Although Hoover carried the state, Smith – aided by La Follette’s family’s endorsement of him after La Follette died[1] and North Dakota’s predominantly German Catholic and Lutheran culture – made a massive advance upon James M. Cox’ and John W. Davis’ performances earlier in the decade. Whereas North Dakota had been Cox’ and Davis’ second-weakest state in 1920 and 1924, it voted 7.07 points more Democratic than the nation at-large in 1928. In some counties that were largely Lutheran, Smith still made tremendous gains because of his opposition to Prohibition, which was repealed concurrently with this election at a statewide level in North Dakota.[2] This allowed Smith to be the first Democrat to carry McIntosh County – which had been the nation’s most Republican county in 1920[3] and where no Democrat had previously gained over 22% of the vote – Logan County, Mercer County, Morton County and Sioux County.[4]