1928 United States elections

1928 United States elections

← 1926          1927         1928         1929          1930 → Presidential election year
Election day	November 6
Incumbent president	Calvin Coolidge (Republican)
Next Congress	71st
Presidential election
Partisan control	Republican hold
Popular vote margin	Republican +17.4%
Electoral vote
Herbert Hoover (R)	444
Al Smith (D)	87
1928 presidential election results. Red denotes states won by Hoover, blue denotes states won by Smith. Numbers indicate the electoral votes won by each candidate.
Senate elections
Overall control	Republican hold
Seats contested	35 of 96 seats (32 Class 1 seats + 5 special elections) [1]
Net seat change	Republican +8 [2]
1928 Senate election results   Democratic gain  Democratic hold   Republican gain  Republican hold   Farmer-Labor hold
House elections
Overall control	Republican hold
Seats contested	All 435 voting members
Net seat change	Republican +32
1928 House of Representatives results
Gubernatorial elections
Seats contested	35
Net seat change	Republican +3
1928 gubernatorial election results   Democratic hold   Republican gain  Republican hold

Elections took place on November 6, 1928. In the last election before the start of the Great Depression, the Republican Party retained control of the presidency and bolstered their majority in both chambers of Congress.

Republican former Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover defeated Democratic nominee New York Governor Al Smith. ^{[3] [4]} Hoover won a landslide victory, taking several Southern states and winning almost every state outside the South. Democrats suffered from voter prejudice against Roman Catholics like Smith. As incumbent President Calvin Coolidge declined to seek re-election, Hoover won the Republican nomination on the first ballot. Like Hoover, Smith also won his party's nomination on the first ballot.

The Republicans gained thirty-two seats in the House of Representatives, furthering a majority over the Democrats. The Republicans also increased a majority in the Senate, gaining eight seats. ^[4]

See also

• 1928 United States presidential election
• 1928 United States House of Representatives elections
• 1928 United States Senate elections
• 1928 United States gubernatorial elections

References

1. 2 Class 1 seats held both a regularly-scheduled election and a special election in 1928. These two seats are not double-counted for the total number of seats contested.
2. Republicans picked up six seats in the regularly-scheduled elections and an additional two seats in the special elections.
3. "1928 Presidential Election". The American Presidency Project. Retrieved March 7, 2025.
4. "Statistics of the Congressional and Presidential Election of November 6, 1928" (PDF). U.S. House of Reps, Office of the Clerk. Retrieved December 29, 2011.