Colonel William A. Phillips

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The 1924 United States presidential election in Alabama took place on November 4, 1924, as part of the nationwide presidential election, which was held throughout all contemporary forty-eight states. Voters chose twelve representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Since the 1890s, Alabama had been effectively a one-party state ruled by the Democratic Party. Disenfranchisement of almost all African-Americans and a large proportion of poor whites via poll taxes, literacy tests[1] and informal harassment had essentially eliminated opposition parties outside of Unionist Winston County and a few nearby northern hill counties that had been Populist strongholds.[2] The only competitive statewide elections became Democratic Party primaries that were limited by law to white voters. Unlike most other Confederate states, however, soon after black disenfranchisement Alabama’s remaining white Republicans made rapid efforts to expel blacks from the state Republican Party.[3] Indeed under Oscar D. Street, who ironically was appointed state party boss as part of the pro-Taft “black and tan” faction in 1912,[4] the state GOP would permanently turn “lily-white”, with the last black delegates from the state at any Republican National Convention serving in 1920.[3]

The 1920 election, aided by isolationism in Appalachia[5] and the whitening of the state GOP,[6] saw the Republicans gain their best presidential vote share in Alabama since 1884,[7] while the GOP even exceed forty percent in the House of Representatives races for the 4th, 7th and 10th congressional districts.[5] However, isolationist sentiment in Appalachia would ease after the election of Warren G. Harding[5] and funding issues meant the Republicans would not run a candidate for any Alabama congressional district in 1922.[8]

With the ebbing of isolationist sentiment and a conservative Southern Democrat supportive of poll taxes and opposed to women’s suffrage in John W. Davis of West Virginia nominated after an extremely prolonged convention,[9] neither Davis nor incumbent Republican President Calvin Coolidge nor “La Follette/Wheeler” candidate Robert M. La Follette visited Alabama.[10] No polls were taken in the state, which had given every Democrat since 1876 over sixty percent, and ultimately Davis won Alabama with over sixty-seven percent of the vote. Despite the severe impediments of Alabama’s cumulative poll tax, La Follette did reach into double digits in industrialised Jefferson, Baldwin, and Morgan Counties, but overall he polled only just under five percent of Alabama’s ballots, making it his eighth-weakest state.[11]

Results

1924 United States presidential election in Alabama[12]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic John W. Davis 113,138 69.69%
Republican Calvin Coolidge (incumbent) 40,615[a] 26.01%
La Follette/Wheeler Robert M. La Follette 8,040 4.95%
National Prohibition Herman P. Faris 562 0.35%
Total votes 162,355 100%

Results by county

1924 United States presidential election in Alabama by county[13]
County John William Davis
Democratic
John Calvin Coolidge
Republican
Robert M. La Follette senior
La Follette/Wheeler
Herman Preston Faris
National Prohibition
Margin Total votes cast
# % # % # % # % # %
Autauga 781 81.87% 146 15.30% 22 2.31% 5 0.52% 635 66.56% 954
Baldwin 1,023 51.72% 549 27.76% 392 19.82% 14 0.71% 474 23.96% 1,978
Barbour 1,340 91.59% 78 5.33% 40 2.73% 5 0.34% 1,262 86.26% 1,463
Bibb 875 63.68% 251 18.27% 240 17.47% 8 0.58% 624 45.41% 1,374
Blount 2,083 56.15% 1,518 40.92% 103 2.78% 6 0.16% 565 15.23% 3,710
Bullock 763 98.83% 8 1.04% 1 0.13% 0 0.00% 755 97.80% 772
Butler 1,050 83.33% 95 7.54% 115 9.13% 0 0.00% 935[b] 74.21% 1,260
Calhoun 1,907 67.65% 766 27.17% 129 4.58% 17 0.60% 1,141 40.48% 2,819
Chambers 1,922 91.00% 146 6.91% 43 2.04% 1 0.05% 1,776 84.09% 2,112
Cherokee 1,380 60.63% 845 37.13% 45 1.98% 6 0.26% 535 23.51% 2,276
Chilton 848 33.60% 1,595 63.19% 75 2.97% 6 0.24% -747 -29.60% 2,524
Choctaw 1,021 97.80% 19 1.82% 2 0.19% 2 0.19% 1,002 95.98% 1,044
Clarke 1,059 91.93% 78 6.77% 12 1.04% 3 0.26% 981 85.16% 1,152
Clay 1,597 59.88% 1,017 38.13% 49 1.84% 4 0.15% 580 21.75% 2,667
Cleburne 622 45.74% 696 51.18% 38 2.79% 4 0.29% -74 -5.44% 1,360
Coffee 1,597 82.11% 323 16.61% 20 1.03% 5 0.26% 1,274 65.50% 1,945
Colbert 1,503 65.98% 576 25.29% 189 8.30% 10 0.44% 927 40.69% 2,278
Conecuh 955 88.10% 92 8.49% 31 2.86% 6 0.55% 863 79.61% 1,084
Coosa 790 60.12% 508 38.66% 15 1.14% 1 0.08% 282 21.46% 1,314
Covington 1,776 85.88% 156 7.54% 132 6.38% 4 0.19% 1,620 78.34% 2,068
Crenshaw 1,107 89.06% 117 9.41% 8 0.64% 11 0.88% 990 79.65% 1,243
Cullman 1,809 49.79% 1,639 45.11% 180 4.95% 5 0.14% 170 4.68% 3,633
Dale 1,117 77.52% 297 20.61% 22 1.53% 5 0.35% 820 56.90% 1,441
Dallas 1,948 91.76% 50 2.36% 125 5.89% 0 0.00% 1,823[b] 85.87% 2,123
DeKalb 3,003 46.65% 3,434 53.35% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% -431 -6.70% 6,437
Elmore 1,088 81.62% 219 16.43% 15 1.13% 11 0.83% 869 65.19% 1,333
Escambia 1,217 85.70% 152 10.70% 46 3.24% 5 0.35% 1,065 75.00% 1,420
Etowah 3,081 61.41% 1,664 33.17% 242 4.82% 30 0.60% 1,417 28.24% 5,017
Fayette 1,358 57.35% 977 41.26% 30 1.27% 3 0.13% 381 16.09% 2,368
Franklin 1,985 46.59% 2,208[c] 51.82% 65 1.53% 3 0.07% -223 -5.23% 4,261
Geneva 1,191 69.53% 477 27.85% 39 2.28% 6 0.35% 714 41.68% 1,713
Greene 408 98.31% 5 1.20% 1 0.24% 1 0.24% 403 97.11% 415
Hale 856 96.72% 23 2.60% 4 0.45% 2 0.23% 833 94.12% 885
Henry 816 78.84% 179 17.29% 37 3.57% 3 0.29% 637 61.55% 1,035
Houston 1,731 83.87% 242 11.72% 83 4.02% 8 0.39% 1,489 72.14% 2,064
Jackson 1,923 66.11% 885 30.42% 86 2.96% 15 0.52% 1,038 35.68% 2,909
Jefferson 15,133 63.64% 5,678 23.88% 2,808 11.81% 161 0.68% 9,455 39.76% 23,780
Lamar 1,087 79.40% 262 19.14% 18 1.31% 2 0.15% 825 60.26% 1,369
Lauderdale 2,266 71.30% 823 25.90% 80 2.52% 9 0.28% 1,443 45.41% 3,178
Lawrence 990 67.26% 468 31.79% 12 0.82% 2 0.14% 522 35.46% 1,472
Lee 1,290 85.77% 98 6.52% 111 7.38% 5 0.33% 1,179[b] 78.39% 1,504
Limestone 1,415 87.35% 136 8.40% 51 3.15% 18 1.11% 1,279 78.95% 1,620
Lowndes 602 95.86% 5 0.80% 20 3.18% 1 0.16% 582[b] 92.68% 628
Macon 538 91.34% 48 8.15% 2 0.34% 1 0.17% 490 83.19% 589
Madison 2,166 83.76% 368 14.23% 49 1.89% 3 0.12% 1,798 69.53% 2,586
Marengo 1,243 98.42% 17 1.35% 2 0.16% 1 0.08% 1,226 97.07% 1,263
Marion 1,359 99.05% 0 0.00% 12 0.87% 1 0.07% 1,347[b] 98.18% 1,372
Marshall 2,629 59.31% 1,718 38.75% 81 1.83% 5 0.11% 911 20.55% 4,433
Mobile 4,125 64.91% 1,814 28.54% 380 5.98% 36 0.57% 2,311 36.37% 6,355
Monroe 1,155 96.09% 22 1.83% 22 1.83% 3 0.25% 1,133 94.26% 1,202
Montgomery 4,422 87.70% 233 4.62% 375 7.44% 12 0.24% 4,047[b] 80.27% 5,042
Morgan 2,247 71.58% 519 16.53% 352 11.21% 21 0.67% 1,728 55.05% 3,139
Perry 928 96.17% 25 2.59% 12 1.24% 0 0.00% 903 93.58% 965
Pickens 1,045 87.45% 132 11.05% 15 1.26% 3 0.25% 913 76.40% 1,195
Pike 1,832 97.34% 30 1.59% 15 0.80% 5 0.27% 1,802 95.75% 1,882
Randolph 1,307 65.32% 669 33.43% 18 0.90% 7 0.35% 638 31.88% 2,001
Russell 474 91.33% 14 2.70% 31 5.97% 0 0.00% 443[b] 85.36% 519
St. Clair 1,281 45.30% 1,432 50.64% 110 3.89% 5 0.18% -151 -5.34% 2,828
Shelby 1,882 49.18% 1,753 45.81% 186 4.86% 6 0.16% 129 3.37% 3,827
Sumter 837 94.68% 28 3.17% 19 2.15% 0 0.00% 809 91.52% 884
Talladega 1,730 71.72% 628 26.04% 48 1.99% 6 0.25% 1,102 45.69% 2,412
Tallapoosa 1,713 99.59% 1 0.06% 3 0.17% 3 0.17% 1,710[b] 99.42% 1,720
Tuscaloosa 2,363 85.80% 247 8.97% 128 4.65% 16 0.58% 2,116 76.83% 2,754
Walker 3,351 54.59% 2,446 39.85% 332 5.41% 9 0.15% 905 14.74% 6,138
Washington 610 89.97% 55 8.11% 12 1.77% 1 0.15% 555 81.86% 678
Wilcox 938 97.81% 6 0.63% 15 1.56% 0 0.00% 923[b] 96.25% 959
Winston 650 36.19% 1,096 61.02% 45 2.51% 5 0.28% -446 -24.83% 1,796
Totals 113,138 68.76% 42,801 26.01% 8,040 4.89% 562 0.34% 70,337 42.75% 164,541

See also

Notes

  1. ^ This total excludes an uncertain figure for Franklin County.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i In this county where La Follette ran second ahead of Coolidge, margin goven is Davis vote minus La Follette vote and percentage margin Davis percentage minus La Follette percentage.
  3. ^ Sources vary in the Republican total for this county.

References

  1. ^ Perman, Michael (2001). Struggle for Mastery: Disfranchisement in the South, 1888–1908. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. p. Introduction. ISBN 9780807849095.
  2. ^ Webb, Samuel L. "From Independents to Populists to Progressive Republicans: The Case of Chilton County, Alabama, 1880-1920". The Journal of Southern History. 59 (4): 707–736.
  3. ^ a b Heersink, Boris; Jenkins, Jeffery A. (2020). Republican Party Politics and the American South, 1865-1968. pp. 251–253. ISBN 9781107158436.
  4. ^ Casdorph, Paul D. (1981). Republicans, Negroes, and Progressives in the South, 1912-1916. The University of Alabama Press. pp. 70, 94–95. ISBN 0817300481.
  5. ^ a b c Phillips, Kevin P. (1969). The Emerging Republican Majority. p. 255. ISBN 0870000586.
  6. ^ Heersink and Jenkins, Republican Party Politics and the American South, p. 19
  7. ^ Leip, Dave. "Presidential General Election Results Comparison — Alabama". Dave Leip’s U.S. Election Atlas.
  8. ^ See "G.O.P. Funds Are Reported Short: Forces "Counted On" Disappoint Republican Political Managers". The Birmingham News. Birmingham, Alabama. August 19, 1922. p. 5.
  9. ^ Newman, Roger K. The Yale Biographical Dictionary of American Law. p. 153. ISBN 0300113005.
  10. ^ "Davis Closes His Campaign in West and Moves South; Helping Hand Across Sea Might Save Europe, Nominee Claims — Goes to Nashville To renew Attack on G.O.P.; From Tennessee He Returns North for Tour of Four States". The Birmingham News. Birmingham, Alabama. October 19, 1924. p. 1.
  11. ^ See Stark, Rodney and Christiano, Kevin J.; 'Support for the American Left, 1920-1924: The Opiate Thesis Reconsidered'; Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Vol. 31, No. 1 (March, 1992), pp. 62-75
  12. ^ Leip, Dave. "1924 Presidential General Election Results — Alabama". Dave Leip’s U.S. Election Atlas.
  13. ^ "Vote for Presidential Electors, November 4, 1924". Alabama Official and Statistical Register. State of Alabama Department of Archives and History. 1927.