1948 United States presidential election in Alabama
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 County Results
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| Elections in Alabama |
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In the 1948 United States presidential election, Alabama was the only state in which the National Democratic Party candidate, incumbent president Harry S. Truman, did not appear on the ballot, instead fielding far-right South Carolina Governor Strom Thurmond as a Dixiecrat candidate. The state Supreme Court ruled that any statute requiring party presidential electors to vote for that party's national nominee was void.[1] A "Loyalist" group did petition governor "Big Jim" Folsom to allow Truman electors, but Senator John Sparkman, fearing popular defeat at the hands of the Dixiecrats and a hostile state legislature, decided against placing Truman electors on the ballot.[2]
In other Southern states where Truman was on the ballot,[a] Thurmond was forced to run under the label of the States' Rights Democratic Party.
In Alabama, voters voted for electors individually instead of as a slate, as in the other states.
Thurmond overwhelmingly won Alabama by a margin of 60.71 percent, or 130,513 votes, against his closest opponent, Republican New York governor Thomas E. Dewey.[3] Two third-party candidates, Henry A. Wallace of the Progressive Party and Claude A. Watson of the Prohibition Party, appeared on the ballot in Alabama, though neither had any impact on the election.
Analysis
Southern Democrats walked out at the party's national convention in Philadelphia because of Truman's endorsement of civil rights for African Americans. This segregationist faction met on July 17, 1948, in Birmingham, nominating South Carolina governor Strom Thurmond as its nominee for president. Mississippi governor Fielding L. Wright was nominated for vice president.
Thurmond won 66 of Alabama's 67 counties, with the sole holdout being in the northern part of the state where Winston County gave Dewey over sixty percent of the vote.
Results
| Party | Pledged to | Elector | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic Party | Strom Thurmond | Tom Abernathy | 171,443 | |
| Democratic Party | Strom Thurmond | Ben Bloodworth | 171,336 | |
| Democratic Party | Strom Thurmond | Tully A. Goodwin | 171,284 | |
| Democratic Party | Strom Thurmond | Walter C. Givhan | 171,279 | |
| Democratic Party | Strom Thurmond | Norman W. Harris | 171,272 | |
| Democratic Party | Strom Thurmond | John A. Lusk, Jr. | 171,272 | |
| Democratic Party | Strom Thurmond | Robert B. Albritton | 171,264 | |
| Democratic Party | Strom Thurmond | Gessner T. McCorvey | 171,213 | |
| Democratic Party | Strom Thurmond | Edmund Blair | 171,212 | |
| Democratic Party | Strom Thurmond | Walter F. Miller | 171,201 | |
| Democratic Party | Strom Thurmond | Horace C. Walkinson | 170,825 | |
| Republican Party | Thomas E. Dewey | O. H. Aycock | 40,930 | |
| Republican Party | Thomas E. Dewey | J. A. Downer | 40,853 | |
| Republican Party | Thomas E. Dewey | W. H. Gillespie | 40,842 | |
| Republican Party | Thomas E. Dewey | V. B. Huff | 40,811 | |
| Republican Party | Thomas E. Dewey | Walter J. Kennamer | 40,811 | |
| Republican Party | Thomas E. Dewey | L. A. Carroll | 40,774 | |
| Progressive Party | Henry A. Wallace | Jesse L. Dansby | 1,522 | |
| Progressive Party | Henry A. Wallace | Joe M. Goodwin | 1,459 | |
| Progressive Party | Henry A. Wallace | William A. Upshaw | 1,426 | |
| Progressive Party | Henry A. Wallace | Robert D. Morgan | 1,398 | |
| Progressive Party | Henry A. Wallace | Ralph Hopkins | 1,394 | |
| Progressive Party | Henry A. Wallace | Vivia Thomas | 1,385 | |
| Progressive Party | Henry A. Wallace | Herbert P. McDonald | 1,384 | |
| Progressive Party | Henry A. Wallace | Frank R. McGhee | 1,381 | |
| Progressive Party | Henry A. Wallace | Robert F. Travis, Jr. | 1,377 | |
| Progressive Party | Henry A. Wallace | Allison H. Stanton | 1,366 | |
| Progressive Party | Henry A. Wallace | Johanna Newhouse | 1,363 | |
| Prohibition Party | Claude A. Watson | Glenn V. Tingley | 1,085 | |
| Prohibition Party | Claude A. Watson | Eulalia R. Vess | 1,085 | |
| Prohibition Party | Claude A. Watson | J. B. Lockhart | 1,055 | |
| Prohibition Party | Claude A. Watson | Cora McAdory | 1,043 | |
| Prohibition Party | Claude A. Watson | Jack Moore | 1,040 | |
| Prohibition Party | Claude A. Watson | L. E. Barton | 1,038 | |
| Prohibition Party | Claude A. Watson | Elizabeth Lewis | 1,036 | |
| Prohibition Party | Claude A. Watson | Ethel M. Durham | 1,028 | |
| Prohibition Party | Claude A. Watson | H. P. Amos | 1,026 | |
| Prohibition Party | Claude A. Watson | M. E. Poland | 1,015 | |
| Prohibition Party | Claude A. Watson | Noble M. Israelson | 1,001 | |
| Total votes | 214,980 | |||
Results by county
| County | Strom Thurmond[5] Dixiecrat/Democratic |
Thomas E. Dewey[6] Republican |
Henry A. Wallace[7] Progressive |
Claude A. Wilson Prohibition |
Margin | Total votes cast | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Autauga | 1,160 | 90.20% | 110 | 8.55% | 2 | 0.16% | 14 | 1.09% | 1,159 | 81.65% | 1,286 |
| Baldwin | 2,577 | 74.80% | 767 | 22.26% | 67 | 1.94% | 34 | 0.99% | 2,576 | 52.54% | 3,445 |
| Barbour | 1,679 | 93.90% | 101 | 5.65% | 2 | 0.11% | 6 | 0.34% | 1,678 | 88.25% | 1,788 |
| Bibb | 1,188 | 88.46% | 123 | 9.16% | 8 | 0.60% | 24 | 1.79% | 1,187 | 79.30% | 1,343 |
| Blount | 1,768 | 68.98% | 771 | 30.08% | 2 | 0.08% | 22 | 0.86% | 1,767 | 38.90% | 2,563 |
| Bullock | 799 | 98.76% | 10 | 1.24% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 798 | 97.52% | 809 |
| Butler | 1,313 | 93.19% | 91 | 6.46% | 2 | 0.14% | 3 | 0.21% | 1,312 | 86.73% | 1,409 |
| Calhoun | 3,236 | 77.40% | 856 | 20.47% | 60 | 1.44% | 29 | 0.69% | 3,235 | 56.93% | 4,181 |
| Chambers | 1,520 | 86.02% | 218 | 12.34% | 11 | 0.62% | 18 | 1.02% | 1,519 | 73.68% | 1,767 |
| Cherokee | 1,055 | 81.59% | 217 | 16.78% | 3 | 0.23% | 18 | 1.39% | 1,054 | 64.81% | 1,293 |
| Chilton | 1,966 | 55.09% | 1,584 | 44.38% | 5 | 0.14% | 14 | 0.39% | 1,965 | 10.71% | 3,569 |
| Choctaw | 1,440 | 98.83% | 16 | 1.10% | 0 | 0.00% | 1 | 0.07% | 1,439 | 97.73% | 1,457 |
| Clarke | 2,059 | 97.58% | 47 | 2.23% | 0 | 0.00% | 4 | 0.19% | 2,058 | 95.35% | 2,110 |
| Clay | 1,106 | 73.64% | 387 | 25.77% | 2 | 0.13% | 7 | 0.47% | 1,105 | 47.87% | 1,502 |
| Cleburne | 700 | 68.16% | 317 | 30.87% | 7 | 0.68% | 3 | 0.29% | 699 | 37.29% | 1,027 |
| Coffee | 2,031 | 94.38% | 113 | 5.25% | 7 | 0.33% | 1 | 0.05% | 2,030 | 89.13% | 2,152 |
| Colbert | 2,609 | 83.49% | 488 | 15.62% | 14 | 0.45% | 14 | 0.45% | 2,608 | 67.87% | 3,125 |
| Conecuh | 1,339 | 95.03% | 64 | 4.54% | 2 | 0.14% | 4 | 0.28% | 1,338 | 90.49% | 1,409 |
| Coosa | 840 | 74.73% | 275 | 24.47% | 3 | 0.27% | 6 | 0.53% | 839 | 50.26% | 1,124 |
| Covington | 2,764 | 94.14% | 154 | 5.25% | 6 | 0.20% | 12 | 0.41% | 2,763 | 88.89% | 2,936 |
| Crenshaw | 1,386 | 96.79% | 38 | 2.65% | 1 | 0.07% | 7 | 0.49% | 1,385 | 94.14% | 1,432 |
| Cullman | 3,587 | 66.87% | 1,755 | 32.72% | 6 | 0.11% | 16 | 0.30% | 3,586 | 34.15% | 5,364 |
| Dale | 1,352 | 84.39% | 230 | 14.36% | 7 | 0.44% | 13 | 0.81% | 1,351 | 70.03% | 1,602 |
| Dallas | 2,720 | 94.77% | 132 | 4.60% | 9 | 0.31% | 9 | 0.31% | 2,719 | 90.17% | 2,870 |
| DeKalb | 3,573 | 56.42% | 2,743 | 43.31% | 7 | 0.11% | 10 | 0.16% | 3,572 | 13.11% | 6,333 |
| Elmore | 2,387 | 92.88% | 167 | 6.50% | 6 | 0.23% | 10 | 0.39% | 2,386 | 86.38% | 2,570 |
| Escambia | 1,681 | 89.32% | 188 | 9.99% | 11 | 0.58% | 2 | 0.11% | 1,680 | 79.33% | 1,882 |
| Etowah | 5,895 | 76.95% | 1,615 | 21.08% | 107 | 1.40% | 44 | 0.57% | 5,894 | 55.87% | 7,661 |
| Fayette | 1,023 | 63.07% | 580 | 35.76% | 7 | 0.43% | 12 | 0.74% | 1,022 | 27.31% | 1,622 |
| Franklin | 3,226 | 55.68% | 2,555 | 44.10% | 5 | 0.09% | 8 | 0.14% | 3,225 | 11.58% | 5,794 |
| Geneva | 1,823 | 85.87% | 286 | 13.47% | 5 | 0.24% | 9 | 0.42% | 1,822 | 72.40% | 2,123 |
| Greene | 621 | 94.66% | 31 | 4.73% | 0 | 0.00% | 4 | 0.61% | 620 | 89.93% | 656 |
| Hale | 1,041 | 95.77% | 43 | 3.96% | 2 | 0.18% | 1 | 0.09% | 1,040 | 91.81% | 1,087 |
| Henry | 1,040 | 95.59% | 47 | 4.32% | 0 | 0.00% | 1 | 0.09% | 1,039 | 91.27% | 1,088 |
| Houston | 2,715 | 85.78% | 426 | 13.46% | 18 | 0.57% | 6 | 0.19% | 2,714 | 72.32% | 3,165 |
| Jackson | 1,726 | 73.54% | 603 | 25.69% | 3 | 0.13% | 15 | 0.64% | 1,725 | 47.85% | 2,347 |
| Jefferson | 30,043 | 79.35% | 7,261 | 19.18% | 361 | 0.95% | 196 | 0.52% | 30,042 | 60.17% | 37,861 |
| Lamar | 1,434 | 88.41% | 180 | 11.10% | 2 | 0.12% | 6 | 0.37% | 1,433 | 77.31% | 1,622 |
| Lauderdale | 3,258 | 85.24% | 546 | 14.29% | 6 | 0.16% | 12 | 0.31% | 3,257 | 70.95% | 3,822 |
| Lawrence | 1,436 | 79.51% | 357 | 19.77% | 3 | 0.17% | 10 | 0.55% | 1,435 | 59.74% | 1,806 |
| Lee | 1,731 | 86.25% | 258 | 12.86% | 5 | 0.25% | 13 | 0.65% | 1,730 | 73.39% | 2,007 |
| Limestone | 1,853 | 93.49% | 112 | 5.65% | 4 | 0.20% | 13 | 0.66% | 1,852 | 87.84% | 1,982 |
| Lowndes | 752 | 94.95% | 13 | 1.64% | 25 | 3.16% | 2 | 0.25% | 751 | 93.31% | 792 |
| Macon | 1,098 | 90.67% | 110 | 9.08% | 3 | 0.25% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,097 | 81.59% | 1,211 |
| Madison | 2,947 | 83.58% | 466 | 13.22% | 39 | 1.11% | 74 | 2.10% | 2,946 | 70.36% | 3,526 |
| Marengo | 1,873 | 96.40% | 67 | 3.45% | 3 | 0.15% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,872 | 92.95% | 1,943 |
| Marion | 1,646 | 66.48% | 813 | 32.84% | 4 | 0.16% | 13 | 0.53% | 1,645 | 33.64% | 2,476 |
| Marshall | 2,500 | 73.81% | 870 | 25.69% | 8 | 0.24% | 9 | 0.27% | 2,499 | 48.12% | 3,387 |
| Mobile | 10,831 | 78.29% | 2,685 | 19.41% | 257 | 1.86% | 62 | 0.45% | 10,830 | 58.88% | 13,835 |
| Monroe | 1,688 | 97.86% | 31 | 1.80% | 2 | 0.12% | 4 | 0.23% | 1,687 | 96.06% | 1,725 |
| Montgomery | 6,196 | 86.01% | 802 | 11.13% | 146 | 2.03% | 60 | 0.83% | 6,195 | 74.88% | 7,204 |
| Morgan | 3,841 | 87.65% | 512 | 11.68% | 9 | 0.21% | 20 | 0.46% | 3,840 | 75.97% | 4,382 |
| Perry | 1,032 | 95.47% | 30 | 2.78% | 5 | 0.46% | 14 | 1.30% | 1,031 | 92.69% | 1,081 |
| Pickens | 1,423 | 93.37% | 91 | 5.97% | 5 | 0.33% | 5 | 0.33% | 1,422 | 87.40% | 1,524 |
| Pike | 1,741 | 94.93% | 87 | 4.74% | 3 | 0.16% | 3 | 0.16% | 1,740 | 90.19% | 1,834 |
| Randolph | 1,249 | 72.20% | 469 | 27.11% | 7 | 0.40% | 5 | 0.29% | 1,248 | 45.09% | 1,730 |
| Russell | 1,666 | 93.81% | 94 | 5.29% | 11 | 0.62% | 5 | 0.28% | 1,665 | 88.52% | 1,776 |
| Shelby | 1,903 | 63.86% | 1,063 | 35.67% | 3 | 0.10% | 11 | 0.37% | 1,902 | 28.19% | 2,980 |
| St. Clair | 1,878 | 66.60% | 921 | 32.66% | 8 | 0.28% | 13 | 0.46% | 1,877 | 33.94% | 2,820 |
| Sumter | 1,058 | 95.06% | 52 | 4.67% | 0 | 0.00% | 3 | 0.27% | 1,057 | 90.39% | 1,113 |
| Talladega | 3,077 | 83.05% | 593 | 16.01% | 12 | 0.32% | 23 | 0.62% | 3,076 | 67.04% | 3,705 |
| Tallapoosa | 2,309 | 93.33% | 156 | 6.31% | 1 | 0.04% | 8 | 0.32% | 2,308 | 87.02% | 2,474 |
| Tuscaloosa | 4,697 | 86.10% | 658 | 12.06% | 50 | 0.92% | 50 | 0.92% | 4,696 | 74.04% | 5,455 |
| Walker | 4,007 | 66.47% | 1,852 | 30.72% | 133 | 2.21% | 36 | 0.60% | 4,006 | 35.75% | 6,028 |
| Washington | 1,304 | 97.02% | 31 | 2.31% | 6 | 0.45% | 3 | 0.22% | 1,303 | 94.71% | 1,344 |
| Wilcox | 1,162 | 98.81% | 14 | 1.19% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,161 | 97.62% | 1,176 |
| Winston | 865 | 35.05% | 1,588 | 64.34% | 4 | 0.16% | 11 | 0.45% | -723 | -29.29% | 2,468 |
| Totals | 171,443 | 79.75% | 40,930 | 19.04% | 1,522 | 0.71% | 1,085 | 0.50% | 130,513 | 60.71% | 214,980 |
See also
References
- ^ Key, V.O. junior; Southern Politics in State and Nation; p. 340 ISBN 087049435X
- ^ Barnard, William D.; Dixiecrats and Democrats: Alabama Politics, p. 123 ISBN 0817302557
- ^ a b "1948 Presidential General Election Results – Alabama". Dave Leip's U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
- ^ Alabama Official and Statistical Register, 1951. Alexander City, Alabama: Outlook Publishing Co. pp. 478–489.
- ^ Géoelections; Popular Vote for Strom Thurmond (.xlsx file for €15)
- ^ Scammon, Richard M. (compiler); America at the Polls: A Handbook of Presidential Election Statistics 1920-1964; pp. 31–32 ISBN 0405077114
- ^ Géoelections; Popular Vote for Henry Wallace (.xlsx file for €15)
Notes
- ^ Thurmond was on the ballot in all former Confederate slave states, in the border slave state of Kentucky and the postbellum state of North Dakota, besides receiving a total of 3,769 write-in votes in New Hampshire, New York, Maryland, Missouri and California.
