1948 United States presidential election in Arkansas
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County Results
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Elections in Arkansas |
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The1948 United States presidential election in Arkansastook place on November 2, 1948, as part of the1948 United States presidential election.State voters chose nine[2]representatives, or electors, to theElectoral College,who voted forpresidentandvice president.This would be the last presidential election where Arkansas had nine electoral votes:the Great Migrationwould see the state lose threecongressional districtsin the next decade-and-a-half.
Except for theUnionistOzarkcounties ofNewtonandSearcywhere Republicans controlled local government,Arkansassince the end ofReconstructionhad been a classic one-party Democratic "Solid South"state.[3]Disfranchisementof effectively all black people and most poor whites had meant that outside those two aberrant counties, the Republican Party was completely moribund and Democratic primaries were the only competitive elections.
However, ever since seeing the potential effect on the United States' image abroad (and ability to win theCold Waragainst the radically egalitarian rhetoric ofCommunism)[4]of the beating and blinding ofIsaac Woodardthree hours after being discharged from the army, President Truman was attempting to launch a Civil Rights bill, involving desegregation of the military. This produced severe opposition from Southern Democrats, who aimed to haveSouth Carolina GovernorJames Strom Thurmondlisted as Democratic Presidential nominee andMississippi GovernorFielding Wrightas Vice-Presidential nominee.
Unlike Oklahoma, Tennessee, North Carolina or Virginia, Arkansas did not have a major threat from the Republican Party to block local Democratic support for Thurmond,[5]but it had only half the proportion of blacks found in Mississippi or South Carolina.[6]At the time when it became clear that a Southern fracture from the national Democratic Party was on the agenda, Arkansas was deeply divided between aDixiecratfaction headed by outgoing GovernorBen T. Laneyand a loyalist faction led bySidney S. McMath,[7]who went on to win the1948 Arkansas gubernatorial election.
McMath was to win the Democratic gubernatorialprimarythat was in this one-party statetantamount to election,and despite the efforts of Laney and state party chairman Arthur Adams, it was clear from the beginning of the campaign that they held little sway over the Democratic rank and file who were loyal to Truman.[8]In May 1948 Governor Laney became chairman of the "States' Rights Democrats";[9]however on July 12 the possibility of Laney himself becoming the nominee ended when he refused to support anyone.[10]However, as late as the September 22 Democratic Convention the Dixiecrats had hopes of pledging Arkansas' Democratic presidential electors to Thurmond and Wright; however McMath and Congressman Charles Fuller were able to persuade the electors to remain loyal to President Truman.[11]
With the state's Democratic electors pledged to Truman, theincumbentPresident and running mateKentucky SenatorAlben W. Barkleyeasily carried Arkansas with 61.72 percent of the popular vote, againstNew York GovernorThomas E. DeweyandCalifornia GovernorEarl Warren's 21.02 percent of the popular vote.[12][13]Vis-à-vis the 1944 election, Truman picked up Benton County and Searcy County, the latter of which had previously only voted Democratic once since the Civil War.[a]
Thurmond, running as a third-party candidate, was able to capture 16.52 percent of Arkansas' vote. The Dixiecrats ran strongest inthe Delta regionof the state where Truman's Civil Rights and "Fair Deal"policies were most feared by the powerful Black Belt planters;[14]Thurmond carried three counties with entirely nonvoting black majorities and was second in twenty-eight others. However, in the hilly northwestern half of the state, Thurmond failed to crack 5 percent of the vote in eighteen counties. As of the2020 presidential election[update],this is the last election in whichBenton CountyandSebastian Countyvoted for a Democratic presidential candidate.[15]Arkansas was also the only state in the entire country where Norman Thomas beat Henry Wallace.
Campaign
[edit]TheRepublican Party of Arkansasvoted to send an uncommitted fourteen member delegation to theRepublican National Convention.[16]
17% of white voters supported Thurmond.[17]
Results
[edit]Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Harry S. Truman(inc.) | 149,659 | 61.72% | |
Republican | Thomas E. Dewey | 50,959 | 21.02% | |
Dixiecrat | Strom Thurmond | 40,068 | 16.52% | |
Socialist | Norman Thomas | 1,037 | 0.43% | |
Progressive Party (United States, 1948–1955) | Henry A. Wallace | 751 | 0.31% | |
Prohibition | Claude A. Watson | 1 | 0.00% | |
Total votes | 242,475 | 100% |
Results by county
[edit]County[18] | Harry S. Truman Democratic |
Thomas E. Dewey Republican |
Strom Thurmond Dixiecrat |
Norman Thomas Socialist |
Henry A. Wallace Progressive |
Margin | Total votes cast | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
# | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
Arkansas | 1,781 | 53.07% | 737 | 21.96% | 806 | 24.02% | 23 | 0.69% | 9 | 0.27% | 975[b] | 29.05% | 3,356 |
Ashley | 1,844 | 76.58% | 197 | 8.18% | 342 | 14.20% | 24 | 1.00% | 1 | 0.04% | 1,502[b] | 62.38% | 2,408 |
Baxter | 1,098 | 62.39% | 553 | 31.42% | 54 | 3.07% | 45 | 2.56% | 10 | 0.57% | 545 | 30.97% | 1,760 |
Benton | 3,281 | 50.38% | 2,911 | 44.70% | 274 | 4.21% | 13 | 0.20% | 34 | 0.52% | 370 | 5.68% | 6,513 |
Boone | 3,190 | 63.86% | 1,499 | 30.01% | 274 | 5.49% | 11 | 0.22% | 21 | 0.42% | 1,691 | 33.85% | 4,995 |
Bradley | 1,426 | 65.20% | 213 | 9.74% | 532 | 24.33% | 7 | 0.32% | 9 | 0.41% | 894[b] | 40.87% | 2,187 |
Calhoun | 768 | 83.66% | 45 | 4.90% | 104 | 11.33% | 0 | 0.00% | 1 | 0.11% | 664[b] | 72.33% | 918 |
Carroll | 2,032 | 55.10% | 1,525 | 41.35% | 98 | 2.66% | 15 | 0.41% | 18 | 0.49% | 507 | 13.75% | 3,688 |
Chicot | 952 | 54.03% | 203 | 11.52% | 598 | 33.94% | 4 | 0.23% | 5 | 0.28% | 354[b] | 20.09% | 1,762 |
Clark | 1,750 | 69.75% | 383 | 15.27% | 363 | 14.47% | 9 | 0.36% | 4 | 0.16% | 1,367 | 54.48% | 2,509 |
Clay | 2,069 | 66.94% | 878 | 28.41% | 128 | 4.14% | 14 | 0.45% | 2 | 0.06% | 1,191 | 38.53% | 3,091 |
Cleburne | 1,061 | 73.32% | 312 | 21.56% | 64 | 4.42% | 8 | 0.55% | 2 | 0.14% | 749 | 51.76% | 1,447 |
Cleveland | 679 | 67.50% | 79 | 7.85% | 245 | 24.35% | 3 | 0.30% | 0 | 0.00% | 434[b] | 43.15% | 1,006 |
Columbia | 1,788 | 59.98% | 217 | 7.28% | 962 | 32.27% | 12 | 0.40% | 2 | 0.07% | 826[b] | 27.71% | 2,981 |
Conway | 1,771 | 72.17% | 425 | 17.32% | 248 | 10.11% | 5 | 0.20% | 5 | 0.20% | 1,346 | 54.85% | 2,454 |
Craighead | 3,238 | 63.37% | 759 | 14.85% | 1,054 | 20.63% | 42 | 0.82% | 17 | 0.33% | 2,184[b] | 42.74% | 5,110 |
Crawford | 1,730 | 58.60% | 1,002 | 33.94% | 190 | 6.44% | 18 | 0.61% | 12 | 0.41% | 728 | 24.66% | 2,952 |
Crittenden | 594 | 24.83% | 137 | 5.73% | 1,657 | 69.27% | 2 | 0.08% | 2 | 0.08% | -1,063[b] | -44.44% | 2,392 |
Cross | 1,100 | 48.57% | 213 | 9.40% | 949 | 41.90% | 2 | 0.09% | 1 | 0.04% | 151[b] | 6.67% | 2,265 |
Dallas | 1,174 | 68.98% | 152 | 8.93% | 370 | 21.74% | 4 | 0.24% | 2 | 0.12% | 804[b] | 47.24% | 1,702 |
Desha | 2,122 | 69.96% | 233 | 7.68% | 670 | 22.09% | 4 | 0.13% | 4 | 0.13% | 1,452[b] | 47.87% | 3,033 |
Drew | 1,204 | 59.40% | 182 | 8.98% | 630 | 31.08% | 5 | 0.25% | 6 | 0.30% | 574[b] | 28.32% | 2,027 |
Faulkner | 2,653 | 73.76% | 626 | 17.40% | 304 | 8.45% | 10 | 0.28% | 4 | 0.11% | 2,027 | 56.36% | 3,597 |
Franklin | 1,591 | 76.05% | 391 | 18.69% | 95 | 4.54% | 6 | 0.29% | 9 | 0.43% | 1,200 | 57.36% | 2,092 |
Fulton | 850 | 69.27% | 339 | 27.63% | 32 | 2.61% | 2 | 0.16% | 4 | 0.33% | 511 | 41.64% | 1,227 |
Garland | 3,764 | 52.61% | 2,286 | 31.95% | 994 | 13.89% | 48 | 0.67% | 62 | 0.87% | 1,478 | 20.66% | 7,154 |
Grant | 883 | 71.50% | 121 | 9.80% | 207 | 16.76% | 19 | 1.54% | 5 | 0.40% | 676[b] | 54.74% | 1,235 |
Greene | 2,657 | 78.38% | 502 | 14.81% | 188 | 5.55% | 25 | 0.74% | 18 | 0.53% | 2,155 | 63.57% | 3,390 |
Hempstead | 1,683 | 54.84% | 386 | 12.58% | 990 | 32.26% | 6 | 0.20% | 4 | 0.13% | 693[b] | 22.58% | 3,069 |
Hot Spring | 1,932 | 69.90% | 555 | 20.08% | 261 | 9.44% | 12 | 0.43% | 4 | 0.14% | 1,377 | 49.82% | 2,764 |
Howard | 1,250 | 75.67% | 199 | 12.05% | 190 | 11.50% | 13 | 0.79% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,051 | 63.62% | 1,652 |
Independence | 2,340 | 66.08% | 855 | 24.15% | 330 | 9.32% | 4 | 0.11% | 12 | 0.34% | 1,485 | 41.93% | 3,541 |
Izard | 1,283 | 81.93% | 240 | 15.33% | 36 | 2.30% | 4 | 0.26% | 3 | 0.19% | 1,043 | 66.60% | 1,566 |
Jackson | 2,696 | 82.45% | 338 | 10.34% | 226 | 6.91% | 8 | 0.24% | 2 | 0.06% | 2,358 | 72.11% | 3,270 |
Jefferson | 5,086 | 61.92% | 1,176 | 14.32% | 1,879 | 22.88% | 49 | 0.60% | 24 | 0.29% | 3,207[b] | 39.04% | 8,214 |
Johnson | 1,565 | 69.59% | 523 | 23.25% | 138 | 6.14% | 11 | 0.49% | 12 | 0.53% | 1,042 | 46.34% | 2,249 |
Lafayette | 700 | 49.16% | 113 | 7.94% | 578 | 40.59% | 31 | 2.18% | 2 | 0.14% | 122[b] | 8.57% | 1,424 |
Lawrence | 2,001 | 74.89% | 497 | 18.60% | 151 | 5.65% | 11 | 0.41% | 12 | 0.45% | 1,504 | 56.29% | 2,672 |
Lee | 528 | 35.41% | 95 | 6.37% | 866 | 58.08% | 1 | 0.07% | 1 | 0.07% | -338[b] | -22.67% | 1,491 |
Lincoln | 1,108 | 65.91% | 378 | 22.49% | 188 | 11.18% | 5 | 0.30% | 2 | 0.12% | 730 | 43.42% | 1,681 |
Little River | 900 | 59.06% | 169 | 11.09% | 447 | 29.33% | 4 | 0.26% | 4 | 0.26% | 453[b] | 29.73% | 1,524 |
Logan | 2,130 | 66.73% | 902 | 28.26% | 143 | 4.48% | 9 | 0.28% | 8 | 0.25% | 1,228 | 38.47% | 3,192 |
Lonoke | 2,065 | 69.04% | 383 | 12.81% | 535 | 17.89% | 3 | 0.10% | 5 | 0.17% | 1,530[b] | 51.15% | 2,991 |
Madison | 2,041 | 47.50% | 2,201 | 51.22% | 39 | 0.91% | 10 | 0.23% | 6 | 0.14% | -160 | -3.72% | 4,297 |
Marion | 1,133 | 72.58% | 381 | 24.41% | 31 | 1.99% | 8 | 0.51% | 8 | 0.51% | 752 | 48.17% | 1,561 |
Miller | 2,850 | 62.24% | 488 | 10.66% | 1,223 | 26.71% | 9 | 0.20% | 9 | 0.20% | 1,627[b] | 35.53% | 4,579 |
Mississippi | 3,763 | 59.40% | 771 | 12.17% | 1,769 | 27.92% | 27 | 0.43% | 5 | 0.08% | 1,994[b] | 31.48% | 6,335 |
Monroe | 1,431 | 60.89% | 299 | 12.72% | 614 | 26.13% | 1 | 0.04% | 5 | 0.21% | 817[b] | 34.76% | 2,350 |
Montgomery | 935 | 75.22% | 236 | 18.99% | 60 | 4.83% | 5 | 0.40% | 7 | 0.56% | 699 | 56.23% | 1,243 |
Nevada | 1,140 | 64.33% | 202 | 11.40% | 418 | 23.59% | 10 | 0.56% | 2 | 0.11% | 722[b] | 40.74% | 1,772 |
Newton | 848 | 48.51% | 879 | 50.29% | 13 | 0.74% | 4 | 0.23% | 4 | 0.23% | -31 | -1.78% | 1,748 |
Ouachita | 3,315 | 68.80% | 476 | 9.88% | 1,023 | 21.23% | 0 | 0.00% | 4 | 0.08% | 2,292[b] | 47.57% | 4,818 |
Perry | 731 | 67.00% | 201 | 18.42% | 156 | 14.30% | 0 | 0.00% | 3 | 0.27% | 530 | 48.58% | 1,091 |
Phillips | 1,018 | 32.85% | 351 | 11.33% | 1,722 | 55.57% | 4 | 0.13% | 4 | 0.13% | -704[b] | -22.72% | 3,099 |
Pike | 997 | 73.80% | 256 | 18.95% | 89 | 6.59% | 8 | 0.59% | 1 | 0.07% | 741 | 54.85% | 1,351 |
Poinsett | 2,415 | 65.24% | 435 | 11.75% | 830 | 22.42% | 13 | 0.35% | 9 | 0.24% | 1,585[b] | 42.82% | 3,702 |
Polk | 1,417 | 66.21% | 554 | 25.89% | 127 | 5.93% | 28 | 1.31% | 14 | 0.65% | 863 | 40.32% | 2,140 |
Pope | 2,525 | 67.95% | 764 | 20.56% | 417 | 11.22% | 5 | 0.13% | 5 | 0.13% | 1,761 | 47.39% | 3,716 |
Prairie | 1,020 | 60.79% | 260 | 15.49% | 379 | 22.59% | 18 | 1.07% | 1 | 0.06% | 641[b] | 38.20% | 1,678 |
Pulaski | 13,120 | 53.25% | 5,910 | 23.99% | 5,443 | 22.09% | 51 | 0.21% | 115 | 0.47% | 7,210 | 29.26% | 24,639 |
Randolph | 2,139 | 81.24% | 377 | 14.32% | 109 | 4.14% | 4 | 0.15% | 4 | 0.15% | 1,762 | 66.92% | 2,633 |
St. Francis | 1,011 | 46.91% | 178 | 8.26% | 957 | 44.41% | 4 | 0.19% | 5 | 0.23% | 54[b] | 2.50% | 2,155 |
Saline | 2,070 | 72.18% | 390 | 13.60% | 341 | 11.89% | 49 | 1.71% | 18 | 0.63% | 1,680 | 58.58% | 2,868 |
Scott | 1,093 | 77.63% | 260 | 18.47% | 37 | 2.63% | 14 | 0.99% | 4 | 0.28% | 833 | 59.16% | 1,408 |
Searcy | 1,205 | 51.81% | 1,064 | 45.74% | 44 | 1.89% | 9 | 0.39% | 4 | 0.17% | 141 | 6.07% | 2,326 |
Sebastian | 5,075 | 57.36% | 2,928 | 33.09% | 777 | 8.78% | 41 | 0.46% | 27 | 0.31% | 2,147 | 24.27% | 8,848 |
Sevier | 1,314 | 71.53% | 267 | 14.53% | 231 | 12.57% | 21 | 1.14% | 4 | 0.22% | 1,047 | 57.00% | 1,837 |
Sharp | 1,078 | 74.19% | 295 | 20.30% | 71 | 4.89% | 4 | 0.28% | 5 | 0.34% | 783 | 53.89% | 1,453 |
Stone | 1,186 | 61.80% | 644 | 33.56% | 76 | 3.96% | 4 | 0.21% | 9 | 0.47% | 542 | 28.24% | 1,919 |
Union | 5,588 | 67.01% | 1,039 | 12.46% | 1,691 | 20.28% | 11 | 0.13% | 10 | 0.12% | 3,897[b] | 46.73% | 8,339 |
Van Buren | 1,324 | 63.96% | 617 | 29.81% | 119 | 5.75% | 4 | 0.19% | 6 | 0.29% | 707 | 34.15% | 2,070 |
Washington | 3,493 | 49.38% | 2,859 | 40.42% | 581 | 8.21% | 85 | 1.20% | 56 | 0.79% | 634 | 8.96% | 7,074 |
White | 3,193 | 69.04% | 833 | 18.01% | 563 | 12.17% | 20 | 0.43% | 16 | 0.35% | 2,360 | 51.03% | 4,625 |
Woodruff | 1,008 | 55.11% | 207 | 11.32% | 593 | 32.42% | 16 | 0.87% | 5 | 0.27% | 415[b] | 22.69% | 1,829 |
Yell | 1,866 | 77.08% | 408 | 16.85% | 135 | 5.58% | 0 | 0.00% | 12 | 0.50% | 1,458 | 60.23% | 2,421 |
Totals | 149,659 | 61.72% | 50,959 | 21.02% | 40,068 | 16.52% | 1,037 | 0.43% | 751 | 0.31% | 98,700 | 40.70% | 242,475 |
Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic
[edit]Counties that flipped from Democratic to Dixiecrat
[edit]See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ^The only other Democrats to claim Searcy County since the Civil War have beenFranklin D. Rooseveltin1932andJimmy Carterin1976,although some figures for1912haveWoodrow Wilsoncarrying the county because the totals for incumbentWilliam Howard Taftin Searcy and Sebastian counties are contradictory.
- ^abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzaaabacadaeIn this county where Dewey ran third behind both Truman and Thurmond, margin given is Truman vote minus Thurmond vote and percentage margin Truman percentage minus Thurmond percentage.
References
[edit]- ^"United States Presidential election of 1948 — Encyclopædia Britannica".RetrievedOctober 25,2017.
- ^"1948 Election for the Forty-First Term (1949-53)".RetrievedOctober 25,2017.
- ^SeeUrwin, Cathy Kunzinger.Agenda for Reform: Winthrop Rockefeller as Governor of Arkansas, 1967-71.p. 32.ISBN1557282005.
- ^Geselbracht, Raymond H. (ed.).The Civil Rights Legacy of Harry S. Truman.p. 53.ISBN1931112673.
- ^Key,Valdimer Orlando (1949).Southern Politics in State and Nation.Alfred A. Knopf. p. 336.
- ^Key.Southern Politics,p. 254
- ^Williams, Nancy A.; Whayne, Jeannie M.Arkansas Biography: A Collection of Notable Lives.p. 166.ISBN1557285888.
- ^Frederickson, Kari.The Dixiecrat Revolt and the End of the Solid South, 1932-1968.p. 117.ISBN0807849103.
- ^Donovan, Timothy Paul; Gatewood, Willard B.; Whayne, Jeannie M.The Governors of Arkansas: Essays in Political Biography.p. 208.ISBN9781557280411.
- ^McMath, Sid.Promises Kept: a Memoir.pp. 198–199.ISBN1610753291.
- ^McMath.Promises Kept,p. 203
- ^"1948 Presidential General Election Results — Arkansas".RetrievedOctober 25,2017.
- ^"The American Presidency Project — Election of 1948".RetrievedOctober 25,2017.
- ^Key.Southern Politics,p. 343
- ^Sullivan, Robert David (June 29, 2016)."How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century".The National Catholic Review(America Magazine ed.).
- ^"Uncommitted Delegation".Casper Star-Tribune.May 12, 1948. p. 2.Archivedfrom the original on January 19, 2024 – viaNewspapers.
- ^Black & Black 1992,p. 147.
- ^"AR US President Race, November 02, 1948".Our Campaigns.