1944 United States presidential election in Louisiana

Main article: 1944 United States presidential election

1944 United States presidential election in Louisiana

←  1940 November 7, 1944 1948  →

Nominee Franklin D. Roosevelt Thomas E. Dewey Party Democratic Republican Home state New York New York Running mate Harry Truman John Bricker Electoral vote 10 0 Popular vote 281,564 67,750 Percentage 80.59% 19.39%

Parish Results Roosevelt   60-70%   70-80%   80-90%   90-100% The 1944 United States presidential election in Louisiana took place on November 7, 1944, as part of the 1944 United States presidential election. State voters chose ten [1] representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president. Ever since the passage of a new constitution in 1898, Louisiana had been a one-party state dominated by the Democratic Party. The Republican Party became moribund due to the disenfranchisement of blacks and the complete absence of other support bases as Louisiana completely lacked upland or German refugee whites opposed to secession. [2] Despite this absolute single-party dominance, non-partisan tendencies remained strong among wealthy sugar planters in Acadiana and within the business elite of New Orleans. [3] Until the rise of Huey P. Long, post-disenfranchisement Louisiana politics was dominated by the New Orleans–based “Choctaw Club”, [4] which overcame Socialist, Wobbly, and Progressive challenges from the outlying upcountry, Imperial Calcasieu and Acadiana regions between the late 1900s and early 1920s. [5] The three presidential elections between 1916 and 1924 saw a rebellion in Acadiana over sugar tariffs and Woodrow Wilson’s foreign and domestic policies; however, the nomination of Catholic Al Smith in 1928 rapidly restored their Democratic loyalty without causing significant upheaval in the remainder of the state, which was too focused on control of black labour to worry about Smith’s Catholicism. [6] Following the 1928 gubernatorial primary, Louisiana politics until Brown v. Board of Education would be governed by a system of coherent “Long” and “anti-Long” Democratic factionalism, [7] as the administration of Huey Long introduced significant economic reforms, which were strongly opposed by the remnants of the old Choctaws. During the first term of Roosevelt, Long sought to capture the Presidency for himself under a “Share-Our-Wealth” program involving the confiscation of wealthy fortunes, family allowances, and government storage of agricultural surpluses. [8] The Long and anti-Long factions would compete intensely in subsequent primaries, with many controversies, most critically involving New Orleans election officer Patrick Classic’s attempt to count ninety-seven ballots for anti-Long Hale Boggs in a House of Representatives primary in September 1940, [9] which reached the Supreme Court and established the right to regulate primary elections. Three years later, Louisiana’s lily-white one-party politics was shaken by Smith v. Allwright , which ruled white-only primaries as unconstitutional, and to which Governor Sam Jones responded saying We’ve always handled that question [black disenfranchisement]—and always will [10] Results 1944 United States presidential election in Louisiana Party Candidate Votes % Democratic Franklin D. Roosevelt (inc.) 281,564 80.59% Republican Thomas Dewey 67,750 19.39% Write-ins — 69 0.02% Total votes 349,383 100% Results by parish 1944 United States presidential election in Louisiana by parish [11] Parish Franklin Delano Roosevelt Democratic Thomas Edmund Dewey Republican Various candidates Write-ins Margin Total votes cast # % # % # % # % Acadia 4,439 81.27% 1,023 18.73% 3,416 62.54% 5,462 Allen 2,205 86.78% 336 13.22% 1,869 73.55% 2,541 Ascension 2,291 86.29% 364 13.71% 1,927 72.58% 2,655 Assumption 1,419 76.91% 426 23.09% 993 53.82% 1,845 Avoyelles 3,789 92.53% 306 7.47% 3,483 85.05% 4,095 Beauregard 2,226 74.57% 759 25.43% 1,467 49.15% 2,985 Bienville 1,801 71.87% 705 28.13% 1,096 43.74% 2,506 Bossier 2,430 79.59% 622 20.37% 1 0.03% 1,808 59.22% 3,053 Caddo 12,896 68.56% 5,885 31.29% 29 0.15% 7,011 37.27% 18,810 Calcasieu 7,861 80.81% 1,867 19.19% 5,994 61.62% 9,728 Caldwell 1,142 69.34% 505 30.66% 637 38.68% 1,647 Cameron 1,025 92.26% 86 7.74% 939 84.52% 1,111 Catahoula 1,208 80.59% 291 19.41% 917 61.17% 1,499 Claiborne 2,266 79.68% 578 20.32% 1,688 59.35% 2,844 Concordia 974 82.89% 201 17.11% 773 65.79% 1,175 DeSoto 1,858 77.55% 538 22.45% 1,320 55.09% 2,396 East Baton Rouge 14,757 82.99% 3,025 17.01% 11,732 65.98% 17,782 East Carroll 925 72.15% 357 27.85% 568 44.31% 1,282 East Feliciana 869 79.80% 220 20.20% 649 59.60% 1,089 Evangeline 3,029 91.68% 275 8.32% 2,754 83.35% 3,304 Franklin 2,476 80.57% 597 19.43% 1,879 61.15% 3,073 Grant 1,939 77.72% 556 22.28% 1,383 55.43% 2,495 Iberia 3,661 76.24% 1,141 23.76% 2,520 52.48% 4,802 Iberville 2,265 83.98% 432 16.02% 1,833 67.96% 2,697 Jackson 1,840 81.52% 414 18.34% 3 0.13% 1,426 63.18% 2,257 Jefferson 10,268 85.21% 1,782 14.79% 8,486 70.42% 12,050 Jefferson Davis 2,329 66.83% 1,156 33.17% 1,173 33.66% 3,485 Lafayette 4,801 86.61% 742 13.39% 4,059 73.23% 5,543 Lafourche 4,980 85.06% 875 14.94% 4,105 70.11% 5,855 LaSalle 2,018 79.20% 504 19.78% 26 1.02% 1,514 59.42% 2,548 Lincoln 1,705 62.29% 1,032 37.71% 673 24.59% 2,737 Livingston 2,460 87.76% 343 12.24% 2,117 75.53% 2,803 Madison 764 69.33% 338 30.67% 426 38.66% 1,102 Morehouse 1,859 79.55% 478 20.45% 1,381 59.09% 2,337 Natchitoches 2,536 69.59% 1,105 30.32% 3 0.08% 1,431 39.27% 3,644 Orleans 90,411 81.74% 20,190 18.25% 7 0.01% 70,221 63.49% 110,608 Ouachita 6,329 70.67% 2,627 29.33% 3,702 41.34% 8,956 Plaquemines 1,755 83.97% 335 16.03% 1,420 67.94% 2,090 Pointe Coupee 1,436 84.12% 271 15.88% 1,165 68.25% 1,707 Rapides 9,132 84.21% 1,712 15.79% 7,420 68.42% 10,844 Red River 975 70.45% 409 29.55% 566 40.90% 1,384 Richland 2,087 81.05% 488 18.95% 1,599 62.10% 2,575 Sabine 2,048 66.34% 1,039 33.66% 1,009 32.69% 3,087 Saint Bernard 2,044 96.23% 80 3.77% 1,964 92.47% 2,124 Saint Charles 1,945 91.79% 174 8.21% 1,771 83.58% 2,119 Saint Helena 683 86.35% 108 13.65% 575 72.69% 791 Saint James 1,387 83.96% 265 16.04% 1,122 67.92% 1,652 Saint John the Baptist 1,324 87.16% 195 12.84% 1,129 74.33% 1,519 Saint Landry 4,423 84.94% 784 15.06% 3,639 69.89% 5,207 Saint Martin 2,384 93.97% 153 6.03% 2,231 87.94% 2,537 Saint Mary 3,591 86.97% 538 13.03% 3,053 73.94% 4,129 Saint Tammany 3,450 83.07% 703 16.93% 2,747 66.14% 4,153 Tangipahoa 4,419 73.76% 1,572 26.24% 2,847 47.52% 5,991 Tensas 638 79.95% 160 20.05% 478 59.90% 798 Terrebonne 3,539 86.55% 550 13.45% 2,989 73.10% 4,089 Union 1,765 68.73% 803 31.27% 962 37.46% 2,568 Vermilion 4,684 87.39% 676 12.61% 4,008 74.78% 5,360 Vernon 3,075 75.05% 1,022 24.95% 2,053 50.11% 4,097 Washington 4,810 92.22% 406 7.78% 4,404 84.43% 5,216 Webster 3,655 80.26% 899 19.74% 2,756 60.52% 4,554 West Baton Rouge 1,045 92.31% 87 7.69% 958 84.63% 1,132 West Carroll 1,390 70.52% 581 29.48% 809 41.05% 1,971 West Feliciana 426 70.53% 178 29.47% 248 41.06% 604 Winn 1,403 61.43% 881 38.57% 522 22.85% 2,284 Totals 281,564 80.59% 67,750 19.39% 69 0.02% 213,814 61.20% 349,383 Analysis Incumbent Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt carried Louisiana in a landslide, defeating Republican New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey by a margin of 61.20 points, [12] and sweeping every parish in the state. Nevertheless, indications of protest against Roosevelt’s policies were seen in the rural hill parishes where the Long dynasty had been strongest in the preceding fifteen years [13] —for instance in Long’s ancestral home of Winn Parish, Dewey won almost two-fifths of the vote, and in Winn and nearby Lincoln Parish, the Democratic vote share fell by almost one quarter from the 1940 election. [11] As of 2024, this election marks the last time that a Democratic presidential nominee has carried Bossier Parish. [14] Plaquemines Parish and Lincoln Parish have both voted for a Democratic presidential candidate only once since—for Bill Clinton in 1996—whilst Caddo Parish and Claiborne Parish would not vote Democratic again until Clinton in 1992. [14] It also marked the end of a 64-year Democratic voting streak; four years later, the state would back Dixiecrat candidate Strom Thurmond instead of Democratic nominee Harry S. Truman. As such, this marks the last time that any presidential candidate would carry every parish in the state. See also United States presidential elections in Louisiana References "1944 Election for the Fortieth Term (1945-1949)" . Retrieved April 3, 2018. Phillips, Kevin P. (November 23, 2014). The Emerging Republican Majority. Princeton University Press. pp. 208, 210. ISBN   9780691163246. Schott, Matthew J. (Summer 1979). "Progressives against Democracy: Electoral Reform in Louisiana, 1894-1921". Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association. 20 (3): 247–260. Wall, Bennett H.; Rodriguez, John C. Louisiana: A History. pp. 274–275. ISBN   1118619293. Collin, Richard H. (Winter 1971). "Theodore Roosevelt's Visit to New Orleans and the Progressive Campaign of 1914". Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association. 12 (1): 5–19. Wingo, Barbara C. (Autumn 1977). "The 1928 Presidential Election in Louisiana". Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association. 18 (4). Louisiana Historical Association: 405–435. Hansen, John Mark; Shigeo, Hirano; Snyder Jr., James M. (February 27, 2017). "Parties within Parties: Parties, Factions, and Coordinated Politics, 1900-1980". In Gerber, Alan S.; Schickler, Eric (eds.). Governing in a Polarized Age: Elections, Parties, and Political Representation in America. Cambridge University Press. pp. 165–168. ISBN   978-1-107-09509-0. Sindler, Allan P. (1956). Huey Long's Louisiana: State politics, 1920-1952. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 84–85. Baker, Liva (1996). The second battle of New Orleans: the hundred-year struggle to integrate the schools. New York City: HarperCollinsPublishers. pp. 97–99. ISBN   0060168080. Garson, Robert A. (1974). The Democratic Party and the politics of sectionalism, 1941-1948. Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Louisiana State University Press. pp. 90–91. ISBN   0807100706. "LA US President Race, November 07, 1944". Our Campaigns. "The American Presidency Project — Election of 1944" . Retrieved April 3, 2018. Howard, Perry H. (1956). "Longism: An Appraisal". Political Tendencies in Louisiana, 1812-1952; An Ecological Analysis of Voting Behavior (Thesis). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. Louisiana State University. pp. 194–198. Menendez, Albert J. (2005). The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004. McFarland. pp. 215–218. ISBN   0786422173. This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.