1928United States presidential election in Wyoming

← 1924 November 6, 1928 1932 →

Nominee Herbert Hoover Al Smith Party Republican Democratic Home state Iowa New York Running mate Charles Curtis Joseph Robinson Electoral vote 3 0 Popular vote 52,748 29,299 Percentage 63.68% 35.37%

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

President before election Calvin Coolidge Republican Elected President Herbert Hoover Republican

The1928 United States presidential election in Wyoming took place on November 6, 1928, as part of the1928 United States presidential election. State voters chose three representatives, or electors, to theElectoral College, who voted forpresident andvice president.

Wyoming was won by theRepublican candidate, formerSecretary of Commerce andmining engineerHerbert Hoover, from the state ofCalifornia, who was running withSenatorCharles Curtis, with 63.68 percent of the popular vote. They ran against theDemocratic candidate,Governor of New YorkAl Smith, running with ArkansasSenator and formerGovernorJoseph Robinson, with 35.37 percent, a 28.3% margin of victory.^[1] Hoover won all but one of the state's twenty-three counties, but Smith's victory in Sweetwater County – which had defied the1924 GOP landslide by voting forRobert La Follette – would, with the aid of extensive unionization, create a run of Democratic wins in that county extending to1968.^[2]

Just 4 years earlier, Hoover's predecessor,Calvin Coolidge, had carried Wyoming by 20.9% against his nearest rival,ProgressiveRobert M. La Follette; however, in that election, the vote was split, with the combined Progressive and Democratic vote total equaling 47.6%, thus giving Coolidge, who received 52.4% of the vote, a victory margin of 4.8%. Hoover's 28.3-point victory marked a swing to the right of 23.5 points, with Wyoming voting 10.9% more Republican than the rest of the nation in this election.

Voters associated the booming economy ofThe Roaring Twenties under Coolidge with Republicans, thus giving Hoover a significant edge in the campaign. In addition to facing an uphill battle to convince voters to abandon the popular Republican policies, Smith, aRoman Catholic, also dealt with significant anti-Catholic prejudice, with many Protestants believing he would take orders fromThe Pope, and some even believing the Pope would move toWashington D.C. if Smith won. Additionally, Smith's opposition toProhibition, which was the ban on alcoholic beverages, and his association with the corruption ofTammany Hall all but ensured his defeat. His performance was the second worst for a Democrat in Wyoming's history at that time, being surpassed only byJames Cox's defeat toWarren Harding in1920, and would remain the second worst untilGeorge McGovern's landslide defeat in1972.

Despite his strong performance, over the course of his presidency, the economic boom of the 1920s that had propelled Republicans to success would transform intoThe Great Depression, which voters associated with Hoover, and he would go on to lose the state by 16 points toFranklin D. Roosevelt in1932. Hoover's raw vote total was the highest for a Republican in Wyoming's history up until that point, and would remain so untilDwight Eisenhower surpassed it in1952.

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