1936 United States presidential election in Delaware

Main article: 1936 United States presidential election

1936 United States presidential election in Delaware

←  1932 November 3, 1936 1940  →

Nominee Franklin D. Roosevelt Alf Landon Party Democratic Republican Home state New York Kansas Running mate John Nance Garner Frank Knox Electoral vote 3 0 Popular vote 69,702 57,236 Percentage 54.62% 44.85%

County results Roosevelt   50–60%

President before election Franklin D. Roosevelt Democratic Elected President Franklin D. Roosevelt Democratic

The 1936 United States presidential election in Delaware was held on November 3, 1936. The state voters chose three electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Delaware voted for Democratic Party candidate and incumbent President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who defeated Republican nominee, Kansas Governor Alf Landon. Roosevelt won the state by a margin of 9.77%, marking the first time since 1912 that the state voted for a Democratic presidential candidate, and the first time since 1888 that a Democrat carried the state with an outright majority.

While Landon lost the state, the 44.85% of the popular vote made Delaware his fifth strongest state in the 1936 election in terms of popular vote percentage after Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire and Kansas. ^[1]

This election marked Delaware's transition into a bellwether state: for the rest of the 20th century, it would vote for a losing candidate only once (in 1948). Once the century rolled around, it came to be regarded as a solidly blue state.

Results

General Election Results ^{[2] [3]}

Party		Pledged to	Elector	Votes
	Democratic Party	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Henry T. Graham	69,702
	Democratic Party	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Charles M. Wharton	69,172
	Democratic Party	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Wilson M. Vinyard	69,128
	Republican Party	Alf Landon	Julia H. Tallman	54,014
	Republican Party	Alf Landon	George E. Walls	53,836
	Republican Party	Alf Landon	William P. Richardson	53,834
	Independent Republican Party	Alf Landon	John Wirt Willis	3,222
	Independent Republican Party	Alf Landon	Joseph Morris Harrington	3,204
	Independent Republican Party	Alf Landon	Frank S. Carter	3,190
	Union Party	William Lemke	Mary A. de Fanti	442
	Union Party	William Lemke	Mary A. Miller	432
	Union Party	William Lemke	Thomas Ryan	429
	Socialist Party	Norman Thomas	Walter B. Pollard	172
	Socialist Party	Norman Thomas	Ernest Mills	170
	Socialist Party	Norman Thomas	Edmund Smith	169
	Communist Party	Earl Browder	John D. Haman	51
	Communist Party	Earl Browder	Athanasais T. Hadges	48
	Communist Party	Earl Browder	Sadie Tomkin	45
Votes cast [a]				127,603

Results by county

County [2]	Franklin D. Roosevelt Democratic		Alf Landon Republican [b]		William Lemke Union		Norman Thomas Socialist		Earl Browder Communist		Margin		Total votes cast [a]
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Kent	9,588	56.38%	7,389	43.45%	0	0.00%	22	0.13%	6	0.04%	2,199	12.93%	17,005
New Castle	47,315	55.17%	37,851	44.13%	442	0.52%	117	0.14%	41	0.05%	9,464	11.03%	85,766
Sussex	12,799	51.54%	11,996	48.31%	0	0.00%	33	0.13%	4	0.02%	803	3.23%	24,832
Totals	69,702	54.62%	57,236	44.85%	442	0.35%	172	0.13%	51	0.04%	12,466	9.77%	127,603

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• New Castle

See also

• United States presidential elections in Delaware

Notes

1. Based on highest elector on each ticket
2. Fusion of Republican and Independent Republican vote

References

1. "1936 Presidential Election Statistics". Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved March 5, 2018.
2. "Proclamation - State of Delaware, Executive Department". The Milford Chronicle. Milford. November 20, 1936. p. 6. Retrieved December 17, 2025.
3. "Candidates". Wilmington Morning News. Wilmington. November 2, 1936. p. 19. Retrieved December 17, 2025.