1924 United States presidential election in Florida
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 County Results
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| Elections in Florida |
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 Government |
The 1924 United States presidential election in Florida was held on November 4, 1924. Voters chose six representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
Background
Ever since the disfranchisement of blacks at the beginning of the 1890s, Florida had been a one-party state ruled by the Democratic Party. The disfranchisement of blacks and poor whites by poll taxes in 1889[1] had left the Republican Party – between 1872 and 1888 dependent upon black votes – virtually extinct.
With the single exception of William Howard Taft’s win in Calhoun County in 1908[2] the Democratic Party won every county in Florida in every presidential election from 1892[a] until 1916. Only twice – and never for more than one term – did any Republican serve in either house of the state legislature between 1896 and 1928. Despite this Democratic dominance and the restrictions on the franchise of the poorer classes due to the poll tax, significant socialist movements were to develop and persist in Tampa[3] and to a lesser extent over other parts of the state, especially against the powerful Ku Klux Klan.[4] There was also a powerful Prohibitionist movements in older North Florida, which saw the Prohibition Party even win the governorship for one term under the notorious anti-Catholic minister Sidney J. Catts.
The 1920 presidential election saw Warren Harding, aided substantially by isolationist sentiment in the region,[5] gain more support in the former Confederacy than any Republican since black disfranchisement, in the process winning three Florida counties.[2]
Vote
Owing to a decline in voter turnout, and an easing of isolationist feelings, Coolidge was unable to match Harding’s percentage of the vote. However, vis-à-vis Harding’s performance in this one-party southern state, Coolidge’s losing margin was 2.53 percentage points smaller, and he did make small gains amongst the small but increasing flow of Northeastern migrants moving to Florida’s hot climate. Although he did not manage to hold Broward County or Osceola County, where Harding gained pluralities in 1920, Coolidge did become the first Republican to ever carry Pinellas County.[6]
Despite the fact that the Republican Party had never gained 31 percent of Florida’s vote in a presidential election since the poll tax was introduced,[7] 1924 remains, as of the 2020 presidential election[update], the last time a Democratic presidential candidate has carried Florida without winning the presidency. As of 2020, it would also be the last time that the Republican presidential candidate who won the election would not carry the state of Florida.[8] Passionate anti-Catholic feelings in the Piney Woods region[9] would turn the presidential electoral votes of this one-party state against urban Catholic Al Smith in 1928, and since World War II, the state has largely been a bellwether in presidential elections. Since then, it has only backed the loser of the presidential election three times: Republicans Richard Nixon, George H.W. Bush, and Donald Trump in 1960, 1992, and 2020 respectively.
Florida would proved to be the strongest state for Prohibition Party candidate Herman Faris, who won 5.04% of the popular vote.[10]
Results
| United States presidential election in Florida, 1924[11] | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Running mate | Popular vote | Electoral vote | ||||
| Count | % | Count | % | |||||
| Democratic | John W. Davis of West Virginia | Charles Wayland Bryan of Nebraska | 62,083 | 56.88% | 6 | 100.00% | ||
| Republican | Calvin Coolidge of Massachusetts | Charles Dawes of Illinois | 30,633 | 28.06% | 0 | 0.00% | ||
| Progressive | Robert M. La Follette of Wisconsin | Burton K. Wheeler of Montana | 8,625 | 7.90% | 0 | 0.00% | ||
| Prohibition | Herman Faris of Missouri | Marie C. Brehm of California | 5,498 | 5.04% | 0 | 0.00% | ||
| American | Gilbert Nations of District of Columbia | Charles Hiram Randall of California | 2,315 | 2.12% | 0 | 0.00% | ||
| Total | 109,154 | 100.00% | 6 | 100.00% | ||||
Results by county
| County | John William Davis Democratic |
John Calvin Coolidge Republican |
Robert Marion La Follette Sr. Progressive |
Herman Preston Farris Prohibition |
Gilbert Owen Nations American |
Total votes cast[12] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Alachua | 1,995 | 71.40% | 528 | 18.90% | 174 | 6.23% | 55 | 1.97% | 42 | 1.50% | 2,794 |
| Baker | 215 | 56.73% | 124 | 32.72% | 25 | 6.60% | 8 | 2.11% | 7 | 1.85% | 379 |
| Bay | 838 | 67.15% | 318 | 25.48% | 45 | 3.61% | 37 | 2.96% | 10 | 0.80% | 1,248 |
| Bradford | 539 | 81.67% | 94 | 14.24% | 17 | 2.58% | 6 | 0.91% | 4 | 0.61% | 660 |
| Brevard | 872 | 57.94% | 515 | 34.22% | 88 | 5.85% | 18 | 1.20% | 12 | 0.80% | 1,505 |
| Broward | 421 | 42.87% | 407 | 41.45% | 86 | 8.76% | 46 | 4.68% | 22 | 2.24% | 982 |
| Calhoun | 406 | 78.23% | 56 | 10.79% | 37 | 7.13% | 2 | 0.39% | 18 | 3.47% | 519 |
| Charlotte | 321 | 60.00% | 167 | 31.21% | 30 | 5.61% | 13 | 2.43% | 4 | 0.75% | 535 |
| Citrus | 423 | 83.76% | 30 | 5.94% | 49 | 9.70% | 2 | 0.40% | 1 | 0.20% | 505 |
| Clay | 339 | 57.17% | 171 | 28.84% | 71 | 11.97% | 7 | 1.18% | 5 | 0.84% | 593 |
| Collier | 148 | 82.22% | 15 | 8.33% | 5 | 2.78% | 11 | 6.11% | 1 | 0.56% | 180 |
| Columbia | 776 | 81.60% | 85 | 8.94% | 61 | 6.41% | 24 | 2.52% | 5 | 0.53% | 951 |
| Dade | 3,474 | 32.83% | 2,753 | 26.01% | 1,014 | 9.58% | 3,170 | 29.95% | 172 | 1.63% | 10,583 |
| Desoto | 641 | 70.05% | 230 | 25.14% | 10 | 1.09% | 29 | 3.17% | 5 | 0.55% | 915 |
| Dixie | 257 | 94.14% | 14 | 5.13% | 0 | 0.00% | 2 | 0.73% | 0 | 0.00% | 273 |
| Duval | 5,908 | 51.93% | 3,291 | 28.93% | 1,210 | 10.64% | 377 | 3.31% | 590 | 5.19% | 11,376 |
| Escambia | 2,290 | 52.74% | 1,274 | 29.34% | 615 | 14.16% | 113 | 2.60% | 50 | 1.15% | 4,342 |
| Flagler | 202 | 54.30% | 75 | 20.16% | 65 | 17.47% | 30 | 8.06% | 0 | 0.00% | 372 |
| Franklin | 417 | 76.51% | 109 | 20.00% | 16 | 2.94% | 1 | 0.18% | 2 | 0.37% | 545 |
| Gadsden | 681 | 84.91% | 47 | 5.86% | 65 | 8.10% | 3 | 0.37% | 6 | 0.75% | 802 |
| Glades | 212 | 61.10% | 83 | 23.92% | 25 | 7.20% | 17 | 4.90% | 10 | 2.88% | 347 |
| Hamilton | 619 | 75.30% | 143 | 17.40% | 33 | 4.01% | 16 | 1.95% | 11 | 1.34% | 822 |
| Hardee | 795 | 68.24% | 264 | 22.66% | 67 | 5.75% | 28 | 2.40% | 0.94% | 1,165 | |
| Hendry | 132 | 76.74% | 21 | 12.21% | 11 | 6.40% | 2 | 1.16% | 6 | 3.49% | 172 |
| Hernando | 300 | 74.81% | 59 | 14.71% | 36 | 8.98% | 5 | 1.25% | 1 | 0.25% | 401 |
| Highlands | 457 | 57.56% | 265 | 33.38% | 58 | 7.30% | 9 | 1.13% | 5 | 0.63% | 794 |
| Hillsborough | 4,470 | 62.26% | 1,585 | 22.08% | 765 | 10.65% | 199 | 2.77% | 161 | 2.24% | 7,180 |
| Holmes | 658 | 55.90% | 377 | 32.03% | 117 | 9.94% | 15 | 1.27% | 10 | 0.85% | 1,177 |
| Jackson | 1,771 | 80.76% | 320 | 14.59% | 82 | 3.74% | 10 | 0.46% | 10 | 0.46% | 2,193 |
| Jefferson | 566 | 83.11% | 66 | 9.69% | 43 | 6.31% | 4 | 0.59% | 2 | 0.29% | 681 |
| Lafayette | 358 | 88.18% | 33 | 8.13% | 11 | 2.71% | 3 | 0.74% | 1 | 0.25% | 406 |
| Lake | 1,381 | 53.12% | 948 | 36.46% | 158 | 6.08% | 54 | 2.08% | 59 | 2.27% | 2,600 |
| Lee | 845 | 52.10% | 552 | 34.03% | 80 | 4.93% | 59 | 3.64% | 86 | 5.30% | 1,622 |
| Leon | 947 | 85.32% | 92 | 8.29% | 44 | 3.96% | 20 | 1.80% | 7 | 0.63% | 1,110 |
| Levy | 524 | 64.22% | 214 | 26.23% | 55 | 6.74% | 14 | 1.72% | 9 | 1.10% | 816 |
| Liberty | 193 | 86.16% | 18 | 8.04% | 10 | 4.46% | 1 | 0.45% | 2 | 0.89% | 224 |
| Madison | 538 | 90.73% | 23 | 3.88% | 30 | 5.06% | 1 | 0.17% | 1 | 0.17% | 593 |
| Manatee | 1,064 | 55.04% | 629 | 32.54% | 181 | 9.36% | 35 | 1.81% | 24 | 1.24% | 1,933 |
| Marion | 1,528 | 73.43% | 359 | 17.25% | 94 | 4.52% | 76 | 3.65% | 24 | 1.15% | 2,081 |
| Monroe | 835 | 67.78% | 262 | 21.27% | 113 | 9.17% | 11 | 0.89% | 11 | 0.89% | 1,232 |
| Nassau | 617 | 80.65% | 106 | 13.86% | 32 | 4.18% | 4 | 0.52% | 6 | 0.78% | 765 |
| Okaloosa | 642 | 67.37% | 183 | 19.20% | 83 | 8.71% | 39 | 4.09% | 6 | 0.63% | 953 |
| Okeechobee | 182 | 66.91% | 57 | 20.96% | 19 | 6.99% | 11 | 4.04% | 3 | 1.10% | 272 |
| Orange | 1,883 | 45.84% | 1,653 | 40.24% | 216 | 5.26% | 143 | 3.48% | 213 | 5.19% | 4,108 |
| Osceola | 884 | 50.20% | 589 | 33.45% | 65 | 3.69% | 68 | 3.86% | 155 | 8.80% | 1,761 |
| Palm Beach | 1,543 | 41.25% | 1,726 | 46.14% | 375 | 10.02% | 0 | 0.00% | 97 | 2.59% | 3,741 |
| Pasco | 780 | 53.57% | 472 | 32.42% | 143 | 9.82% | 43 | 2.95% | 18 | 1.24% | 1,456 |
| Pinellas | 2,633 | 43.57% | 2,872 | 47.53% | 302 | 5.00% | 152 | 2.52% | 84 | 1.39% | 6,043 |
| Polk | 3,070 | 57.97% | 1,530 | 28.89% | 461 | 8.70% | 171 | 3.23% | 64 | 1.21% | 5,296 |
| Putnam | 889 | 54.41% | 574 | 35.13% | 89 | 5.45% | 45 | 2.75% | 37 | 2.26% | 1,634 |
| St. Johns | 1,023 | 54.30% | 517 | 27.44% | 187 | 9.93% | 62 | 3.29% | 95 | 5.04% | 1,884 |
| St. Lucie | 722 | 50.92% | 524 | 36.95% | 150 | 10.58% | 10 | 0.71% | 12 | 0.85% | 1,418 |
| Santa Rosa | 693 | 70.64% | 229 | 23.34% | 38 | 3.87% | 12 | 1.22% | 9 | 0.92% | 981 |
| Sarasota | 204 | 44.16% | 187 | 40.48% | 47 | 10.17% | 18 | 3.90% | 6 | 1.30% | 462 |
| Seminole | 945 | 59.58% | 372 | 23.46% | 253 | 15.95% | 8 | 0.50% | 8 | 0.50% | 1,586 |
| Sumter | 481 | 70.94% | 108 | 15.93% | 73 | 10.77% | 9 | 1.33% | 7 | 1.03% | 678 |
| Suwannee | 977 | 83.65% | 111 | 9.50% | 70 | 5.99% | 6 | 0.51% | 4 | 0.34% | 1,168 |
| Taylor | 476 | 78.29% | 100 | 16.45% | 7 | 1.15% | 19 | 3.13% | 6 | 0.99% | 608 |
| Union | 322 | 92.53% | 16 | 4.60% | 7 | 2.01% | 1 | 0.29% | 2 | 0.57% | 348 |
| Volusia | 2,042 | 51.11% | 1,631 | 40.83% | 204 | 5.11% | 75 | 1.88% | 43 | 1.08% | 3,995 |
| Wakulla | 332 | 85.35% | 34 | 8.74% | 15 | 3.86% | 7 | 1.80% | 1 | 0.26% | 389 |
| Walton | 825 | 70.39% | 220 | 18.77% | 56 | 4.78% | 41 | 3.50% | 30 | 2.56% | 1,172 |
| Washington | 562 | 67.55% | 206 | 24.76% | 37 | 4.45% | 21 | 2.52% | 6 | 0.72% | 832 |
| Totals | 62,083 | 56.87% | 30,633 | 28.06% | 8,625 | 7.90% | 5,498 | 5.04% | 2,319 | 2.12% | 109,158 |
References
- ^ Silbey, Joel H. and Bogue, Allan G.; The History of American Electoral Behavior, p. 210 ISBN 140087114X
- ^ a b Robinson, Edgar Eugene; The Presidential Vote; 1896–1932 (second edition); pp. 156-157 Published 1947 by Stanford University Press
- ^ Ford, Edward J.; ‘Life on the Campaign Trail: a Political Anthropology of Local Politics’ (thesis), published 2008 by University of South Florida, pp. 114-118
- ^ Gregory, Raymond F.; Norman Thomas: The Great Dissenter, pp. 150-151 ISBN 0875866239
- ^ Phillips, Kevin; The Emerging Republican Majority, pp. 210-211, 261 ISBN 9780691163246
- ^ Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868–2004, pp. 218-219 ISBN 0786422173
- ^ Dave Leip’s U.S. Election Atlas; Presidential General Election Results Comparison – Florida
- ^ Smiley, David (25 May 2019). "Trump can't win reelection without winning Florida. And he's acting like it". Miami Herald. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
- ^ Phillips; The Emerging Republican Majority, pp. 212, 214
- ^ "1924 Presidential Election Statistics". Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
- ^ "1924 Presidential General Election Results – Florida". U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
- ^ Florida Department of State. Division of Elections, Official Vote, State of Florida, General Election, 1924 (Tallahassee, 1924)
Notes
- ^ In the 1892 Presidential election, Republican Benjamin Harrison was not on the ballot and the party backed Populist James B. Weaver.
