1928 United States presidential election in Oklahoma

← 1924 November 6, 1928 1932 →

Nominee Herbert Hoover Al Smith Party Republican Democratic Home state California New York Running mate Charles Curtis Joseph T. Robinson Electoral vote 10 0 Popular vote 394,046 219,174 Percentage 63.72% 35.44%

County Results Hoover   50–60%   60–70%   70–80% Smith   40–50%   50–60%   60–70%

President before election Calvin Coolidge Republican Elected President Herbert Hoover Republican

The1928 United States presidential election in Oklahoma took place on November 6, 1928, as part of the1928 United States presidential election which was held throughout all contemporary 48 states. Voters chose ten representatives, or electors to theElectoral College, who voted forpresident andvice president.

In its early years,Oklahoma was a "Solid South" state whose founding fathers like"Alfalfa Bill" Murray andCharles N. Haskell haddisfranchised most of its black population via literacy tests and grandfather clauses,^[1] the latter of which would be declared unconstitutional inGuinn v. United States.^[2] In 1920 this "Solid South" state, nonetheless, joined the Republican landslide ofWarren G. Harding, electing a GOP senator and five congressmen,^[3] but in 1922 the Democratic Party returned to their typical ascendancy as the state GOP became heatedly divided amongst themselves.^[4]

Like many states in the South, Oklahoma, almost entirely part of the Southern Protestant "Bible Belt", had significant influence from theKu Klux Klan at that time.^[5] The nomination of anti-Prohibition CatholicNew York GovernorAl Smith as the Democratic nominee was thus extremely controversial, with prominentformer SenatorRobert Latham Owen refusing steadfastly to endorse him,^[6] despite nominating dry Southern DemocratSenatorJoseph Taylor Robinson ofArkansas.

Early polls showed a massive trend away from Smith, with a September poll saying seventy-six thousand Oklahoma Democrats would vote forRepublican nominees, formerSecretary of CommerceHerbert Hoover ofCalifornia andSenate Majority LeaderCharles Curtis ofKansas,^[7] and a mid-October poll saying Hoover would receive seventy percent of the vote in Oklahoma.^[8] At the end of October, although the number of Oklahoma Democrats believed to be supporting Hoover had not fallen, and a finding that the Republicans had helped enroll one hundred and fifty thousand new voters, Hoover's margin was reduced to fifty thousand.^[9]

As it turned out, the later poll was over-favourable to Smith. Hoover ultimately won the state by a margin of 28.28 percentage points. This was the first election since statehood when Oklahoma had voted more Republican than the nation at large, and the only one until1960. In some previously Democratic counties in southwestern Oklahoma, Hoover gained vote shares more than thirty percent higher thanCalvin Coolidge had in1924, despite the fact that Smith visited the state in September and gave a major speech on the issue of religious tolerance.^[10]

Hoover carried all but eleven of Oklahoma's 77 counties, with only culturally SouthernChoctaw Country orLittle Dixie in the southeast remaining loyal to Smith, and even there Democratic margins were smaller than usual for the era. He was the only Republican untilRichard Nixon’s1972 landslide to carry the following counties:Carter,Cotton,Harmon,Jackson,Jefferson,Murray andTillman.^[11] Hoover was also the first Republican presidential candidate to win the following counties:Beckham,Cleveland,Grady,Hughes,McClain andPontotoc.^[11]

• United States presidential elections in Oklahoma

• 1928 United States presidential election by state
• United States presidential elections in Oklahoma
• 1928 Oklahoma elections

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