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1924 United States presidential election in Wisconsin

Main article: 1924 United States presidential election

The 1924 United States presidential election in Wisconsin was held on November 4, 1924, as part of the 1924 United States presidential election. State voters chose 13 electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president. Wisconsin had since the decline of the Populist movement been substantially a one-party state dominated by the Republican Party.[1] The Democratic Party became entirely uncompetitive outside certain German Catholic counties adjoining Lake Michigan as the upper classes, along with the majority of workers who followed them, completely fled from William Jennings Bryan's agrarian and free silver sympathies.[2] As Democratic strength weakened severely after 1894 – although the state did develop a strong Socialist Party to provide opposition to the GOP – Wisconsin developed the direct Republican primary in 1903 and this ultimately created competition between the "League" under Robert M. La Follette, and the conservative "Regular" faction.[3]

1924 United States presidential election in Wisconsin
← 1920 November 4, 1924 1928 →
 
Nominee Robert M. La Follette Calvin Coolidge John W. Davis
Party Progressive Republican Democratic
Home state Wisconsin Massachusetts West Virginia
Running mate Burton K. Wheeler Charles G. Dawes Charles W. Bryan
Electoral vote 13 0 0
Popular vote 453,678 311,614 68,115
Percentage 53.96% 37.06% 8.10%
County Results
President before election

Calvin Coolidge
Republican

Elected President

Calvin Coolidge
Republican

The beginning of the 1910s would see a minor Democratic revival as many La Follette progressives endorsed Woodrow Wilson,[4] but this flirtation would not be long-lasting as Wilson's "Anglophile" foreign policies were severely opposed by Wisconsin's largely German- and Scandinavian-American populace.[5] The 1918 mid-term elections saw the Midwestern farming community largely desert the Democratic Party due to supposed preferential treatment of Southern farmers:[6] Democratic seats in the Midwest fell from thirty-four to seventeen,[7] and in 1920 Wisconsin's status as a one-party Republican state was solidified as James M. Cox won less than a sixth of the state's presidential vote and Democrats claimed only four state legislative seats, all but one of which would be lost in 1922.

At the same time, the Republican Party both at the state and national levels was severely divided between an ascendant conservative faction and a progressive faction, whose leader was Wisconsin's own veteran senator Robert M. La Follette.[8] After a fierce debate the Democratic Party nominated former Congressman John W. Davis of West Virginia,[9] who although West Virginia was a border state whose limited African-American population had not been disenfranchised as happened in all former Confederate States,[10] shared the extreme social conservatism of Southern Democrats of the time. Davis supported poll taxes, opposed women's suffrage, and believed in strictly limited government with no expansion in nonmilitary fields.[11]

The conservatism of the major-party nominees made La Follette mount a third-party challenge, which he had planned even beforehand.[12] Wisconsin's Senator was formally nominated on July 4 by the "Conference for Progressive Political Action" and developed a platform dedicated to eliminating child labor and American interference in Latin American political affairs, along with a formal denunciation of the Ku Klux Klan.[13] La Follette also proposed major judicial reforms including amendments allowing congress to override judicial review and to re-enact laws declared unconstitutional.[14] La Follette also called for election of federal judges for ten-year terms.[15]

At the beginning of the campaign in July, La Follette listed nine states as "in" for him, including Wisconsin.[16] Although early opinion polls showed La Follette attracting large numbers of those German and Scandinavian-Americans who completely deserted Cox in 1920,[17] newer polls later in the fall showed Wisconsin as the only state La Follette was certain to carry.[18] These later polls proved correct, with La Follette carrying Wisconsin with 53.96 percent of the popular vote, but winning no other state.[19]

Results

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General Election Results[20][21]
Party Pledged to Elector Votes
Independent[a] Robert M. La Follette Zona Gale 453,678
Independent Robert M. La Follette Otto P. Seifriz 446,289
Independent Robert M. La Follette Julia Anderson Schnetz 444,915
Independent Robert M. La Follette Charles J. Schoenfeld 444,848
Independent Robert M. La Follette William T. Evjue 444,514
Independent Robert M. La Follette John J. Handley 444,062
Independent Robert M. La Follette Ira S. Lorenz 444,004
Independent Robert M. La Follette John C. Schmidtmann 443,862
Independent Robert M. La Follette William V. Kidder 443,784
Independent Robert M. La Follette Ernest L. Schroeder 443,726
Independent Robert M. La Follette John T. Reynolds 443,459
Independent Robert M. La Follette Mary Francis Taylor 443,224
Independent Robert M. La Follette Clough Gates 443,073
Republican Party Calvin Coolidge Emanuel L. Phillipp 311,614
Republican Party Calvin Coolidge Magnus Swenson 310,550
Republican Party Calvin Coolidge F. Lee Norton 310,538
Republican Party Calvin Coolidge Lyman G. Wheeler 310,455
Republican Party Calvin Coolidge Theodora W. Youmans 310,388
Republican Party Calvin Coolidge Wheeler P. Bloodgood 310,330
Republican Party Calvin Coolidge Theodore Benfey 310,306
Republican Party Calvin Coolidge Timothy Burke 310,085
Republican Party Calvin Coolidge J. L. Sturtevant 310,019
Republican Party Calvin Coolidge George S. Gordon Sr. 309,930
Republican Party Calvin Coolidge Sophie I. Strathern 309,923
Republican Party Calvin Coolidge Laura Olson 309,824
Republican Party Calvin Coolidge Mary Scott Johnson 309,654
Democratic Party John W. Davis Anthony Szczerbinski 68,115
Democratic Party John W. Davis Katherine L. Conway 68,096
Democratic Party John W. Davis John F. Doherty 68,040
Democratic Party John W. Davis John Moran 68,028
Democratic Party John W. Davis Charles E. Wilson 68,025
Democratic Party John W. Davis William H. Graebner 68,011
Democratic Party John W. Davis Carl J. Mueller 67,958
Democratic Party John W. Davis John Mulva 67,840
Democratic Party John W. Davis H. B. Crane 67,837
Democratic Party John W. Davis Francis J. Rooney 67,815
Democratic Party John W. Davis Henry L. Nunn 67,775
Democratic Party John W. Davis George F. Dietrich 67,772
Democratic Party John W. Davis Ludwig P. Moen 67,751
Independent[b] William Z. Foster Henry Hill 3,773
Independent William Z. Foster Martin Udjbinac 3,759
Independent William Z. Foster Arvid Nelson 3,739
Independent William Z. Foster A. J. Haynes 3,728
Independent William Z. Foster Aaron Kivisto 3,724
Independent William Z. Foster Louis Majtan 3,715
Independent William Z. Foster Martin Markovich 3,710
Independent William Z. Foster Carl Gerlach 3,708
Independent William Z. Foster Marko Ebenhe 3,687
Independent William Z. Foster Clara Knappe 3,681
Independent William Z. Foster Carl Schradl 3,666
Independent William Z. Foster Fred Podello 3,659
Independent William Z. Foster Fredinand Pilacek 3,628
Prohibition Party Herman P. Faris Helen M. Tubbs 2,918
Prohibition Party Herman P. Faris William E. Mack 2,845
Prohibition Party Herman P. Faris M. L. Welles 2,839
Prohibition Party Herman P. Faris Alba A. Glovier 2,831
Prohibition Party Herman P. Faris Ella Tenney Sanford 2,824
Prohibition Party Herman P. Faris Charles H. Mott 2,818
Prohibition Party Herman P. Faris Herbert S. Siggelko 2,811
Prohibition Party Herman P. Faris August F. Fehlandt 2,809
Prohibition Party Herman P. Faris Lucius A. Willis 2,809
Prohibition Party Herman P. Faris Peter H. Rasmussen 2,802
Prohibition Party Herman P. Faris Frank Elisha Cummings 2,795
Prohibition Party Herman P. Faris D. Belle Ady 2,790
Prohibition Party Herman P. Faris David Walden Emerson 2,768
Independent[c] Frank T. Johns Jeff Davies 458
Independent Frank T. Johns G. Driebel 411
Independent Frank T. Johns E. Kathke Jr. 379
Independent Frank T. Johns M. Farchmin Jr. 376
Independent[d] William J. Wallace Carl Aken 270
Independent William J. Wallace Cornelius Leenhouts 215
Write-in Scattering[e] 10
Votes cast[f] 840,836

Results by county

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County[20][21] Robert M. La Follette
Independent 		Calvin Coolidge
Republican 		John W. Davis
Democratic 		All Others
Various 		Margin[g] Total votes cast[h]
# % # % # % # % # %
Adams 1,724 64.16% 779 28.99% 173 6.44% 11 0.41% 945 35.17% 2,687
Ashland 4,204 60.02% 2,272 32.44% 449 6.41% 79 1.13% 1,932 27.58% 7,004
Barron 6,010 65.47% 2,703 29.44% 377 4.11% 90 0.98% 3,307 36.02% 9,180
Bayfield 2,601 56.54% 1,675 36.41% 205 4.46% 119 2.59% 926 20.13% 4,600
Brown 10,024 49.92% 7,611 37.90% 2,328 11.59% 117 0.58% 2,413 12.02% 20,080
Buffalo 2,474 61.76% 1,324 33.05% 176 4.39% 32 0.80% 1,150 28.71% 4,006
Burnett 2,088 66.12% 958 30.34% 76 2.41% 36 1.14% 1,130 35.78% 3,158
Calumet 3,503 69.42% 938 18.59% 569 11.28% 36 0.71% 2,565 50.83% 5,046
Chippewa 6,517 52.95% 5,135 41.72% 560 4.55% 96 0.78% 1,382 11.23% 12,308
Clark 6,208 62.02% 3,130 31.27% 552 5.51% 120 1.20% 3,078 30.75% 10,010
Columbia 5,968 51.05% 4,724 40.41% 907 7.76% 91 0.78% 1,244 10.64% 11,690
Crawford 2,977 52.58% 1,687 29.80% 936 16.53% 62 1.10% 1,290 22.78% 5,662
Dane 24,595 62.73% 12,280 31.32% 2,081 5.31% 252 0.64% 12,315 31.41% 39,208
Dodge 9,610 56.63% 5,167 30.45% 2,019 11.90% 175 1.03% 4,443 26.18% 16,971
Door 2,715 55.36% 1,891 38.56% 235 4.79% 63 1.28% 824 16.80% 4,904
Douglas 8,255 54.89% 5,887 39.14% 638 4.24% 259 1.72% 2,368 15.75% 15,039
Dunn 4,385 55.39% 3,177 40.13% 284 3.59% 70 0.88% 1,208 15.26% 7,916
Eau Claire 5,222 47.12% 5,149 46.46% 629 5.68% 83 0.75% 73 0.66% 11,083
Florence 523 44.21% 594 50.21% 49 4.14% 17 1.44% -71 -6.00% 1,183
Fond du Lac 9,576 46.80% 8,516 41.62% 2,222 10.86% 146 0.71% 1,060 5.18% 20,460
Forest 1,259 46.46% 1,104 40.74% 299 11.03% 48 1.77% 155 5.72% 2,710
Grant 6,825 48.17% 5,714 40.33% 1,518 10.71% 112 0.79% 1,111 7.84% 14,169
Green 4,885 58.64% 2,922 35.07% 423 5.08% 101 1.21% 1,963 23.56% 8,331
Green Lake 2,187 41.19% 1,988 37.45% 1,090 20.53% 44 0.83% 199 3.75% 5,309
Iowa 4,133 50.32% 3,291 40.07% 689 8.39% 100 1.22% 842 10.25% 8,213
Iron 1,400 53.15% 1,058 40.17% 84 3.19% 92 3.49% 342 12.98% 2,634
Jackson 3,167 61.44% 1,662 32.24% 255 4.95% 71 1.38% 1,505 29.19% 5,155
Jefferson 7,885 57.93% 4,250 31.22% 1,374 10.09% 102 0.75% 3,635 26.71% 13,611
Juneau 3,785 61.40% 1,917 31.10% 403 6.54% 59 0.96% 1,868 30.30% 6,164
Kenosha 6,695 35.90% 10,341 55.45% 1,517 8.13% 96 0.51% -3,646 -19.55% 18,649
Kewaunee 2,804 65.82% 1,018 23.90% 395 9.27% 43 1.01% 1,786 41.92% 4,260
La Crosse 10,543 59.74% 5,733 32.49% 1,252 7.09% 119 0.67% 4,810 27.26% 17,647
Lafayette 3,681 47.81% 2,671 34.69% 1,265 16.43% 82 1.07% 1,010 13.12% 7,699
Langlade 3,578 50.05% 2,572 35.98% 926 12.95% 73 1.02% 1,006 14.07% 7,149
Lincoln 4,465 64.54% 1,857 26.84% 503 7.27% 93 1.34% 2,608 37.70% 6,918
Manitowoc 9,814 60.04% 4,828 29.54% 1,599 9.78% 104 0.64% 4,986 30.50% 16,345
Marathon 12,193 63.88% 5,577 29.22% 1,109 5.81% 209 1.09% 6,616 34.66% 19,088
Marinette 3,411 37.98% 4,911 54.68% 571 6.36% 88 0.98% -1,500 -16.70% 8,981
Marquette 1,820 51.18% 1,109 31.19% 587 16.51% 40 1.12% 711 19.99% 3,556
Milwaukee 81,697 55.19% 50,730 34.27% 14,510 9.80% 1,092 0.74% 30,967 20.92% 148,029
Monroe 6,747 67.71% 2,661 26.70% 428 4.30% 129 1.29% 4,086 41.00% 9,965
Oconto 4,506 58.25% 2,562 33.12% 602 7.78% 65 0.84% 1,944 25.13% 7,735
Oneida 3,196 59.74% 1,769 33.07% 324 6.06% 61 1.14% 1,427 26.67% 5,350
Outagamie 10,357 57.03% 6,426 35.39% 1,255 6.91% 122 0.67% 3,931 21.65% 18,160
Ozaukee 3,264 66.61% 1,015 20.71% 592 12.08% 29 0.59% 2,249 45.90% 4,900
Pepin 737 33.59% 1,226 55.88% 206 9.39% 25 1.14% -489 -22.29% 2,194
Pierce 3,661 53.80% 2,788 40.97% 298 4.38% 58 0.85% 873 12.83% 6,805
Polk 4,251 57.18% 2,793 37.57% 317 4.26% 73 0.98% 1,458 19.61% 7,434
Portage 5,347 52.01% 2,854 27.76% 2,010 19.55% 69 0.67% 2,493 24.25% 10,280
Price 3,151 58.94% 1,754 32.81% 323 6.04% 118 2.21% 1,397 26.13% 5,346
Racine 11,298 43.51% 13,040 50.21% 1,463 5.63% 168 0.65% -1,742 -6.71% 25,969
Richland 2,660 41.97% 2,669 42.11% 898 14.17% 111 1.75% -9 -0.14% 6,338
Rock 7,923 32.58% 14,815 60.92% 1,453 5.97% 129 0.53% -6,892 -28.34% 24,320
Rusk 2,677 54.19% 1,932 39.11% 272 5.51% 59 1.19% 745 15.08% 4,940
Sauk 6,400 57.91% 3,935 35.60% 555 5.02% 162 1.47% 2,465 22.30% 11,052
Sawyer 1,487 56.37% 990 37.53% 135 5.12% 26 0.99% 497 18.84% 2,638
Shawano 6,337 70.69% 2,063 23.01% 471 5.25% 94 1.05% 4,274 47.67% 8,965
Sheboygan 11,714 58.04% 6,974 34.56% 1,350 6.69% 143 0.71% 4,740 23.49% 20,181
St. Croix 4,693 51.72% 3,600 39.68% 718 7.91% 62 0.68% 1,093 12.05% 9,073
Taylor 3,079 65.37% 1,389 29.49% 185 3.93% 57 1.21% 1,690 35.88% 4,710
Trempealeau 4,148 62.24% 2,083 31.26% 373 5.60% 60 0.90% 2,065 30.99% 6,664
Vernon 5,599 63.78% 2,670 30.41% 406 4.62% 104 1.18% 2,929 33.36% 8,779
Vilas 1,038 50.07% 873 42.11% 119 5.74% 43 2.07% 165 7.96% 2,073
Walworth 4,335 33.13% 7,484 57.19% 1,162 8.88% 105 0.80% -3,149 -24.06% 13,086
Washburn 2,043 55.90% 1,422 38.91% 158 4.32% 32 0.88% 621 16.99% 3,655
Washington 5,081 62.49% 1,987 24.44% 980 12.05% 83 1.02% 3,094 38.05% 8,131
Waukesha 6,348 41.06% 7,026 45.45% 1,965 12.71% 120 0.78% -678 -4.39% 15,459
Waupaca 6,395 59.32% 3,654 33.89% 665 6.17% 67 0.62% 2,741 25.42% 10,781
Waushara 2,606 57.63% 1,602 35.43% 249 5.51% 65 1.44% 1,004 22.20% 4,522
Winnebago 9,891 42.86% 11,239 48.70% 1,801 7.80% 146[i] 0.63% -1,348 -5.84% 23,077
Wood 7,303 63.83% 3,469 30.32% 548 4.79% 122 1.07% 3,834 33.51% 11,442
Totals 453,678 53.96% 311,614 37.06% 68,115 8.10% 7,429 0.88% 142,064 16.90% 840,836

Counties that flipped from Republican to Progressive

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Analysis

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La Follette carried 62 of Wisconsin's 72 counties, with Coolidge gaining majorities only in the heavily Yankee and pro-establishment counties bordering Illinois, in Pepin County on the western border, and in Marinette and Florence Counties bordering Michigan. As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last time a third-party presidential candidate has carried a state outside the former Confederacy.[j] This was the first presidential election in which a Republican won the White House without carrying Wisconsin, a feat which would only occur 3 more times (in 1988, 2000, and 2004).

Two very long bellwether streaks for Wisconsin counties were broken in this election. Winnebago County failed to back the statewide winner for the first time since 1848, which was the first presidential election that the state participated in. Kenosha County also failed to back the statewide winner for the first time since 1852, which was the first presidential election that the county had participated in. This was the last election in Wisconsin in which voters chose presidential electors directly. The state switched to the modern "short ballot" starting with the next election.

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ La Follette was listed as Independent Progressive in Wisconsin
  2. ^ Foster was listed as Independent Workers in Wisconsin
  3. ^ Johns was listed as Independent Socialist Labor in Wisconsin. The Socialist Labor Party ran only four electors on its Wisconsin ticket.
  4. ^ Wallace was listed as Independent Commonwealth Land in Wisconsin. The Commonwealth Land Party ran only two electors on its Wisconsin ticket.
  5. ^ Not listed in the 1925 Blue Book
  6. ^ Based on totals for highest elector on each ticket
  7. ^ Because La Follette carried Wisconsin, and Coolidge was the top major party candidate in the state and in every county, all margins given are La Follette vote minus Coolidge vote and all percentage margins La Follette percentage minus Coolidge percentage.
  8. ^ Based on highest elector on each ticket
  9. ^ The 1925 Blue Book contains a typo for Commonwealth Land elector Aken. The correct figure for Aken is 2, not 3; using 3 causes the county figures to not add up to the statewide total.
  10. ^ Due to conflicts over black civil rights and to their disenfranchisement, third-party "states' rights" candidates carried four Confederate states in 1948, two in 1960 and five in 1968.

References

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  1. ^ Burnham, Walter Dean; 'The System of 1896: An Analysis'; in The Evolution of American Electoral Systems, pp. 178-179 ISBN 0-313-21379-8
  2. ^ Sundquist, James; Politics and Policy: The Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson Years, p. 526 ISBN 0-8157-1909-4
  3. ^ Hansen, John Mark; Shigeo Hirano, and Snyder, James M. Jr.; 'Parties within Parties: Parties, Factions, and Coordinated Politics, 1900-1980'; in Gerber, Alan S. and Schickler, Eric; Governing in a Polarized Age: Elections, Parties, and Political Representation in America, pp. 165-168 ISBN 978-1-107-09509-0
  4. ^ Crews, Kenneth D.; 'Woodrow Wilson, Wisconsin, and the Election of 1912'; Presidential Studies Quarterly, Vol. 12, No. 3: 'Presidents, Vice Presidents and Political Parties: Performance and Prospects' (Summer, 1982), pp. 369-376
  5. ^ Leary, William M. (jr.); 'Woodrow Wilson, Irish Americans, and the Election of 1916'; The Journal of American History, Vol. 54, No. 1 (June 1967), pp. 57-72
  6. ^ Morello, John A.; Albert D. Lasker, Advertising, and the Election of Warren G. Harding, p. 64 ISBN 0-275-97030-2
  7. ^ Hough, Jerry F.; Changing Party Coalitions: The Mystery of the Red State-Blue State Alignment, pp. 86-87 ISBN 0-87586-409-0
  8. ^ Moore, John A.; 'The Original Supply Siders: Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge'; The Independent Review, Vol. 18, No. 4 (Spring 2014), pp. 597-618
  9. ^ Paulson, Arthur C.; Realignment and Party Revival: Understanding American Electoral Politics at the Turn of the Twenty-First Century, p. 51 ISBN 0-275-96865-0
  10. ^ Ranney, Joseph A.; In the Wake of Slavery: Civil War, Civil Rights, and the Reconstruction of Southern Law; p. 141 ISBN 0-275-98972-0
  11. ^ Newman, Roger K.; The Yale Biographical Dictionary of American Law, p. 153 ISBN 0-300-11300-5
  12. ^ Richardson, Danny G.; Others: "Fighting Bob" La Follette and the Progressive Movement: Third-Party Politics in the 1920s, p. 180 ISBN 0-595-48126-4
  13. ^ Richardson; Others, pp. 182-183
  14. ^ Moreno, Paul D.; The American State from the Civil War to the New Deal: The Twilight of Constitutionalism and the Triumph of Progressivism, p. 205 ISBN 1-107-06771-5
  15. ^ Parrish, Michael E.; Anxious Decades: America in Prosperity and Depression, 1920-1941, pp. 70-71 ISBN 0-393-31134-1
  16. ^ 'La Follette's Managers Claiming Nine States'; The Ridgway News (Ridgway, Illinois), July 24, 1924, p. 1
  17. ^ Tucker, Garland; High Tide of American Conservatism: Davis, Coolidge, and the 1924 Election, p. 191 ISBN 1-937110-29-X
  18. ^ Tucker; High Tide of American Conservatism, p. 231
  19. ^ "1924 Presidential Election Statistics". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved March 5, 2018.
  20. ^ a b Wisconsin Historical Society, Certificate of Board of State Canvassers - Presidential Electors - 1924
  21. ^ a b "Summary Vote for Presidential Electors, November 4, 1924". Wisconsin Blue Book. State Printing Board. 1925. pp. 506–517.
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