88 percent of on-ballot votes he won nationally. Lemke exceeded 28 percent in the counties of Burke, Sheridan and Hettinger, and ran second ahead of Republican nominee Alf Landon in six counties. However, he did not make the impact personally expected when nominated, and unlike elsewhere in the nation, Lemke's best vote was not where ethnic and religious influences might have been expected to give him the largest vote, but in the northwest where local leaders held votes for him.Blackorby, Edward C.; ‘William Lemke: Agrarian Radical and Union Party Presidential Candidate’; The Mississippi Valley Historical Review, Vol. 49, No. 1 (June 1962), pp. 67-84 Nonetheless, only Ross Perot in 1992 and Evan McMullin in 2016 have since equaled Lemke's performance for a third-party candidate in any non-Southern county.

See also United States presidential elections in North Dakota

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