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 County Results Roosevelt 90–100%
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The1936 United States presidential election in South Carolina was held on November 3, 1936. The state voters chose 8 electors to theElectoral College, who voted forpresident andvice president. With Roosevelt winning 98.57% of the vote, this was the most emphatic win for any presidential candidate in a contested election for any state in American history.
South Carolina voted forDemocratic Party candidate and incumbent PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt, overRepublican Party candidate incumbentGovernor of KansasAlf Landon. Roosevelt carried all counties with over 90% of the vote and all but one (historicallyBlackRepublican leaningBeaufort County) with over 95% of the vote, with two (Horry andLancaster counties) being carried unanimously. His 98.57% of the popular vote is the highest for any presidential candidate in South Carolina since a popular vote was first used in 1868, or for any presidential candidate in any state with an opponent.
At the time of the 1936 election, the Democraticmachine had been dominant in South Carolina politics for decades. The state's Republican organizations were marginal, serving mostly to distributepatronage when a Republican president made federal appointments within the state. The South Carolina Republican Party had been led by"Tieless" Joe Tolbert since the late 1890s.[1] However, in the early 1930s, the state party split between two factions: aracially exclusive all-white group led by J.C. Hambright, andTolbert's group, which included some African-Americans. At the1932 Republican National Convention, Hambright was seated as the leader of South Carolina's delegation, but at the1936 convention, Tolbert's authority was restored.[2]
The schism between the two Republican factions extended to the 1936 presidential ballot. At that time, voters were presented with lists ofelectors nominated by each state party, rather than the names of the presidential and vice-presidential candidates themselves. As a result, two separate slates of Republican electors were nominated, one led by Hambright and the other by Tolbert's nephew Joseph A. Tolbert, and the state's already minuscule Republican vote was split between them. However, ballots inAllendale County,Colleton County, andEdgefield County counties listed only the Tolbert ticket as the slate of the Republican Party.[3] The votes for Landon are presented here as afusion of the two slates.
| 1936 United States presidential election in South Carolina[4] | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Running mate | Popular vote | Electoral vote | ||||
| Count | % | Count | % | |||||
| Democratic | Franklin Delano Roosevelt ofNew York | John Nance Garner ofTexas | 113,791 | 98.57% | 8 | 100.00% | ||
| Republican | Alf Landon ofKansas | Frank Knox ofIllinois | 1,646[a] | 1.43% | 0 | 0.00% | ||
| Total | 115,437 | 100.00% | 8 | 100.00% | ||||
| County | Franklin D. Roosevelt Democratic | Alf Landon Republican | Margin | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Abbeville | 1,265 | 98.21% | 23 | 1.79% | 1,242 | 96.42% | 1,288 |
| Aiken | 3,298 | 98.95% | 35 | 1.05% | 3,263 | 97.90% | 3,333 |
| Allendale | 1,236 | 99.76% | 3 | 0.24% | 1,233 | 99.52% | 1,239 |
| Anderson | 4,025 | 99.36% | 26 | 0.64% | 3,999 | 98.72% | 4,051 |
| Bamberg | 1,542 | 99.68% | 5 | 0.32% | 1,537 | 99.36% | 1,547 |
| Barnwell | 2,157 | 99.91% | 2 | 0.09% | 2,155 | 99.82% | 2,159 |
| Beaufort | 501 | 92.10% | 43 | 7.90% | 458 | 84.20% | 544 |
| Berkeley | 690 | 98.85% | 8 | 1.15% | 682 | 97.70% | 698 |
| Calhoun | 821 | 99.88% | 1 | 0.12% | 820 | 99.76% | 822 |
| Charleston | 8,015 | 95.05% | 417 | 4.95% | 7,598 | 90.10% | 8,432 |
| Cherokee | 2,280 | 99.00% | 23 | 1.00% | 2,257 | 98.00% | 2,303 |
| Chester | 2,155 | 99.49% | 11 | 0.51% | 2,144 | 98.98% | 2,166 |
| Chesterfield | 3,192 | 99.44% | 18 | 0.56% | 3,174 | 98.88% | 3,210 |
| Clarendon | 1,260 | 98.67% | 17 | 1.33% | 1,243 | 97.34% | 1,277 |
| Colleton | 1,463 | 99.46% | 8 | 0.54% | 1,455 | 98.92% | 1,471 |
| Darlington | 1,995 | 99.40% | 12 | 0.60% | 1,983 | 98.80% | 2,007 |
| Dillon | 1,104 | 99.55% | 5 | 0.45% | 1,099 | 99.10% | 1,109 |
| Dorchester | 889 | 96.95% | 28 | 3.05% | 861 | 93.90% | 917 |
| Edgefield | 1,304 | 99.92% | 1 | 0.08% | 1,303 | 99.84% | 1,305 |
| Fairfield | 1,005 | 98.72% | 13 | 1.28% | 992 | 97.44% | 1,018 |
| Florence | 4,194 | 99.41% | 25 | 0.59% | 4,169 | 98.82% | 4,219 |
| Georgetown | 1,273 | 95.43% | 61 | 4.57% | 1,212 | 90.86% | 1,334 |
| Greenville | 8,310 | 98.91% | 92 | 1.09% | 8,218 | 97.82% | 8,402 |
| Greenwood | 3,064 | 99.38% | 19 | 0.62% | 3,045 | 98.76% | 3,083 |
| Hampton | 1,253 | 99.37% | 8 | 0.63% | 1,245 | 98.74% | 1,261 |
| Horry | 2,927 | 100.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 2,927 | 100.00% | 2,927 |
| Jasper | 452 | 99.12% | 4 | 0.88% | 448 | 98.24% | 456 |
| Kershaw | 1,400 | 98.59% | 20 | 1.41% | 1,380 | 97.18% | 1,420 |
| Lancaster | 2,631 | 100.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 2,631 | 100.00% | 2,631 |
| Laurens | 3,069 | 99.58% | 13 | 0.42% | 3,056 | 99.16% | 3,082 |
| Lee | 1,045 | 99.52% | 5 | 0.48% | 1,040 | 99.04% | 1,050 |
| Lexington | 2,138 | 98.53% | 32 | 1.47% | 2,106 | 97.06% | 2,170 |
| Marion | 656 | 98.80% | 8 | 1.20% | 648 | 97.60% | 664 |
| Marlboro | 1,219 | 99.59% | 5 | 0.41% | 1,214 | 99.18% | 1,224 |
| McCormick | 988 | 99.30% | 7 | 0.70% | 981 | 98.60% | 995 |
| Newberry | 2,615 | 99.66% | 9 | 0.34% | 2,606 | 99.32% | 2,624 |
| Oconee | 2,057 | 97.49% | 53 | 2.51% | 2,004 | 94.98% | 2,110 |
| Orangeburg | 2,947 | 98.04% | 59 | 1.96% | 2,888 | 96.08% | 3,006 |
| Pickens | 2,678 | 98.17% | 50 | 1.83% | 2,628 | 96.34% | 2,728 |
| Richland | 6,728 | 97.79% | 152 | 2.21% | 6,576 | 95.58% | 6,880 |
| Saluda | 1,324 | 99.25% | 10 | 0.75% | 1,314 | 98.50% | 1,334 |
| Spartanburg | 10,739 | 98.41% | 173 | 1.59% | 10,566 | 96.82% | 10,912 |
| Sumter | 2,062 | 97.26% | 58 | 2.74% | 2,004 | 94.52% | 2,120 |
| Union | 3,458 | 99.74% | 9 | 0.26% | 3,449 | 99.48% | 3,467 |
| Williamsburg | 1,284 | 99.53% | 6 | 0.47% | 1,278 | 99.06% | 1,290 |
| York | 3,083 | 97.81% | 69 | 2.19% | 3,014 | 95.62% | 3,152 |
| Totals | 113,791 | 98.57% | 1,646 | 1.43% | 112,145 | 97.14% | 115,437 |
State and district results of the1936 United States presidential election | ||
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