The 1932 Florida gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1932. Democratic nominee David Sholtz defeated Republican nominee William J. Howey with 66.62% of the vote.

Primary elections Primary elections were held on June 7, 1932.

Democratic primary During the Democratic primary, the campaign platforms for several candidates are known. David Sholtz would run on a campaign involving: increasing government services, giving back pay for teachers, making school terms 9 months long, free textbook for school students, creating a workers' compensation law, increasing bank regulation and providing more funding for public welfare. Carl Maples would pitch himself as being someone who supported a localized self-government. Former governor Cary A. Hardee would emphasize his record when he was governor while running in the primaries. Another former governor, John W. Martin would emphasize that he led to many roads being paved in Florida and would promise that if elected for a second nonconsecutive term as governor he would give: "a dollar in his pocket and a smile on his face."Cox, Merlin G. (1964) "David Sholtz: New Deal Governor of Florida," Florida Historical Quarterly: Vol. 43 : No. 2, Article 5.

Many political observers believed that former governors John W. Martin and Cary A. Hardee would face off against each other in a runoff race.

Candidates David Sholtz, former State Representative John W. Martin, former Governor Cary A. Hardee, former Governor Stafford Caldwell, attorney for Florida East Coast Railway Charles W. Durrance T. S. Hart Arthur Gomez, State Senator for the 24th District J. Thomas Watson, State Representative

Endorsements

Results

Runoff Results by county CountyGray, R. A. (n.d.). (rep.). Tabulation of Official Vote Florida Primary Elections : Democratic and Republican (Vol. 1932, p. 16). David Sholtz John W. Martin Total votes # % # %Alachua2,83660.55%1,84839.45%4,684 Baker 64741.66%90658.34%1,553Bay1,90350.22%1,88649.78%3,789Bradford1,02960.57%67039.43%1,699Brevard1,48257.33%1,10342.67%2,585Broward3,23179.90%81320.10%4,044 Calhoun89043.65%1,14956.35%2,039Charlotte71665.93%37034.07%1,086Citrus1,02959.51%70040.49%1,729Clay1,13757.08%85542.92%1,992 Collier15833.83%30966.17%467Columbia1,67652.00%1,54748.00%3,223Dade15,63071.90%6,10928.10%21,739DeSoto1,93672.78%72427.22%2,660 Dixie56342.91%74957.09%1,312Duval16,87762.53%10,11537.47%26,992Escambia5,54564.19%3,09335.81%8,638Flagler32352.35%29447.65%617 Franklin30324.32%94375.68%1,246 Gadsden1,05246.22%1,22453.78%2,276 Gilchrist31929.24%77270.76%1,091 Glades36345.43%43654.57%799 Gulf27230.73%61369.27%885 Hamilton60236.31%1,05663.69%1,658Hardee2,43071.85%95228.15%3,382Hendry48252.85%43047.15%912Hernando1,10568.17%51631.83%1,621Hillsborough21,51080.18%5,31619.82%26,826 Holmes1,56436.46%2,72663.54%4,290Indian River1,04852.96%93147.04%1,979 Jackson2,59032.55%5,36867.45%7,958 Jefferson76342.63%1,02757.37%1,790 Lafayette28023.61%90676.39%1,186Lake2,41564.73%1,31635.27%3,731Lee2,40961.52%1,50738.48%3,916 Leon85722.12%3,01877.88%3,875Levy1,25756.78%95743.22%2,214 Liberty25922.62%88677.38%1,145Madison1,29458.39%92241.61%2,216Manatee3,54684.41%92215.59%4,201Marion2,36556.04%1,85543.96%4,220 Martin46046.05%53953.95%999Monroe2,24566.44%1,13433.56%3,379Nassau99555.65%79344.35%1,788Okaloosa1,56154.68%1,29445.32%2,855Okeechobee69466.79%34533.21%1,039Orange5,15177.92%1,46022.08%6,611Osceola1,58370.32%66829.68%2,251Palm Beach8,60077.52%2,49422.48%11,094Pasco2,58275.23%85024.77%3,432Pinellas7,12475.71%2,28524.29%9,409Polk8,87378.89%2,37521.11%11,248Putnam1,88958.16%1,35941.84%3,248 Santa Rosa1,74046.30%2,01853.70%3,758Sarasota1,90473.20%69726.80%2,601Seminole2,15570.04%92229.96%3,077St. Johns2,79263.34%1,61636.66%4,408St. Lucie1,28763.15%1,61636.85%2,038Sumter1,38958.51%98541.49%2,374 Suwannee1,14240.73%1,66259.27%2,804 Taylor75341.28%1,07158.72%1,824Union62853.09%55546.91%1,183Volusia6,83071.96%2,66128.04%9,491 Wakulla35822.28%1,24977.72%1,607 Walton1,70046.81%1,93253.19%3,632 Washington1,18931.17%2,62568.83%3,814Totals173,54062.80%102,80537.20%276,345

General election William J. Howey ran on a similar campaign platform to 1928. During his 1932 platform he promised to reduce the amount of circuit courts, replace county school boards with appointed superintendents and give parole to prisoners after serving 1/3 of their sentence. He supported refinancing the state's bonds at lower interest rates. As a way to pay off the state's debts, he proposed stopping all road construction and diverting the funds instead to paying off the state's debts. Howey was in favor of giving more legal rights to women and was fond of the benefits of having a two party system in the state. The Republicans favored abolishing the poll tax in the state while the Democrats were against this as they saw this as a major blow to white supremacy in the state.

Candidates David Sholtz, Democratic William J. Howey, Republican, businessman, real estate developer and mayor of Howey-in-the-Hills.

Results

Results by county CountyGray, R. A. (1932). (rep.). Report of the Secretary of State of the State of Florida (Vol. 1931–1932, p. 309). Tallahassee, FL: Rose Ptg. Co. David Sholtz Democratic William J. Howey Republican Total votes # % # %Alachua 3,099 67.92% 1,464 32.08% 4,563Baker 1,019 75.76% 326 24.24% 1,345Bay 2,493 79.50% 643 20.50% 3,136Bradford 1,217 79.65% 311 20.35% 1,528Brevard 1,606 54.76% 1,327 45.24% 2,933Broward 3,173 61.34% 2,000 38.66% 5,173Calhoun 1,049 72.44% 399 27.56% 1,448Charlotte 835 60.20% 552 39.80% 1,387Citrus 1,081 77.60% 312 22.40% 1,393Clay 1,082 58.52% 767 41.48% 1,849Collier 373 80.91% 88 19.09% 461Columbia 2,213 82.39% 473 17.61% 2,686Dade 16,530 59.88% 11,077 40.12% 27,607DeSoto 1,504 67.69% 718 32.31% 2,222Dixie 1,002 84.56% 183 15.44% 1,185Duval 15,949 62.77% 9,460 37.23% 25,409Escambia 5,441 68.70% 2,479 31.30% 7,920Flagler 415 71.43% 166 28.57% 581Franklin 893 83.61% 175 16.39% 1,068Gadsden 1,660 82.71% 347 17.29% 2,007Gilchrist 629 72.80% 235 27.20% 864Glades 448 62.14% 273 37.86% 721Gulf 567 83.14% 115 16.86% 682Hamilton 867 69.36% 383 30.64% 1,250Hardee 2,200 69.38% 971 30.62% 3,171Hendry 624 72.64% 235 27.36% 859Hernando 975 70.14% 415 29.86% 1,390Highlands 1,539 66.22% 785 33.78% 2,324Hillsborough 17,962 73.55% 6,460 26.45% 24,422Holmes 2,384 75.44% 776 24.56% 3,160Indian River 1,033 59.27% 710 40.73% 1,743Jackson 4,127 77.30% 1,212 22.70% 5,339Jefferson 1,287 87.25% 188 12.75% 1,475Lafayette 826 86.40% 130 13.60% 956Lake 2,601 51.35% 2,464 48.65% 5,065Lee 2,381 66.34% 1,208 33.66% 3,589Leon 2,656 81.70% 595 18.30% 3,251Levy 1,418 79.40% 368 20.60% 1,786Liberty 584 82.14% 127 17.86% 711Madison 1,484 80.17% 367 19.83% 1,851Manatee 2,834 65.25% 1,509 34.75% 4,343Marion 2,385 57.32% 1,776 42.68% 4,161Martin 700 58.53% 496 41.47% 1,196Monroe 2,648 87.11% 392 12.89% 3,040Nassau 907 59.91% 607 40.09% 1,514Okaloosa 1,841 79.15% 485 20.85% 2,326Okeechobee 717 78.79% 193 21.21% 910Orange 4,859 56.61% 3,725 43.39% 8,584Osceola 1,467 55.40% 1,181 44.60% 2,648Palm Beach 7,732 65.04% 4,156 34.96% 11,888Pasco 2,217 64.43% 1,224 35.57% 3,441Pinellas 9,787 57.83% 7,138 42.17% 16,925Polk 8,785 66.66% 4,393 33.34% 13,178Putnam 1,894 57.73% 1,387 42.27% 3,281Santa Rosa 2,318 73.08% 854 26.92% 3,172Sarasota 1,839 67.61% 881 32.39% 2,720Seminole 2,008 63.10% 1,174 36.90% 3,182St. Johns 3,043 66.07% 1,563 33.93% 4,606St. Lucie 1,479 73.55% 532 26.45% 2,011Sumter 1,523 65.25% 811 34.75% 2,334Suwannee 1,758 77.31% 516 22.69% 2,274Taylor 1,134 73.21% 415 26.79% 1,549Union 846 83.60% 166 16.40% 1,012Volusia 7,197 59.44% 4,910 40.56% 12,107Wakulla 913 84.85% 163 15.15% 1,076Walton 2,238 80.13% 555 19.87% 2,793Washington 1,975 70.23% 837 29.77% 2,812Total186,27066.62%93,32333.38%279,593

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic Dade DeSoto Hardee Lake Manatee Marion Orange Pasco Pinellas Sarasota

References